Trump’s America: More Norwegians, less Norway

DonaldTrump admires “winners” and his favoured immigrant group, theNorwegians, are winning so much at the Winter Olympics that they areprobably getting tired of hauling around medals. If the president wereto take a closer look at the Scandinavian nation, however, there islittle else beyond athletic success he would personally find appealing.Pyeongchang is exposing the world to fun-loving, toe-headed Norwegians killing it on snow and ice. Mostlyhidden from public view is the state that helped nurture thesesuccessful young athletes. The Kingdom of Norway is a rich country thathas long contradicted the American approach to social welfare. Liketripped-up skaters, its policies on Russia, guns, healthcare,international aid, refugees, trade, education, the correctional system,and fiscal responsibility are entirely out of sync with Trump.Theydon’t even agree on what defines a “cesspool” country. After Trump’sinfamous comments about Haiti, El Salvador and African countries,Norwegians said they weren’t interested in emigrating to the USA,suggesting American decline and Trump had turned the USA into a“cesspool”.In North Korea, Norway’s national team has schussed awayenough Winter Olympic medals to start a foundry. On the world stage,too, Norway earns gold for its commitment to democratic values andgovernance. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual “DemocracyIndex” ranked Norway at number one. Norway scored perfect 10s onelectoral process and pluralism, political participation, and politicalculture, with near perfect scores on civil liberties and governmentfunctioning.America, on the other hand, was downgraded in 2016,going from being a “full democracy” to the humiliating “flaweddemocracy” rating it currently maintains. The index’s researcherscite that “public confidence in government has slumped to historic lowsin the US” leading to a “corrosive effect on the quality of democracy.” Whilethe USA (21st place) at least qualified for the democracy race,tarnished silver is not exactly a symbol of pride or beacon of hope tothe world.Defending democracy is set up to be a joint US-Norwegianproject via Nato, a collective defence organisation currently led byformer Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg. Bordering Russia, Norway is an ardent Nato supporter and clear-eyed critic of an increasingly threatening Moscow.Norway pays its fair share in Nato dues to defend against Vladimir Putin’s more assertive Russia. DonaldTrump, on the other hand, arrived in the Oval Office both admiringPutin and questioning the value of a free-riding Nato alliance. Thepresident has viewed Nato less as Europe’s protective shield and more asan American protection racket.Nato is not the only big ticket itemin Oslo’s budget. As a nation, Norwegians have committed to building andbolstering international aid programmes with an annual fiscal spendinggoal of 1% of annual GDP, far exceeding the United Nations target of0.7% of national GDP. The United States gives the most total dollars inglobal aid annually, but Trump wants to slash that aid cashdramatically.Norway, an oil producing country, may be considered aprofligate nation by US standards, but it has amassed a hard-workingtrillion dollar sovereign wealth fund to cover future expenses andprotect the nation from over-reliance on the fluctuating global energymarkets. The Norwegians saved and invested. Trump’s America, bycontrast, is much more focused on instant gratification than deferredand compounded reward, as the just passed and signed trillion dollardeficit spending bill makes clear.Republican deficit hawks should take note: Norway figured out a way to have both guns and butter.Norwayremains open to refugees, responsibly builds infrastructure and investsthe nation’s profits not only to prevent deficits, but to enhancecitizen welfare, improve the correctional system, provide freeuniversity, and build a better national healthcare service. America’sdebates today surround record debt, entitlement cuts, and moving awayfrom universal healthcare. Norway, the little country that earns Olympicmedals in its sleep is wildly outperforming a chest-thumping,self-declaring nation of “winners.”There are many things to admireabout Norway but there is one thing that Donald Trump would definitelydisdain €” Norway’s open documents rule that makes everyone’s tax returnpublic by putting them online. During my (free) university graduateschool days in 1980s Scandinavia, I was surprised to find that taxfiling was incredibly simple. It’s just as shocking to learn thatlooking up any Norwegian’s annual earnings and total assets are as easyas doing a Google search. A recent look at Prime Minister Erna Solberg’sfilings showed she earned around $200,000 with assets amounting to$260,000.Open tax returns may be part of the reason why the 2017World Happiness report found Norway to be the happiest country on earth(followed by Nordic fellow traveller states Denmark and Iceland).Knowing how much your neighbour earns, seeing that there is less incomeinequality, or maybe just beating a few Russians in the Olympics mightall contribute to the happy factor.A decade ago, the USA was in thetop three on the global happiness scale. Now, due to “declining socialsupport and increased corruption,” America recently dropped to 19thplace. Happiness can be fleeting, but if Donald Trump released his taxreturns and turned the national discourse both kinder and gentler, hecould Make America Happy Again. -  Tribune News Service * MarkosKounalakis, Ph.D. is a senior fellow at Central European University andvisiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. Contact him atmarkos@stanford.edu or on Twitter @KounalakisM