Another norwegian's Comments
@The monkey; I'll give you context. I'm going to assume that you live in the US, and this goes out to you and your fellow americans:
The reason why all of this is out of context, is because you (americans) do not value humans like we do. You value money and hard work, but not humans.
The reason why you americans find all of this (Halden Prison, Bastøy Prison, and these mass murder "friends") so weird, is because you have a completely different view on humans than we do.
I'll attempt to explain this. Keep in mind that this is just my understanding of it. I might simplify things too much, or I might even be completely wrong. At least on the facts. But when it comes to the philosophical views I'll present, I don't think you can argue against it, so I won't argue for it either. It's just right.
In the US, you have The American Dream, which is another way of saying that you and only you are responsible for your future, and that this future depends on what you're doing today. You're working hard today, because you want to become rich in the future. I'm no lawyer, but I believe these rights are embedded in your constitution, which prevents the government from doing anything that might prevent you from fulfilling your dreams, so to say. So far so good.
The problem, as far as I can see, is that you project this onto others. That another person is 100% responsible for the situation that person is currently in, no matter what.
I recall someone saying about the US "You're fine as long as you have a job and good health". If you lose your job, and your health is at the point where you can no longer provide income for yourself, that's it. Tough luck. Hospitals won't help you, because they need you (or your insurance) to pay for it. The government won't help you, because everyone around you refuses to pay more in taxes in order to help people in your situation. The reason? Some might say it might be unconstitutional. Others might even say it's a step towards communism.
In Norway, we have a high income tax (approx. 25%), and we have a lot of other fees on top of that, and all that money ends up in the hands of our government. There's a reason for this, "Velferdsstaten", which is what I'll directly translate into "The Welfare State".
This is what pays our hospitals, amongst other things like education (even college, how about that?) In Norway, if I get admitted to a hospital, I don't have to pay for it. I don't need any health insurance, and they will not ask me if I have it either.
And that's the way it should be, and that's where you americans have got it wrong. Instead of providing health care for everyone, you provide health care for:
a) Those who have a health insurance.
b) Those who have money.
Which means, if you don't have a job, and you don't have enough money to sustain a health insurance, then you have a serious problem if you ever get admitted to a hospital.
You find our prisons and our way of treating one particular prisoner funny, interesting, peculiar, weird, or even unexplainable?
I think the exact same thing about your lack of free health care. A lot of people are suffering because they can't afford the health care they need in order to live good lives.
And this is where I get to my point.
Should you care about other people, those who are not related to you? Should you care about the people who can't afford to get their health problems fixed? Should you care about convicts? Should you care about mass murderers?
We do in Norway. There's no reason why you americans shouldn't do the same. At least I can't see the reason why. Even mass murderers are humans, aren't they?
In Norway, we give health care to everyone who needs it.
In Norway, we give convicts a new chance, but not without conditions. The sentence must have been served, and if required by the verdict, the release must be safe for society as well.
So I give it back to you. We aren't the weird ones here. You are. You have yet to abolish the death sentence (which is inhumane), you have yet to provide health care for everyone (and that's inhumane), and your prisons (which are also inhumane) does not help prevent future crimes like our prisons do, in particular Halden and Bastøy.
The prison will provide "friends" for Breivik, because we don't allow isolation for longer periods of time, because that's inhumane. Inmates are humans, and they also deserve to be treated with respect *just because they are humans*, like you and me.
A human is a human, no matter what he has done in the past, how much money he's got, what color his skin is, where he's from, or what he believes in.
Wake up, America. It's time.
The reason why all of this is out of context, is because you (americans) do not value humans like we do. You value money and hard work, but not humans.
The reason why you americans find all of this (Halden Prison, Bastøy Prison, and these mass murder "friends") so weird, is because you have a completely different view on humans than we do.
I'll attempt to explain this. Keep in mind that this is just my understanding of it. I might simplify things too much, or I might even be completely wrong. At least on the facts. But when it comes to the philosophical views I'll present, I don't think you can argue against it, so I won't argue for it either. It's just right.
In the US, you have The American Dream, which is another way of saying that you and only you are responsible for your future, and that this future depends on what you're doing today. You're working hard today, because you want to become rich in the future. I'm no lawyer, but I believe these rights are embedded in your constitution, which prevents the government from doing anything that might prevent you from fulfilling your dreams, so to say. So far so good.
The problem, as far as I can see, is that you project this onto others. That another person is 100% responsible for the situation that person is currently in, no matter what.
I recall someone saying about the US "You're fine as long as you have a job and good health". If you lose your job, and your health is at the point where you can no longer provide income for yourself, that's it. Tough luck. Hospitals won't help you, because they need you (or your insurance) to pay for it. The government won't help you, because everyone around you refuses to pay more in taxes in order to help people in your situation. The reason? Some might say it might be unconstitutional. Others might even say it's a step towards communism.
In Norway, we have a high income tax (approx. 25%), and we have a lot of other fees on top of that, and all that money ends up in the hands of our government. There's a reason for this, "Velferdsstaten", which is what I'll directly translate into "The Welfare State".
This is what pays our hospitals, amongst other things like education (even college, how about that?) In Norway, if I get admitted to a hospital, I don't have to pay for it. I don't need any health insurance, and they will not ask me if I have it either.
And that's the way it should be, and that's where you americans have got it wrong. Instead of providing health care for everyone, you provide health care for:
a) Those who have a health insurance.
b) Those who have money.
Which means, if you don't have a job, and you don't have enough money to sustain a health insurance, then you have a serious problem if you ever get admitted to a hospital.
You find our prisons and our way of treating one particular prisoner funny, interesting, peculiar, weird, or even unexplainable?
I think the exact same thing about your lack of free health care. A lot of people are suffering because they can't afford the health care they need in order to live good lives.
And this is where I get to my point.
Should you care about other people, those who are not related to you? Should you care about the people who can't afford to get their health problems fixed? Should you care about convicts? Should you care about mass murderers?
We do in Norway. There's no reason why you americans shouldn't do the same. At least I can't see the reason why. Even mass murderers are humans, aren't they?
In Norway, we give health care to everyone who needs it.
In Norway, we give convicts a new chance, but not without conditions. The sentence must have been served, and if required by the verdict, the release must be safe for society as well.
So I give it back to you. We aren't the weird ones here. You are. You have yet to abolish the death sentence (which is inhumane), you have yet to provide health care for everyone (and that's inhumane), and your prisons (which are also inhumane) does not help prevent future crimes like our prisons do, in particular Halden and Bastøy.
The prison will provide "friends" for Breivik, because we don't allow isolation for longer periods of time, because that's inhumane. Inmates are humans, and they also deserve to be treated with respect *just because they are humans*, like you and me.
A human is a human, no matter what he has done in the past, how much money he's got, what color his skin is, where he's from, or what he believes in.
Wake up, America. It's time.
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Kon-tiki is the name of an ancient inca god iirc. It was used as the name of Thor Heyerdahl's balsa raft, which he used to travel from Callao in Peru across the pacific to Polynesia. The distance he covered in 1947 was close to 5000 miles, which in my eyes dwarfs this expedition any day.
That being said, I think it's awesome that they did this, but I still think Kon-Tiki and Thor Heyerdahl should get an honorable mention in this post, since he was a real pioneer in the field of traveling across oceans using primitive rafts. To anyone interested in learning more about Kon-Tiki, I recommend this documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGooopCTmpg
That being said, I think it's awesome that they did this, but I still think Kon-Tiki and Thor Heyerdahl should get an honorable mention in this post, since he was a real pioneer in the field of traveling across oceans using primitive rafts. To anyone interested in learning more about Kon-Tiki, I recommend this documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGooopCTmpg
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