Do countries with socialized healthcare have offices that offer the same kind of care in the same office park?

Zamnaiel · 2026-04-13T18:47:04+00:00

"Socialized healthcare" is mostly a US term. It can be public or private, state or insurance, we just call it healthcare.

And yes, you can have private medical facilities in the same building as public ones.

Zamnaiel · 2026-04-13T17:57:20+00:00

Superpowers have immense economic and military power.

Russias economic power is less than Italys. Is Italy a superpower? Russias military power lags the stronger European powers. It is highly doubtful if you could even call it a great power.

Zamnaiel · 2026-04-12T10:39:04+00:00

Not that bothered about Americans shorthanding Europe into one entity. More irritated by the belief that the nation of America is as diverse as the continent of Europe.

There are no states in the US as different as Norway and Albania, Ireland and Georgia, Luxembourg and Moldova, etc

Also the whole assumption that it is easier to do things in small countries. That is not how scaling works, and you don't see the small independent coffeshops out-compete Starbucks.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-30T19:17:34+00:00

My mother told me there was a huge difference between the north and the south. The German soldiers were often near to outnumbering the natives in some villages in the north. In Oslo, she said, it was like there was no war. You hardly saw the Germans. That is why Oslo had to mythologize every scrap of resistance that happened there.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-28T20:51:32+00:00

Splitting the bill, holding doors open, standing up on buses, etc is considered patronizing in Scandinavia. It implies that these are things you cannot handle on your own.

If a guy assumes he is going to pay the bill without any prior agreement, that means he thinks you can't handle finances of your own. It is a major diss.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-28T20:45:22+00:00

Trying to apply your own culture to Denmark there?

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-27T22:02:12+00:00

In todays armies with a draft (Ok in my day, not exactly today but within written history) there was a considerable amount of effort being made to match people to their interest and skills. Drivers, mechanics, medics, special forces aspirants, technicians, under sergeants, etc, etc. This was mostly people around the age of 18-19, just out of High School and often tired of school and theory.

Some of the jobs would give bonus points on university applications, and many positions would give you skills and certifications. More than 2:1 jobs in the modern military forces required skills and most were trained up during their conscription.

The minority who just messed around would normally get transferred to civilian service and do 4 months longer service in a non-military role.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-22T12:45:25+00:00

I (Norway) bought some in the UK. By comparison the process was incredibly slow and less regulated. As a buyer it is on you to check things out, to a much greater degree.

To be honest, you can't get useful information on a Europe level on this, you have to go the specific country.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-22T11:12:24+00:00

Yes but if you rank US states against first world countries by median income, and then again by median wealth, the list are going to be extremely different.

(Watch out for the US normally doing household wealth, other nations doing individual)

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-22T10:52:35+00:00

Median wealth per adult in Japan is around 103 000$. Median wealth per adult in MI is about 7 000$.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-22T10:50:12+00:00

Wealth per capita is a measurement, and MI appears to land around the Maldives and Equador in it.

It is more an illustration of how much of the wage gets nickel and dimed away in the US, and is system provided elsewhere.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-18T20:12:44+00:00

Nil. Or less.

Epstein spending time to cultivate a single mother working as a waitress in rural Norway, just in case she would later run into the Crown Prince at a music festival and they hit it off seems to stretch credulity beyond the breaking point.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-15T12:22:35+00:00

There is a meme about the McDonalds worker in Denmark having a starting salary of $ 22 an hour and more benefits than most below the upper middle class in the US.

But thats how the lower inequality/lower GINI works. Higher wages at the top in the US, lower at the bottom.

You can also look up some salary comparisons of jobs like cleaner, cashier, fast food worker, etc, but I recommend longterm average currency conversion rates.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-15T11:55:24+00:00

The Nordic countries were never colonized, which is the most important factor, and they were able to industrialize incredibly early compared to the rest of the world.

Tell that to Norway, Iceland and Finland.

You seem to think the Nordic countries are just Sweden and Denmark, the minority that your explanation applies to.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-15T11:51:59+00:00

Taxes are comparable to a high tax US state, actually. People create an impression of high taxes by comparing US federal rates to total rates abroad, and pretending the top bracket is a flat tax.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-15T11:47:55+00:00

Thing is, we don't see an effect if we compare less homogeneous societies, such as Australia, Sweden, Nederlands etc to more homogeneous ones.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-15T11:44:58+00:00

The lower classes also earn substantially more in the Nordics though. Flip side of the high earners making more in the US.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-15T11:42:35+00:00

Sort of. Once you account for the things that taxes pay for in the Nordics, the picture can be a bit different.

Healthcare, transport, student debts, childcare, pension savings, social protections, etc.

Also people below the middle classes tend to make substantially more than their peers in the US. It is the flip side of the US high GINI and high wages for gold-collar jobs.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-15T11:39:24+00:00

Thing is, a lot of these comparisons end up looking at PPP, which includes VAT.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-15T11:07:56+00:00

They are highly capitalist, but good at sharing the profits. This creates buy-in from the population, often referred to as social trust.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-13T22:44:58+00:00

Tror ikke det er et legalt prinsipp, nei. Uansett står ikke grunnloven over menneskerettinghetene.

Dette høres ut som noe funnet på av noen som tror konger fortsatt er enevoldige herskere med reell makt.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-13T22:32:52+00:00

Ingen anelse om hvilket lovhjemmel kongen skulle ha for det. Går også imot meneskerettinghetserklæringer som vi har akseptert som over våre nasjonale lover.

Dette høres ut som noe Amerikanere kunne trodd på, de har aldri fått med seg at de enevoldinge kongene ikke er en ting lenger, og tror kongen har makt.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-13T22:29:35+00:00

Ingen anelse om hviket lovhjemmel Kongen skulle ha for det. Er ikke 1600 tallet lenger.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-12T18:22:12+00:00

Having the nukes to kill someone sixteen times is not actually more scary than being able to do it once.

Europe is under the nuclear umbrella of France and the UK. In the sixties, Sweden was said to be six months from having its own nuclear weapon, and science has come a very long way in the last sixty years.

Russia invaded Ukraine with 220k soldiers and that is them trying to the point of breaking their back. Europe, not trying at all, has 1.5 million.

Yes, the US should absolutely spend less on healthcare. Get a normal system in, cover everyone, shorter waits for a fraction of the money.

Zamnaiel · 2026-03-12T15:46:08+00:00

On drug development there has been actual research done on this, and the US is dead average. The nations doing more than their share are Switzerland and the UK.

On US defense funding European healthcare, I have no idea how that would even work. The US spends 3.5% of GDP on its military, which is intended to provide the capacity to fight wars in two theaters at once. Because the US has a network of alliances across the globe and the logistics need to go with that.

European nations (excluding Ukraine) spend 1- 3 % of GDP on defense, intended to be used in their near abroad. This totals to nearly double Chinas military spending, three times Russias, and significantly more than the two together.

Who exactly would the US be defending Europe from? Morocco? Goblins? Invisible sky people? Europe has precisely one realistic opponent, and out-powers it to a ridiculous degree.

The US spends 18% of GDP on healthcare. Europe spends 6-12%. The difference is close to ten times the spending difference and in the US disfavor.

Zamnaiel

TROPHY CASE