Let me now write a post that I think only I, and perhaps my father, will be interested in 
.
Norway is a socialist country. The guiding principles here are about “the whole.” Because of this there is, what I consider, heavy taxation. 45% of your paycheque goes to the government, 25% of your purchased goods price goes to the government. Automobile owners also suffer, there’s a tax on fuel (not surprising), tires, the volume/size of your car, and every road in Oslo is a toll road. Though they’ve done away with the problem of stopping and paying at a booth by using a radio frequency transponder. Alcohol is taxed like sin… which it was until very recently (the Norwegian state church hates alcohol by the way). 35CAD for 350ml of Jack Daniel, compared to the Canadian price $15.85 for 375ml? It might be import costs, but that doesn’t explain the four dollars for a bottle of Heineken? Netherlands are closer to Norway than to Canada.
The picture is of a receipt for some goods I bought. Note the Moms % (moms = merverdiavgift, formerly meromsætningsafgift). Also, for those Polish among you, “takk” means “thanks” which always causes me problems when someone says “no thanks” as it’s “nei, takk.” Kvittering means receipt and kjop means buy. Cool huh?
What does it all amount to? I’m not entirely sure, I haven’t been here long enough. What I do know is that students have it better here than any country I’ve heard of, foreign students included. My tuition is free. On an absolute scale public transport for students is cheaper than in Canada , I paid less for a six month gym membership here than I would for a two month membership in Canada, shows/museums/galleries/tickets of any sort are cheaper for students often by large amounts. But students aren’t the only one’s who have it well.
For example, Norway agreed to send 25 billion kroner (crowns) to Africa this year. Don’t forget 25 billion crowns is equivalent to 5 billion Canadian dollars AND Norway’s population is four million. I leave the math to you.
There’s no doctor shortage here, in fact people have their choice doctors, as do students. I can change my GP on the internet if I want. The social net here is very strong and functioning well. Though the recent influx of immigrants, mostly from poor African nations, is now straining that net but any complaining is a risk due to political correctness.
The Norwegian populace is highly politicized in many ways. They don’t necessarily know what’s going on in their government, but everyone is very aware of everyone else’s political leanings. In fact political allegiance is one of the top ten descriptors you’ll hear when you inquire about a person. Also, the level of political correctness here makes me raise a glass to George Orwell. It’s illegal to criticize the monarchy or parliamentarians, which means news sources are very careful in how they present material. It’s very difficult to establish groups, political or otherwise, that go against the main grain of the national sentiment. They get hassled by the cops and so on.
I haven’t found what the minimum wage is, but I was told by a tax official that it’s uncommon to find any kind of work for less than 100NOK (20CAD) per hour. Remember though that things are on average twice the price of what they are in Canada. Which means that the huge tax rate really makes a dent in a household budget.
So how much is 50% of a paycheque worth?
Sorry about the content of this post folks, I realize not everyone is as interested as I in these kinds of things but this stuff has been on my mind and I have to get it out.
