Today here and more so on facebook I read post after post about how rotten the USA is when compared to Norway. That along with the usual LW memes about how the population of Norway is the happiest in the world. Of course none of those memes mentioned the 50+% effective tax rate of Norway nor did they mention that in Norway a gallon of gas is around $9.
But, they did get me to thinking about how those memes show the difference between the mindset of a Liberal and the mindset of a moderate or that of a conservative.
I started driving truck in 1991, anytime after 1993 I could have went to work for any company in the USA both Union or non-Union. Had I had the mindset of a Progressive [ like most here] I would have jumped at a chance to drive for a Union Carrier. The pay would have been higher when compared to driving for a non-union company. The benefits would have been off the chain and of course today I would be looking down the barrel of a large pension just around the corner.
I chose a different path. Most of my carrier I owned my own equipment, which made my pay equal to that of Union drivers, although I do have to work longer hours a quite a bit harder for that pay and have next to no benefits. On paper it makes way more sense to have the Progressive Mindset and work at the Union outfit.
But, then there is the non-liberal mindset. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have decent health [ which is most of us] are going to get about 50 years of freedom. Prior to age 21 we are under the control of our parents, after 71 we are coming to the end of the journey.
I cannot understand what we use to call in the car business the "lunch box" mentality. One where you work for the man all week, doing what you are told to do when you are told to do it. One where you get two days a week and 2 to 4 [ maybe 5] weeks a year to enjoy freedom.
I know people I went to school with who still live in NE Ohio who for the last 35 to 40 years spend 2 weeks a year in Myrtle Beach. The other 50 weeks a year they talk about either the last two weeks they spent at the beach or the next two weeks they are going to spend at the beech.
What a wasted life, yet that is the life the mentality of the American Liberal seems to crave. One where we work 46 to 50 weeks a year for close to all of our 50 years of freedom. Pay crazy high taxes but, like the animal in the zoo have all of our needs along with some of our wants provided for us by some Gov't agency somewhere.
As opposed to embracing the freedoms we have here in the USA [aka the greatest country in the history of man] and finding our own way in life. Not having to kowtow to some employer somewhere. Not selling the only 50 free years we are going to get in this world, for what we perceive as security. Never having any adventures or misadventures. Just hitting an employable age, finding a trade then selling 50 years of your life for nothing.
and that {IMO} is the difference in the mindset of your progressive and your non-progressive. Not being afraid to set out on your own and fail.
Sidebar: my "golden years" are not going to be all that by comparison. But, fishing is still free and I'll take the trade I made years ago anytime. 10 years at the end of life of having to make due to get by for 50 prime years of freedom.
Which is another example of why non-liberals would be miserable living under the what they have in places like Norway.
I have stayed away from this thread deliberately. Primarily because it is so loaded with stereotyping by the thread's originator as to be basically useless.
Let us start with this: Glen, you have no idea what you are talking about. Previously I have begged, cajoled, demanded, pleaded and asked nicely that you go and do some research. You have refused. You know nothing about life in Norway. You have no defined definition of freedom other than the willingness to work your ass off for lower wages. On one of the later posts you claim that a successful truck driver is one who is pissed he can't work 70 hours a week. So are we to assume that you want to work 58.3% of the time during a work week? Or do you want to work 10 hours a day, 7 days a week? Do you want the doctor who works on your daughter should she require going to the emergency room to have worked an ungodly number of hours because he wanted to because that is freedom? Do you understand at all that the human brain and human mind are not wired to function correctly without sufficient rest and nourishment as well as time away from tasks ie relaxation?
You see, Glen, I don't believe you. You didn't choose the life of a non-union truck driver for the "freedom". You chose it because either you were indoctrinated by someone or something to hate unions. Therefore you determined not to work for unions if you could avoid it. and the bottom line of this entire thread isn't about freedom, it is about you hating unions. You have couched your hatred of unions in a screed against Norway.
And BTW? You stated in one of the later posts that you do not worry about becoming disabled. What a selfish position to take. Does your wife worry? Does your daughter worry? Have you taken out long term care insurance? If you have then you sure as fuck worried about it. Would your family accept the socialism of SSI disability payments? Or would you in your simplistic, stunted belief in the definition of freedom demand that they not take them?
You have not only drunk the Kool-aid, you have bathed in it. The rw concept of negative freedom implies that everyone must have that position. If that were the case then nobody would give a shit about anything or anyone. No one must do anything for anyone because it does not help themselves. Therefore YOU must ignore the regulations that protect others from your impairment while you drive 70 or more hours a week. You must willingly step over the dead and dying person or ignore the child going hungry or the elderly freezing in the winter. You MUST. And the reason why in your socially stunted world comes down to not wanting to pay and not wanting to be coerced into taking care on those who cannot take care of themselves. Well, here is some news for you Glen: if we liquidated all of the assets of charities and churches it would not be enough to care for those people. You may want to live in such a society, I do not. Because it is not freedom.
It is not giving a shit about anyone else but yourself. Be intellectually honest enough to admit that you do not give a shit. But do not couch your hatred of humanity in a screed against Norway.