When I boarded my flight from Boise to Norway in January 2010, I had very little idea what was in store for me. My best friend and I were about to study abroad at the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway’s southernmost city.
I had picked Norway almost at random.
My rationale — I wanted to study political science in English, at a place I could afford. My school had a direct-exchange program (I only had to pay BSU tuition) with two schools meeting this criteria: one in Wales and one in Norway. Norway seemed like the slightly more exotic option, so I went with that.
After adjusting to jet lag and acclimating to 4 hours of sunlight per day, I started to take in my surroundings. As I studied for my classes and met more Norwegians, I started grasping how different Norway was from America.
Norway blew my mind.
Their minimum wage was about $20/hour.
You could get $20 easily from recycling glass at any grocery store. (I did this a lot, since I was dirt poor.)
Nearly everyone, even the poorest people you’d find on the street, spoke perfect English. (Clearly, they had a very impressive education system.)
I saw young mothers pushing strollers everywhere. Apparently any mom could get 1 year (or more) of paid maternity leave.
College tuition was free. FREE!
Public places were pristine. They took incredible care of buildings, sidewalks, and nature areas.
They had immaculate high speed rail systems, crisscrossing the country, and buses were incredibly convenient to get anywhere around town.
I learned that places like Norway and Sweden had lower corporate taxes than the US, arguably making them more pro-business.
I didn’t really know what to make of all this.
I was a lower middle class, conservative, evangelical Christian, 20 year-old from Boise, Idaho. I thought it was obvious that things worked a certain way — less government intervention in society and lower taxes meant more freedom and prosperity.
But Norwegians seemed pretty free, prosperous, and happy to me. And, very clearly more economically secure than really anyone I knew from home besides the richest kids from my private Christian school background. I had a lot of cognitive dissonance that semester.
I realize now that my semester in Norway started my personal transformation.
I re-examined my religious faith with new eyes and became an atheist within a couple years. I re-examined my politics and voted Democrat in the next election. I re-considered my lifestyle and resolved to be more civically involved and help more people around me.
And now, years later, I’m a Democratic Socialist.
By no means am I an expert of everything Democratic Socialism, but it’s clear to me that capitalism has created a terrible system in the US where profits rule and people suffer. Where our government officials are more concerned about increasing the wealth of their rich benefactors than they are about the lives of their constituents. I don’t think capitalism’s all bad, but I think it really needs to be reigned in and made to work for everyone. I’m inspired by people like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
And recently, I started studying Norway again.
I’m actively engaged in Idaho political work, trying to reclaim our government and get it working for the people again. As I’ve searched for inspiration and case studies of how to transform from a corporate-dominated government to one focused on people, I arrived at a book called Viking Economics: How The Scandinavians Got it Right — And How We Can, Too.
This book deepened my understanding of the societies that Norway and other Scandinavian countries have built. Like, literally everything is better there, from worker productivity, economic security, health and well-being, you name it. And it dispelled the myths that A) these countries have always been this way, so it’s inherent to who they are and couldn’t work elsewhere, and B) even if it could work elsewhere, it’s only possible because of immense resource wealth.
In fact, Norway used to be in really bad shape politically. Like the US today, it was dominated by bought politicians and government didn’t work for the people. Trust for public institutions was at extreme lows and political polarization was very high.
But they overcame it. They rose up with shrewd strategy and brilliant organizing. The people-powered movement took control of the reigns of power and started making changes that helped everyone. And it worked. Trust of public institutions is now among the highest in the world, and mainstream political debate doesn’t even consider a return to the terrible conditions that once were.
It’s not just for Norway. We can have it better too.
If the United States is one of the worst rich countries in the world, then Idaho society is one of the worst of the worst. It’s almost impossible to imagine a transition from where we are today to something like what exists in Norway. It’s easy to get depressed about that, and to consider moving away to greener pastures. But there’s a strange satisfaction in buckling down, committing to stay, and doing the work to move us in the right direction. That’s the choice I’ve made.
Massive grassroots organizing is the way.
The sort of thing that Reclaim Idaho did with ballot initiatives campaigns for Medicaid Expansion in 2017–2018 and Education Funding in 2019–2020. Their strategy has been proven successful, and it’s the best hope for progress in Idaho. That’s the work I’m committed to. And Norway is a big inspiration for me.
And now, this back-and-forth between Will Ferrell / GM and the University of Agder.
They’ve caused me to smile and laugh and remember my time in Norway fondly. I’m proud of what Norway has accomplished, and seeing my old study abroad school articulate it in such a funny and clever way was delightful. It inspired me to share my experience.
Thanks for everything, University of Agder!
