[fsckboy]

Norway has a ton of publicly owned oil, on an industrial scale. You aren't establishing that that isn't the explanation for all of it.

When Europeans come to the US, they largely behave like Americans, they fit right in. What Europeans need to stop doing is telling themselves that they're different.

[martin8412]

A ton of oil they sell, but don't spend the money from. The oil money is simply invested. They're one of the largest funds in the world. The government of Norway can spend 3% per budget year under certain rules, but rarely do. The first time it ever happened was in 2016.

When the oil runs out or demand for oil disappears, Norway won't plummet into poverty unlike a lot of other oil rich countries. The oil certainly made them rich initially, but their reluctance to spend money derived from oil will keep them rich.

[avgcorrection]

True but frankly doesn’t matter to the online commentariat. Norway is a tiny country that most people don’t know anything about, but if they do know that it is an oil state then that becomes the explanation for literally everything. Even traits that are exactly like Sweden and Denmark are because of Oil.

Disclaimer: guess my passport.

[avgcorrection]

> When Europeans come to the US, they largely behave like Americans, they fit right in. What Europeans need to stop doing is telling themselves that they're different.

America has military bases all over Europe. I’m going to arbitrarily decide that you need to establish that that doesn’t explain what you have been experiencing.