American reacts to: America is NOT the best country to become rich?
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to Where in the world is it easiest to get rich?
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I am norwegian so maybe I understand his jokes about Bernie Sanders a little better. From Berine's perspective: If billionaires in Norway behaved like they do in the US, the norwegian people would be shocked. If you don't see your role as a billionaire as an integrated part of society then you quickly become a social outcast. If american billionaire restrained themselves and payed their fair taxes, then Bernie would propbably not bash them so much in his speeches, but the critic Berine gives them is the same as we give ours. So Haralds jokes about Bernie is deliberately silly, and Bernie knows much more about american society than Harald does. Berines ideas are in no way crazy. As this speech indicate, Bernies vision for America would produce more productivity and more rich people, but the main point in Bernies perspective is that he does not like that there are so few wealthy people in the US, and that there are so many poor. It just as important to have a maximum wage as a minimum wage. With a maximum wage you stop the wealth motivation of powerful people and thus make room for a wider class of rich people, and that in itself is good for democracy. Think about it.. when you make 100 million, why would you want to make even more? Is there any luxury you have to deny yourself because 100 millioin does not cover it? This is not about hating rich people, but being against them running every game, influencing politics, being little kingdoms within a country ruling over people that can not vote on them. As I see it, this is the main argument against billionaires, they are taking much more than they can actually handle from a society perspective.
Excellently worded. Not only in sentiment but your English is also bloody brilliant! From an English woman 😘
Wow. Flawless English. And as an English woman, I agree with everything you say. We need to tax our rich people much more.
Well said. I have the same views. The most dangerous and harmful aspects of our societies are billionaires and the senseless accumulation of wealth. In my view, these parasites don't get richer to have more luxury or to ensure a luxurious life for their great-great grandkids (they already have that level of wealth, they already have all the luxury), but to keep the rest in poverty.
They don't need more money, they need inequality and poverty to ensure the constant supply of slaves.
Money is not worth anything if everyone has it, it has to be scarce to have value. If everyone would have enough money, then it would be very hard to force people to serve you or to work for you or to die for your interests in wars. The main goal is having control over the masses.
I also think that there is a very dark and evil agenda behind the scenes, because if a few people sit on fortunes , if a few people have wealth parked on their accounts and in other assets that should be in circulation and available for the rest, then there would be no homeless people who die on the streets, there would be no excess and senseless death due to poverty. So billionaires ensure human sacrifice for their evil and false gods...
@@pupupu1955 plus all that wealth related power, means they can exploit children, break all kinds of laws, and pay it off to make their crime disappear....
@@phoenix-xu9xj "we need to tax our rich people much more" welcome to Denmark 😉 PS: we start learning English in 1st grade
Those people go to their free education instead and get a job that pays better. That is another benefit of free education. Replacing uneducated jobs does not harm society to the same degree at all. That's one compliment I have to give to the USA, they have gotten incredibly good at propaganda, that along with being separated and living in a huge land makes it easy to forget that everything you are taught is not right and that you have to be critical of it.
I think the main mistake a lot of people make is thinking that we can get rich by working... Working can only make you "not poor"
Rich people don't work, they LET others work for them. Of course that normally meany today you are already rich or you have to be really very charismatic to make people work for you if you are not already rich.
You could (in the Nordics atleast) work and gather a capital of 100k and invest it (and with a bit of luck) you don't really need to work anymore. I haven't been able to gather that myself yet tho.. spending is too fun 😅
@@gyderian9435 But not the work makes you rich, but the investment. And investment is nothing else as letting other people work for your money. Anybody has to to the work.
@@gyderian9435 That's not enough to be considered rich, thou. It is certainly very well of and for most is enough of a dream, since it safer and more achievable.
A filthy rich American once said to a friend of mine "You don´t get rich by working. You get rich by owning shit"
To answer your question of where all these workers go: Harald answered it earlier - free education. They become students, and become engineers or get another technical job. Also, in all my years, I never thought I'd see an American react to Harald Eia... He's a Norwegian sociologist turned comedian.
No they don´t. You can ´t just put anyone on an engineering degree and just hope they make it. They end up in work-political-programs and are hidden from public view.
Ryan, you assume there is a need to keep a lit of people in low paying jobs, like packing your groceries ,that's the big misconception. The ppl here in Norway who don't work low paying jobs, but used to, they move up, not down into poveryy and homelessness. There is no need to keep the people down, society does not stop when you give everyone living wages, wages that offers them a good life
Second that.
I agree, and it says alot about the American mindset.
Agreed. Although to add a bit of nuance, some will fall out of the job market due to new technology, due to lack of education, or similar. But Norway's safety net will keep them from poverty & the free education means their children can climb out of the safety net & up, potentially into being extremely wealthy.
@@vijay-c absolutely not, there is no reason to fall out of the job market just bc your job no longer exists, you change field, and move on
@@LinaGenX Not everyone can change field - if eg. you've got a poor education & low skill jobs are disappearing, then you can't always easily just change fields - if everyone could do that, then there'd be no need for social security.
Ryan, I don’t think Bernie or AOC are against billionaires per se, they are against the extraordinarily huge wealth disparity in USA society. Every system in the US works against the working class, whilst the rich who are already obscenely more wealthy, contribute an unfairly low amount. It’s the comparative inequality of the average person in US compared to Scandinavia that upsets them.
Well said and spot on.
Well that is a lie. And apart from that Wealth disparity is high in the US (well apart from cali and NYS) not due to people being poor,b ut people being rich.
The so call poor peple, the bottom 10% is still richer than the 50 percentile globally.
@@matsv201 I think you’re a bit mistaken there. There are areas in the US where people live in abject poverty, and the vast amounts of homelessness in Cali and NYS adds to the problem. Why you think these people are somehow better off than the poor people from other countries idk.
And your other point has no logic. The difference between rich and poor, which is what defines wealth inequality, is quite literally a measure of the gap, so of course it is affected by the status of poor people.
@@orangewasejected8308 No i´m not. Countries with large wealth gap tend to be richer. Richer countries tend to have a richer poor population.
While every nation have a poor population, USA have one of the richest poor population in the world. yea, check it up, its actually true.
"Why you think these people are somehow better off than the poor people from other countries idk."
There is way less of them and they have access to considerably more resources. There is also well fair, the issue is drug addicts and people who are illegal in the country. This is mostly a problem in some few states like NY and cali. And yes, they are a real problem there, but that due to poor state policy.
"is quite literally a measure of the gap, so of course it is affected by the status of poor people."
Do it dont.
I give you two scenario. In scenario 1 you earn 50k USD PPP but the average pay in the nation is 110k USD, so you are calcified as relative poor (by definition).
The other scenario you live in a other country. You earn 40k USD PPP, but the average pay in that nation is 18k USD PPP, so you are classified as rich.
Do you rather want to make 40k PPP and be rich, or do you rather want to make 50k PPP and be poor.
Because that is literally how its measured.
From working abroad most of my life and meeting people from all over the world, I pity the American for not knowing most of what’s happening outside The US.
Not giving free education to your citizens is like not feeding your own kids.
Also, as my wise father quoted, "Educate the male and you educate the male. Educate the female and you educate the family". He made sure my sister and I had a tertiary education.
I don't know, I live in Brazil and I've had free education my whole life. I have a bachelor's degree (for free) and a MBA (paid) and now I'm here unemployed and just surviving
Good Quality Free Education!
@@barnowl.You literally made me gasp! My dad used to say the same!
@@fatimaachouri3433Fatima, I found out years later that this was an old saying. The actual words were , ' Educate the man and you educate the man. Educate the woman and you educate the family.' It is sooo true! as it is mainly the woman/mother who brings children up/has the most influence on their lives. What is lovely for both of us us that our FATHERS quoted that saying in our families. We were blessed in that regard.
Another really important thing is that you (in Sweden) typically may take time off your day job to try and start a business of your own, and if it doesn't work out you can return to the old job.
don't tell your boss about your plans
To no one's surprsie it's actually easier to try make your own startup if there's something to fall back on, why could have thought.
Yep. Very important. But even if you don't come back to your old job (I think that law only applies for 1 year), you would not end up on the street. In Scandinavia, it's completely risk free to leave your job to try to start your own business. I had a colleague who just a few months ago quit his well paid job and started his own business as a consultant. Maybe he will make it, maybe not, but either way it will still work out fine for him.
The unemployment service AMS in Austria even encourages unemployed people to create their own start ups. They can take free courses and get help to create a business plan, they will get unemployment benefits for a certain amount of time until they start to make profits. The government supports these start ups financially as well if they fall into specific categories. If it fails the consequences are buffered, if they even lost money they invested they won’t be financially destroyed or bankrupt.
Just like the government funds your second education as an adult for jobs in high demand like teachers, nurses etc.
I think all of that plays together.
@@KurtFrederiksenEven here in the UK, I've never had a boss care about what I do in my free time. The only time it matters is if I was to directly try and compete with them or if it impacts my work.
What is considered rich or wealthy? Well, if you have 1000 bucks in your bank account and no debt (student loans, medical debt), you are richer than a looot of people. 😂
If you had those 1000 bucks you'd be comparatively wealthier than your peers, but you would still not be rich.
I don't know what to count as rich either, but in the USA almost 10 % (9.7 in 2022) of the adults are millionaires. Which in my opinion is a lot. In other big and wealthy countries like Germany or Japan it's 3.9 % and 3.2 %. (Switzerland and Singapore being higher is no surprise.)
I am aware that in the US it can be more necessary to have more money saved, and the video showed that it is not the easiest to get to $30 M or $1 B there, but easier to get to $1 M.
no student loans??? I may never be rich
The Scandinavian would not have a student loan or medical debt.
@@LJJ22I think it’s about 5 % in Sweden that owns more than 1 million, but as much as 40 % that owns between 100 k - 1 million. More than 60 % have over 10 k (and no need for either college nor medical savings, et.c.).
When automation replaces a worker, the worker finds another job. This is either done by re-education (free eduction) or if the person is older perhaps they retire. Its different for different people and situations.
In the best of worlds, yes. Not so much in the real world.
@@herrbonk3635 In Scandinavia, yes. There is not much higher unemployment in Scandinavia than the US, despite minimum wage being three times as high.
@@Theaisa A colleague of mine (from Sweden) was paid by the gov to get his diploma... after he had to go back to school in his early 30's after losing his job in a factory.
@@herrbonk3635outside of USA that is the reality of many.
@@TheaisaUSA has working homeless. Most countries don’t.
The real issue is not unemployment it’s employment not covering living expenses.
I loved how you guessed "oil rich country" then went "oh I was wrong" when Norway came up as no 1 as if Norway isn't an oil rich country lol
Its kind of logical. Because the diffrance how Norway and Saudi Arabia is organized, the number of rich people in Norway will be higher, but the amount each reach person have with be lower. Also there was a bit of cherypicking. Switzerland and also Luxembourg was removed, Neither are tax heavens like say Bahamas or Monaco.
While you could consider Bahrain and Qatar and possible UAE tax havens as well, that is not really true for Kuwait, despite that Kuwait was still removed from the list. So there is a little bit of "just remove all the nation a head of Norway".
And Liechtenstein was obviously also removed. They also have one billionair just like Iceland, but a even lower population.
So there was really a lot of fact massaging to make it fit the native.
@@matsv201it's true he did remove some.
However there is a reason for this.
To say Switzerland is not a tax heaven is true, it is a bank heaven, where many people around the world hide their money. Especially a lot of russians oligarchs have secret accounts in Switzerland, but also other people from around the world hide it here and earn extremely good interest rates and know their money is safe.
Switzerland is to Europe what Hong Kong was to Asia. A money hub.
Luxembourg is a country that defies a lot of statistics, due to a lot of high paying EU jobs per capita and other reasons.
I get there was some cherrypickking, but it was done with reason and he did inform what he did. So it was not like he was hiding it. If you want it's easy to find data on all the countries and why it makes sense not to include them in this.
@@matsv201
You don't think Switzerland and Luxembourg are tax havens?
There is a very big reason for why many rich Europeans move to those countries.
And it is for sure not because of the view.
Liechtenstein has VERY low taxes compared with almost all other European countries as well.
And Kuwait do not have individual income taxes at all.
You clearly need to educate yourself before coming with false information.
It is for sure you trying to do some cherry picking and clearly not able to pick a single cherry.
@@The_Judge300 you don't have a clue what you talking about. Even in sweden you don't pay tax on capital. You can be howevet rich and you still don't pay ta on capital.
You also don't pay tax on reinvested capital. You only pay tax for extracted capital and that tax is pretty low in all of scandivavia amd about on par with Luxemburg and swizerland.
What taxrate you are talking about is the middle class and the poor people. Of you are poor ypu for sure pay more tax in nordic countries. Specially seden and Denmark.
With your logic it should be poor people that moved. Not rich..
Educate your self
@@matsv201- I don't know how the tax system in Sweden is, but in Denmark you definitely pay taxes on any capital gains 😂
The Scandinavian countries financial/tax systems are rewarding for entrepeneurs who are creating wealth and job opportunities.
Well, they were - sadly we have this boneheaded government in Norway right now that thought it was a good idea to raise taxes on possessions, like capital that´s bound up in properties and equipment. That´s forced a few of our richest people to move to Switzerland.
Working capital needs to remain untaxed, because every percent you put on these will be multiplied along the sales chain and eventually need to be paid by the customer.
It's all relative and depends on your value system. Years ago, I was speaking to a vendor in Bali. He was telling me how well he was doing - he said he would earn $100 AUD a week ... then he laughed and said .. "not $100 a day, like you Australians". I didn't have the heart to tell him how much we earned. But he was happy with his lot.. that is the Bali goal, to have "enough" and I think that is a really good goal. Greed and materialism will only make you unhappy.
Yeah, this comparison is absolutely non sense. First of all: He forgot the scale. All the Scandinavian countries together have 14M people, 2.8 times less than California. And in California the billionaires are more than 4 per million.
Compare USA and Scandinavia is like to compare Toyota and Ferrari.
The Scandinavian data don't show the National situation but the personal situation. Norway has 12 billionaires. When Johan H. Andresen Jr. transferred his ownership stakes to his 2 daughters make the billionares per million people rate increase from 2.0 to 2.2 (+10%). The same did Stein Erik Hagen when he gave part of the share of his company to his daughter. So 12 billionaires, 3 of them are son of living billionaires and other 3 are son of dead billionaires. Oh, thanks to Norwegian education.
By the way this also happens in big countries, but it impact less in the statistical value. In Italy we usually don't count the single billionaire, for example Berlusconi and his family were all billionaires because they all had shares of the Berlusconi's companies, but we always counted them as 1. So when he died, 1 remained 1.
Second, as you said, it's all relative. A Californian who earn 78k per year and have to pay 2500 dollars for the monthly rent of 1 bedroom/74 square meters apartment in San Francisco is richer or poorer than a Veronese who earn 31k and pay 950€ for the rent of a 120 Square meters/4 room apartment+garage+terrace?
In California the median wage is 78k dollars, lower than the poverty line (117k). That means than more than half of the population are poor for the Californian standards. In Veneto the median wage is less than a half, but it's 2.7 times higher than the poverty line.
The Balinese also have lower costs for most essentials so the do not need to earn as much. Also their society is extended family orientated whereas Western families are nuclear, meaning they have to fund things eg, a home by less numbers of people. But as you stated the Balinese idea of what is an acceptable state to live in, is far more simple than in Western culture. When we were in India one of our guides was shocked to find out how much we pay for bananas (as I bought some and commented on the cheapness ) but even more shocked when I did tell her the average weekly salary in Oz.
@@nicoladc89 Are you on drugs???
I'm at the very end of my studies and I've been getting paid 900 US dollars every month for almost 8 years now. This is enough to live on in Denmark if you find a cheap apartment and make a good budget for your food.
Thats 86.400 US dollars provided by the government which due to my very high education will be paid back through the taxes tenfold. This is the reason that getting "free" education is a very good investment in the population.
That's only works if you actually pay back taxes tenfold after you lay about for 8 years. For a lot of people 8 years on the government dole becomes an unbreakable habit.
@@karlbmiles In Denmark? Cause That's just not true.
Most students dont just live on the money they get from the govt. but subsidize it with a job as well. The University also makes sure students get a job before graduating.
Now you're changing the whole scenario. You said the government gave you enough to live on, and how great that is. Now you're saying really need a job too, and the university can MAKE you get a job when you graduate. These are tradeoffs you were reluctant to talk about in your original comment. @@torlakruusgaard259
Another thing not talked about is, the norwegian enginer got free education and even get paid to study!
and the IMF is not messing with Scandinavian countries. Imperialism plays a key role in whether a country con prosper or not.
It´s not all free. I took a Bachelor back in the 2000´s and racked up a debt of $15k. Not much by US standards, tho, and easily managed once I got a job that paid better than a store clerk. Also, there´s minimal interest on those loans, so that helps as well. Sure, we get "paid" to study in a way, referring to a standard scholarship that we get. Today, this is linked to your performance, so if you don´t manage to complete your education, a lot of this amount will be included in your loan instead of a "free buffet".
@@olenilsen4660 Thank you.. I was 99% sure it was the same in Norway as in Sweden?
I did get my university examina in my middle age, on a program for adults with well documented branch experiens!
As adults on this program we did get double "sholarship" (studiebidrag) for study a 3 year program in 1,5 year!
8 hours classes a day/40 hours a week, one lunch break and two "fikabreak" a day and examina every Monday.. nothing strange for us as adults working in the industry!
Another thing.. I didnt lose my job.. I didnt have to quit my job.. I only needed to tell my employer, in good time ofcourse, that I was going on a study period, (studieledighet)! And they couldnt fire me in this time.. its against the law!
And that law have been updated.. by negotiations between employer organisations, unions and goverment.. one still can keep ones job, if one study to/for get promoted/get a better paid job in ones branch!
In anyway.. try to explaine to Americans how it works in Scandinavia/Nordics.. they dont understand!!
When the pay for the highest paid workers is restricted, that means pay can be better distributed. This means people aren't struggling to just get by, and they can afford to put energy and even money into other ventures and/or to carve out their own self-employment. To that end, the free higher education gives the know-how to pursue such personal ventures.
Or at least I imagine so. I'm no professional. This is just how I imagine pay restrictions contribute to a wealthier populace.
At 5:00 unemployed people get zero money? Who's going to tell him about unemployment benefits? 👀
me, currently unemployed (since there's a downturn in construction work where I live) getting hella money...
yeah, life in Norway is so fucking hard ;)
Ryan, Europe was using pin and chip decades before the US.
Yep! Now we use contactless, most of my friends in the US tell me that it's not common like here. One of my friends is a renter and she has to pay her rent by cheque and another has to pay her water bill by cheque! Also they rely on cash app and Pay Pa,Venmo etc because they don't have to ability that we do here to send cash instantly via out banking apps
I could watch these lectures all day.
What amazes me is the astonished face of every American when someone tells him that his country is not the best at something. In my country what happens is the exact opposite
Harald Eia. My favorite among Norwegian comedians. Comedy + science = perfect.
To the topic of paper cheques in the US: I was shocked to learn that our American daughter corporation pays everything with paper cheque. It might not be normal for a private person but for companies it definitely is in many cases. It's so weird.
and I thought Germany is the only country far behind regarding digitalisation. #FAX
19:15 he is talking about credit card with CHIP.😅 In USA, at least in 2016, i ve never seen a credit card with a chip.
In Europe we have cards with chip and you have to enter a code to pay. 😊 i was ashtonished that you dont have to enter a code in US. And was so afraid that anyone can do anything with a basic one.
When you are satisfied with what you have, you are rich.
Someone thirsty and starving could say the same thing, that’s not always a good mindset-
@sweetcherry7759 OK. Let's just assume that hunger and thurst are also included in being satisfied. Wouldn't you think that it is one of the essential parts of being satisfied to have critical criteria like hunger and thurst covered?
Just maybe a little 🙃
Australian here Ryan. I really enjoyed this video; I could see that it got you thinking, as many of the videos comparing America to other countries have. And it got me thinking: I wonder how the internet, which enables people to learn of other countries and their societies, is affecting the thinking of the general population of, in this case, America, who for generations have been taught that their systems are the best in the world; and if, over time, it will cause a change in the society with more people, like you, at least willing to consider that maybe there are better ways of doing things. I hope so 😊
Do what Mary did, move from Australia, get married and become Queen.
Sadly, the vast majority of Americans are quite content to live in their ignorance. Those like Ryan are a small exception.
I want to be optimistic, but because of the algorithm feeding people only more of the same stuff I’m not so hopeful and it looks like the world will have to suffer another 4 years with the orange idiot in the White House come next election 😢
@@Aquarium-DownunderDo you know her full story ? She consulted a tarot reader before she met Fred. who told her that she would become like a a 'star' and more. That was Mary's destiny. And it was synchronicity that at a last moment before going elsewhere she quickly changed her mind and happened upon the tarot reader in a market place. She has talked openly about it.
To answer your question regarding "where do the workers go" - that's where the free education comes in. Social Democracies upskill their populations
As an Argentinean this is heartbreaking because we have free universities and our unions are strong and we should be living in better conditions. I believe that a HUGE factor in getting the social mobility working is not to be a victim of imperialism. The US didn't have an Operation Condor in Scandinavia. That's a gamechanger.
You're victims of catholicism, not imperialism.
we (Norway) still had Sweden and Denmark to fuck us over during 1000s-1905 so I don't really think that's such a gamechanger as you think it is...
@@Jorsk3n
We just looked after you! 😉
And you are welcome! 🇧🇻🇩🇰😘♥️
@@polgara3000 love you guys as well!👍
Just wanted to explain to an outsider that imperialism means jackshit… You actually have to do something with your country after the fact!
It should also be remembered that during the 1800s and early 1900s, Scandinavia was a really poor place. The population was literally starving.
When you say "not really" to the thing about checks, I don't think you realize the extent of the difference he is talking about. People in Scandinavia have never even seen a check in real life. I'm 30 and I never heard of anyone using a check in my life. I doubt my parents ever used a check. My grandparents probably did. The fact that anyone in America still uses checks at all is crazy to us, even if it isn't every day.
In Sweden it was common to write checks in the mid 80´s, in the 90´s it was more or less doomed.
yup, and that has started happening with physical cash as well.
I'm currently 20 (soon to be 21) and I haven't used cash since like 4th grade in school? Debit cards are used so much more than cash, it's insane.
Well, technically I've used some cash here and there but that's only because I've gone to recycle (pant) empty bottles, cans, etc.
Your parents probably used cheques. If you are 30, you were just born at the time when they were phased out by Scandinavian banks in the late 80s early 90s.
@@nimander5483 Not if his parents are young-ish. I'm almost 50 and can only remember seeing a few checks in my childhood.
Norway as well@@dennisbohman3848
Thats even considered that Americans work many more hours per year than Scandinavians.
You said, that you are using credits cards since forever... Sure, if you buy something in a shop. But what do you do if you wanna transfer money to another person or company? How do you transfer taxes? I "heard", that this is often done by putting a paper check into an envelop and mail it. This is how it works for a friend, an American who paid calculated her tax and had to pay to America. That is where I live basically unknown. I'm 36 and saw in my whole life just a single check. Even wiring money to other EU countries is easy since SEPA, which reformed the banking system.
In the UK we have had self serve checkouts since 2010 (introduced by Tesco) and Chip and Pin since 2004 (mandatory by 2006).
Chip cards in France: since 1996.
Saw my first self checkout in Sweden all the way back in 1994, but it didn't stay around for long. It has become common the last ten years.
I've seen the theory that the social security networks makes people dare to try their business ideas. And if more people dare, more people will succeed.... and some become very rich.
Generally scan your items on your way round the shop now and straight out at the end. Much easier.
I am from Denmark and I feel so sorry for the American people.
You work so hard, lives with so much stress and have so little time for vacation with your family. Yet you can loose everything if sickness or accidents happen. You live with gun violence everyday and high crimes.
You are told you’re living in the best and freest country in the world. When you actually live in the worst of all the western democracies
sad but true
The American dream only exists when you are asleep in bed when you wake up it is the American nightmare
It's important to note that nowadays very many Scandinavian billionaires leave their countries towards countries where they have to pay much less taxes. And, of course, it is hard to get rich in Scandinavian countries when top salaries are capped. There are four ways to get rich, in every country: inherit the money, be lucky (e.g. winning the lottery), have a good business idea, be a reckless criminal.
At the same time 8% of the Danish population are dollar millionaires, Norway also 8%, Sweden 6% and the US 9% so many are doing quite well even in Scandinavia
@@kronop8884 One million, or two or three, in such expensive countries is nothing - poor on a high level.
Sweden tax the rich less than the US
We basicaly have no property tax, no inheritance tax, no gift tax. We have pretty high income tax but most rich people dont have income from work so are not effected by it.
@@viceroyzh Poor at a high level - you should do comedy
If that was true the Nordic countries wouldn’t be top ranked in just about every conceivable metric consistently ranking higher than the US and objectively affording a higher quality of life for its average citizen
Hello Ryan! Such an important video. I have been trying to help people understand this for decades. This was the best articulation I have ever heard of this argument. Thanks for showing this. Hope you have a great day! Peace
10:26: Iceland has one billionaire. But since Iceland has only 330.000 inhabitants, that's 3,1 billionaires per 1 million inhabitants.
Harald Eia is a Norwegian comedian.
The Scandinavian system makes sure that a large part of society gets comfortable.
The American system is designed to keep the families rich. And thats what the complaining Norwegian rich people Harald interviewed tried to achieve as well.
If you give people free education, you don't need as many jobs that can be easily replaced by a robot already. The people can educate themselves instead and find a profession where they'll be paid more.
About the self-checkouts: I can only speak for germany, but in many markets, especially discounters like lidl or aldi, you don't have people that only work as a cashier. They all do basically everything in the store, sometimes even the cleaning. So removing the task as a cashier wouldn't even cost them any jobs, they just have more time to do the rest of their job.
I can imagine that there are still cashier only jobs in bigger markets, but I think in many cases those self checkouts won't even replace jobs here.
I have not used checks since 1991, and presumable more than one year since i used cash, and perhaps 10 years since i went into a bank.......... (Sweden)
Born in 70’s in Sweden we have never used checks ever, in our banking. (Ja en gång I tiden hade vi postväxlar, men dessa var aldrig kopplade till “checking accounts”) Salary is paid out monthly trough a direct deposit to your bank account. Paper bills (invoices) are still in existence but have had digital numbers for payment since the 90’s and are replaced by digital invoices (since 2005 takes time for small companies) and automated payments. Foreign banking have seemed strange, stupid and backwards to Scandinavians since at least the 80’s or 90’s.
I have never used checks (born in the seventies), I can't remember the last time I used cash, probably several years ago.
A few years ago I volunteered at our curling clubs café during an international competition. There was one guy who wanted to pay with cash, not a swede obviously, but I didn't know if the bill he wanted to pay with was the old type or the new. We swapped bills 7-8 years ago or something. I didn't even know what our money looked like...
I think the way its supposed to work is the low paid employees then get better and more satisfying jobs generated by the money saved which can also get fed into development programs, at the higher wage suppressing wages allows for employing more people in that skill bracket, bringing overall prices down because things get done quicker ( eg construction happens quicker without being subjected to inflation over the construction time)
Australia used to have free higher education where you earned a place at university by your academic performance. It was a time when Australia produced so many talented people who led the field in their chosen vocation. We now have the situation where you buy a place at university if you come from a wealthy family or you incure a huge higher education contribution debt when you complete your university studies. The current government has now brought in free trade courses at technical colleges for trades that are in demand as a situation had arisen where we were importing migrants & temporary residents who had these skills. Unfortunately our universities & colleges rely on fee paying overseas students for a very large part of their income & the emphasis seems to have moved from providing an education to providing a profit.
Go to Australia and pass that is about it, Fees are virtually all that counts in Australia.
Your interruptions every few seconds made this a very hard watch. Better to let us see the video in its entirety and then treat us to your opinions.
Self checkout is really big - both my local stores has it (and they are tiny) and i dont think ANY of the chains dont have it. They also have different solution technical way - most have the ones in your picture (a scale and a scanner at the end next to the manned stations as they are still around) - but some give you a pricereader and let you bag directly in tour wagon and just pay at the end (with a card) just before you leave
I think Lidl is the only exeption I can recall, correct me if I´m wrong.
Norway has oil and they have the Government Pension Investment Fund which is one of the biggest in the world. In a few decades from now Norway owns the rest of the world. 😅
The ones who are replaced by technology get free education and training, and then a job where technology can't replace them (yet); usually a job where they operate or manage technology. As a result, employers have more workers available for high skill jobs, which enables new businesses to start up, and existing businesses to grow. For the workers, now that they have more skills, higher productivity, and are still in a strong union, this system means higher pay. I hate to say it, but can't help myself: they "learn to code". Strictly speaking, more likely, they learn to operate or supervise advanced machinery, from machining tools to computers (but not actual coding).
Not to paint a too rosy picture: There are still some who fall outside, and end up in long term unemployment. While the social safety net is robust, if the unemployment persists, and they end up not qualifying for the best support options, it means relative poverty; that is, being poorer than the vast majority. Trying to keep up with the expectations for what is "normal" will fail, but not before creating considerable economic strain, and some few budget miscalculations can result in critical problems, up to and including having to skip a meal or two, until they can get further help. This is very rare, though, and, even then, health care and education will be freely available, and actual starvation or homelessness won't happen (except for people who refuse to accept help).
Because many "simple" jobs are disappearing and being replaced by machines, an unconditional basic income is also being discussed (at least in some countries). I also believe that there will always be people in the future who will not be "mentally" able to adapt here or have the mental capacity to do so (in other words, going from cleaning toilets to becoming programmers is unlikely to happen). Our society will therefore (inevitably) have to develop new social models. We will see what the future brings in this respect (at least in European countries, I'm not sure about the USA).
Education and training is important and will probably become even more important in the future. But you have to be careful not to forget certain people (e.g. immigrants with no or poor language skills, people who are not particularly smart, people with handicaps etc.) and try to make the best of them. That also costs money but is important.
You were looking quite stressed there Ryan realising your country isn’t as up to date or at the top of the billionaire chart as you thought. Life shouldn’t be all about the money is it that important to that the USA has more billionaires when it can’t look after its ordinary citizens?
As usual, thank you. Even if we don't agree on every single point (and it was wierd if we did) you always make your point with down to earth manners, no ego, just pointing out your thought without assuming you're right or wrong, just share. You're a really good and open minded person. I follow you with real pleasure
This guy might be one of, if not the funniest guy on the planet.
But he is also super smart.
Always fun to hear him speak in more serious situations.
If you don’t take care of your feet & legs, don’t be surprised when suddenly you realize you can’t walk muchless run (/metaphor)
I also think that one of the main reasons We (Im a swede) use the self checkout more than America is bc Americans use WAY MORE cash. I can’t remember the last time I’ve used cash. When I was in America this summer I asked the person I was with “do you think they take cash here?” She was shocked since that was such a crazy thing to ask for her😂
@6:55 Interesting list. Germany: 83 million people, 11,679 rich people (83 million / 11,679 = 7,106.77) - USA: 330 million people, 40,581 rich people (330 million / 40,581 = 8,131.88). This means that with just over 25% of the people compared to the USA, we have more than a quarter of the rich people in Germany compared to the USA. But we in Germany are socialists or communists? This example shows that the social market economy works in Germany and, taking into account the different population sizes in the USA and Germany, produces more rich people than the social order in the USA. Would you have thought that?
I think one point was missed. If you have a country with a safety net you will feel more safe to try something new, like an idea or business without fear of being bankrupted or unemployed or getting other problems. You can try your idea, and if it does not work out you can go back to a regular job.
i feel like nobody should have more than 30 million but thats just me
I have never understand why Americans are so against taxes, why?
Im from Sweden and right now im long term sick because i have a herniated disc in my back, i was im the hospital for 6 weeks, well its not always funny to pay taxes but today im grateful for that, i have 80% of my salary so i can still provide for both me and my children, i have been sick for 7 months and my employer give me easier duties so i can come back as soon as possible.
And i have a low income job but can still live without worry about the economy.
My children can study and work with something they find funny and interesting because i pay taxes and my parents get help and the healthcare they need, so for me its just so strange to be so against taxes😳
19:30 They can go to school for free or start a company and be rich.
The latest from Global Finance says - Luxembourg is the richest country, Ireland is 2nd richest & Singapore is 3rd. The United States comes in 10th. Greetings from Ireland. 👍😁🇮🇪
We have hight taxes on salaries and consumption, but we have a flat tax on profits from a company. And the government will pay you 80% of your earlier salary for 1 year to get your business started, you still have health care and free education, you can study unlimited degrees for free. If you fall, company goes bancrupt, you get unemployment get another job, work a year and then try again. In the US you basically need to be rich when starting the company, or you can not fail, starting small business from 0 is a huge risk with no health insurance and no support network.
This is the perfect video for Tyler on his Norwegian channel to react to as well.
16:48 First time is used self checkout was in year 2000. There was this shopping center that used it as an experiment if people would use it but they were lazy so they didn't only some young people. They took them out, but since 2015 - ish they are basically in every place you do your shopping although most people i know including me order groceries online.
Ryan, you ask where the employees go when they introduce tech. He made the point that they had to do it to not go broke. Obviously no one has a job if the business goes broke, not just those replaced by tech.
Tht said, social mobility is the KEY marker. Britain should learn education education education.
I’m early and feel the pressure to comment something smart or funny but nothing comes to mind
Errm… hi
Eat almonds everyday
The way i always heard it is,
Norway is easy to make the first million, but hard after that.
Amerika is hard to make the first million, but easy after.
You need to look at the difference in wages between the best and worst paid in a company, this is where 'rich nations' may not be, as its keeping the poorest down.
Then look at how these values have changed in the past 30 years.
Als9, d8d you see that the ceo of a Scandinavian (Finish) company got fined €121,000 for speeding! It was as the country know that a set fine of say €100 means nothing to some people, so they calculate the fines based on a percentage of the offenders income, so as to actually have an impact on them.
Yeah. Well. One of Norways richest men Kjell Inge Røkke, has a net worth by 2024of 4.9 billion USD. He went to school for 7 years only, as far as i know. Olav Thon: estimated Net worth 2024: 6 billion USD. I dont even think he had 7 years of public school. Swedish Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, 9 years of public school maximum. Net worth in 2015 3.5 billion USD. However this only proves anyone clever and hardworking enough can be insanely wealthy in Scandinavia. Free education for everyone are hovever also a grand blessing. 😊
I think he missed a big part, because of the safety nets here in Scandinavia, it's pretty "low risk" to try starting up a new company/startup, if it fails, you are not completely screwed.
"Those who became billionaires in the last year inherited more cash and assets than they actually made through their investments and entrepreneurship, a study by Swiss bank UBS said Thursday."
Forbes Nov 30, 2023
Where are your manners son, when you sneeze you say excuse me especially publicly.
I thought the American Dream was to have a working class job that allowed you to have a wife, 2-3 kids, in your own house, and a car. When did it become being rich ($30M+)??
When Reddit told us about meme stock options.
I will give you an example from Sweden, in the early 90s, the governmant gave subsidies to companies and states if they wanted to provide their employees with a PC. The reason was that the governmant saw the importance of people learning how to operate a computer and to have the whole population go digital, they did this for 6-8 years. A few years after this a few young kids from Sweden started companies like Skype, Minecraft and Spotify. I would also point out that the welfare state is one of the reasons for Sweden being one of the countries, if not the country with the most patents per capita.
One thing to note is, that for the engineer.... he was quoting salaries. So how much dough is payed to the employee. But for the company, there are also other fees. In the states, healthcare insurance is often given by the company... most likely no cheap btw. Similarly in Nordics/Scandinavia different kinds of pension etc. things are payed by the company.
I recall a rule of thumb is that in Finland, all these mandatory payments are about 30% of the actual net salary (and obviously some are dependent on the salary, while are others sidecosts are more fixed per person). So as an example, if the employee has a net salary of 2000 Eur, Total costs for the employer would be like around 1.3 times it, so ~2600 Eur. I would expect, that if the net salary is in the range of 7000 Eur per month (about the Norwegian Engineer), the total cost for the emplyer would be in the ballpark of 8500 (slighly less thatn the ~30% as like mentioned some of these additional sidecosts are fixed, while others are a fixed on percentage of the salary).
He forgot one important thing in the definition of being rich: It also depends on what things cost in a certain country. The Big Mac index says: In Europe a Big Mac is 5.82$, in the USA 5.58$ - but in Japan only 3.17$. You will also have different prices for houses and cars in different countries. So you might be richer when you own 20 million $ in Japan than when you earn 30 million $ in Europe. Not the numer on the bank account is important - it's the amount of things you can buy for that money.
"The Big Mac index says: In Europe a Big Mac is 5.82$, in the USA 5.58$."
No, it says that in the _EU-area_ it's 5.82$. A lot of European countries aren't in the EU-area, for instance:
Switzerland $,7.73
Norway $6.92
UK $5.39
Moldova $3.57
Ukraine $2.84
Here in Portugal, that is one of the poorest countries on the EU, we do not have anyone packing our bags on the supermarket and every supermarket has self checkout.
We also have a national standard system that allows to pay for tolls, parking (closed and parking meters), and even gas. Your car has a device that is associated to your bank card and that's it.
He said "restroom janitor" so I'm assuming he means the person who comes in periodically to clean, not someone who works in the bathroom for their whole shift.
Although in ritzy hotels, and some similarly high-end places like concert/opera venues and that sort of thing, they used to have a restroom attendant who worked there their whole shift. In the women's room, they'd hand you a towel after you washed your hands, offer cologne or lotion, they had some supplies if you had to fix your makeup or your hair, and they had sewing kits if you needed to make a repair on your clothing. They got incredibly low wages, and you were expected to tip them -- how much depending on what they did for you. If the woman tacked up your hem for you, you were expected to tip her a lot more than if she'd just handed you a towel. I haven't seen a restroom attendant since I was a kid. (I'm 60 now.) I don't know if they don't exist, or if I just don't go to sufficiently high-end places; either is possible. :)
"Where do those workers go?" My first thought is that, with free higher education, there just aren't as many people looking for those lower level, manual-labor jobs, as there are in the US. Someone who'd by bagging groceries in the US might have another low-end job in Scandinavia, one that hasn't been eliminated by tech yet, but they might be working at the factory that makes the auto-checkout machines, or they might be the engineer who developed that machine and is working on improvements. It's like how, with the mechanization of farming, one dude driving a combine can do the work of like a hundred farmers working with hoes or scythes. Most of those other 99 people work in a shop, or have a factory job, or an office job, even if it's not high paying. Most people in the US used to work on farms, and now they don't; we don't have 150 million unemployed farmers lying around, though, because there was enough flexibility in the economy to absorb (most of) them in other industries. The same thing probably happened in Scandinavia -- with fewer people needed to do low-end manual work, the efficiency of mechanization put enough extra wealth into the economy that, along with free education opportunities, most of the people who'd have been cleaning bathrooms before have better jobs now.
Billionaires/Engineers -- engineers working for a salary, or really *anyone* working for a salary, isn't going to become a billionaire. The person who has a chance at getting really rich is the person who owns the engineering firm his uncle works for. And more likely it's someone who owns major shares in the conglomerate that buys out the engineering firm, plus fifty other companies.
Quality education MAY increase productivity on first glance, at least if a number of circumstances are right. But it also breeds sound minds (hope i used that term right there 😅), beeings who are capable of critical thoughts and sophisticated political opinions. Something that is largly disapproved in many countries, including "free societys"...
You are not rich. You saw how on a whole different scale the rich people are. A lot of people could be as rich as you, if not for the hoarders at the top. The rich people want you to be guilty instead of being angry at them.
I've seen a video on TikTok with you reacting at a German window... It has 7 million views 😮 I've been watching you for quite a lot of time and you should have a much larger community. Love your vids, take care!
Btw.
This speaker is a very intelligent man called Harald Eia.
Back in the 90's he used to make really silly but at the same time smart TV-comedy, challenged system norms and stuff.
He has a long, long career on different TV-concepts. He is pretty wealthy himself, so he kind of knows what he's talking about.
23:10 eeeh they’re against people suffering and the rich abusing their position and not paying their fair share
The people who could have worked at the self-checkout or packing your bags have an education and can now have better jobs, earn more and pay more in taxes, which in turn helps pay for free education. They are not left behind but left with better opportunities as well.
“Good morning John.”
Channeling your inner Hank Green?
Workers are retrained often either by their companies or the government
I dont mind your reflections on the videos, but keep them together, starting and stopping the video every 1-2 seconds is very annoying
Bernie Sanders is not against billionaires, he just wants them to pay their fair share of taxes to e.g. free higher education, which also results in more millionaires living.
One important thing is that the Scandinavian model is not about preventing people from getting rich or even preventing wealth inequality.
What it does do is limit income inequality. That allows everyone to earn enough to have a decent life, while still allowing people that care about wealth to accumulate it, just at a slightly slower rate. When even the poorest people have a decent life then there isn't that much tension towards rich people.
And the safety net helps people take risks. If you know you will not be kicked out on the street if you fail, you will not be afraid to follow your dream.
In Poland (nowhere near GPD of Scandinavia) self checkout is in most supermarkets, and quite a few smaller shops (eg. Rosmann chemists)
In Europe, the rent and other permanent costs are automatically withdrawn from your account. No need to drop a paper cheque in your landlord's postbox every month.
2.13 dollars is how much money server staff in america make before Tips (in 43 states). Though they are supposed to be boosted up to minimum wage if their tips don't cover the gap.
Genghis Khan had between 1000-2000 children. Imagine how much money you need😂
To sum up this TEDtalk: long term investment vs short investment. The latter is more fun while the former gives you the best quality.
About the note on self-checkouts and using less employees for the "smaller/simpler" tasks: the idea is to free up humans from menial tasks so they can do more important ones that technology and robots can't yet do properly or efficiently. The more aid you get from technology, the more humans should be freed up to do other things, is the ideal thought process. What those "other" things are would be development (of society, tech, science, medicine, etc) and art or leisure. Yes, culture and technology. Things for us to enjoy in life and to make our lives easier. How do we get people to do those things? Usually by giving them the tools to develop those areas. Those tools are education. It's a spiraling figure meant to lead us into the future. Meanwhile, keeping humans around the world (unwillingly) in those neverending tasks and jobs keeps the entirty of our species at a much slower progress rate.
Humans weren't stupider in the past. They just didn't have the level on their tools yet as we do now. Technology is developing fast now because we already have the basis, which the thousands of years of development that came before us gave. With the ability to share knowledge, techniques and human talent across the entire globe in seconds as we do today, we have sped up progress in a way they couldn't a millennium ago, five hundred years or even a century ago. We are speeding forward today but could be speeding so much faster if more people got the chance by being given the tools to hone themselves. After all, you don't get a quantum physicist without higher education but you can find potential candidates for the position anywhere in the world. Regardless of nation.
So to answer your question of where those workers went or should go? Into developing the future. Into education first, if they need it, and then onwards.
You arsk, where do they work then? I don't know but the unempleument rate in Denmark at the end of 1923 was 2,9%
Self Checkout in Supermarkets is extremely widespread in New Zealand and Australia too.
I am from Uruguay, South America, and yesterday I saw an interview with a couple, an American and a Uruguayan, and they lived 6 months in the US and 6 months in Uruguay, and they were wondering which country is better to live in, And they didn't know how to answer, they had pros and cons, that says it all
Every Sup;remarket in the UK (and France when I go | lot)All have self-checkouts and have had for many years, I have been using 'Chip and pin since the early 2000s in the UK. Also, the firt ATM machines were installed in the UK, we always think of the US as being a little backwards in the adoption of technology. American left wing politicians are against the American system of Capitalism which limits people's aspirations, you can dream, but for the vast majority in the US that's all you can do, is dream, that's why it is called "The American Dream".
I was born 1980.. I've never used a check.. Never done my taxes an other way than online, basically glance over the numbers and sign it..
And I started making my own money at 12 years old..
There is about 3% unemployment rate in Norway. Most people find work. You just never find work with extremely low wages.