# America 101: How would you answer these kinds of questions? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994 "2015-01-27T12:09:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/21 "2015-01-27T21:18:50Z")
My first reaction would be to dismiss the Norwegian as an arrogant, condescending prick. Norway happens to be sitting on an oil field which has generated a sovereign wealth fund of $750 billion supporting a nation of 5.1 million people, or about $150,000 per person and growing. Understand, this represents not the value of the oil, but the profit after extraction and _after_ funding a generous welfare state. We’re not all so lucky. Of this bounty, Norway spends 1.5% of GDP on defense. Meanwhile they shelter under the NATO nuclear umbrella. I wish the US could spend 1.5% of GDP on defense. I really do. But if we did the world would be dominated militarily by Russia, China, and Iran, and Norway might find such a world surprisingly uncongenial. Norway is a nation of 5.1 million people, almost all of whom have been in the country for generations and share a common world view and heritage. The US is a country of 330 million people, most of whom arrived either enslaved or dead broke, from every corner of the world, with almost nothing in common. Maybe we deserve some credit for building the society that we have, imperfect as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/22 "2015-01-27T21:37:04Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Until Obamacare, the only “prevention” method available to many women was precisely abortion. Before Obamacare, you couldn’t buy a condom? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/23 "2015-01-27T22:07:49Z")
A great many Americans are stupid…because we’re free to be. We don’t have mandatory re-education camps; if someone drops out of high school, that’s his or her right. We encourage education, and we reward education, but we don’t mandate it (for adults.) When people are free, they are likely to prioritize differently than you might think they should. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/24 "2015-01-27T22:35:37Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > My first reaction would be to dismiss the Norwegian as an arrogant, condescending prick. Norway happens to be sitting on an oil field … > > Of this bounty, Norway spends 1.5% of GDP on defense. Meanwhile they shelter under the NATO nuclear umbrella. I wish the US could spend 1.5% of GDP on defense. I really do. But if we did the world would be dominated militarily by Russia, China, and Iran, and Norway might find such a world surprisingly uncongenial. LOL. The US spends almost as much on its military than the next 9 nations _combined_. US military spending is close to 40% of the entire world. China is 10%. Russia is 5%. Iran is an error term. Norway also spends 1.03% of GDP on developmental aid while the US clocks in at 0.19%. So there’s that. [http://www.janes.com/article/40083/analysis-us-no-longer-spends-more-on-defense-than-next-10-biggest-countries-combined](http://www.janes.com/article/40083/analysis-us-no-longer-spends-more-on-defense-than-next-10-biggest-countries-combined) > **[World Military Spending](https://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending)** > > US and world military spending and budgets are very high, almost back to Cold War levels. > **[American Military Dominance In One Staggering Chart](https://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-defense-spending-by-country-2014-2)** > > Defense spending accounts for about 20 percent of all U.S. federal spending. ---
**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/25 "2015-01-27T23:16:40Z")
Europeans have been assuming they know what is best for everyone to catastrophic results for centuries, what makes them so confident that they have it right this time? 😉 I lived in Germany as a teenager and loved it very much. I think many of the desired outcomes reflected in many European countries’ policies would be good to achieve in the USA, even if circumstances require different approaches. If Europeans are really interested in my thoughts on why we haven’t achieved those outcomes (or seem to not value those outcomes), I am happy to talk about it. If they just want to inaccurately bash America (and this has been a very small group, in my experience), they’re usually not people worth talking to in any case. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > I could buy that argument, in an alternate universe where the anti-abortion folks were doing their best to ensure that women could afford and obtain the forms of contraception that worked best for them. But they’re against most forms of contraception as well, and work to reduce access to them. To be fair, most abolitionists weren’t supportive of actually promoting racial equality. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/26 "2015-01-27T23:35:18Z")
After I answer these questions, are you going to ask me why [I’m still lynching negroes?](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_you_are_lynching_Negroes) ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/27 "2015-01-27T23:48:02Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > After I answer these questions, are you going to ask me why [I’m still lynching negroes?](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_you_are_lynching_Negroes) _Whataboutism_. I like that. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/28 "2015-01-28T00:21:05Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I will attempt to answer with from the position of those who hold these positions. I don’t think you succeeded. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/29 "2015-01-28T00:24:06Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > No, for many of us (specially those who have been there or who have close female relatives who have) it’s about women’s healthcare in general. Wellness checks, availability of pregnancy prevention methods, sex ed… Until Obamacare, the only “prevention” method available to many women was precisely abortion. The idea that abortion was available as a matter of privacy and not of healthcare (specially when so many other aspects of privacy are nonexistent) falls under “things I’m not going to try and explain to most Europeans”. Well, here in America pretty much everyone - men, women, and children - get generally screwed by healthcare. So I figured a question specifically about women’s healthcare was referring to abortions. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/30 "2015-01-28T01:24:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t think you succeeded. Enlighten me. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/31 "2015-01-28T01:52:10Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > [This article](http://www.salon.com/2015/01/13/have_americans_gone_crazy_partner/) praises the Norwegian social system, and talks about the questions the locals have of the author about the attitudes of what they believe is the typical American. That got me wondering: how would you answer such questions if they were asked in genuine curiosity by a well-meaning non-American, or how have you answered such questions IRL? Salon has published some useful and intelligent stuff in the past; for instance, they played a role in Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA spying. But anything worthwhile that they’re publishing now is getting buried under a tidal wave of dumb shit, of which that article is an excellent example. For instance, it says the Iraq War was “opposed by the entire world”. Regardless of how one felt about the Iraq War at the time–I was opposed to it–this is false. More than 30 countries, most of them in Europe, sent troops to Iraq. Tony Blair was the war’s biggest cheerleader among world leaders. Even Norway, if I recall correctly, voted in favor of the war resolution at the UN. So Ann Jones is flat wrong in that assertion. Debunking the entire article would take more time and patience that I have, but I’ll take a stab at a few of the questions. > [@](#): > > - Why can’t you Americans stop interfering with women’s health care? Like others in this thread, I’ll assume that this is only about abortion. “Women’s health care” includes everything from anti-depressants to major surgery, but left-wingers who use the words generally mean abortion only. As I noted in a GD thread a few months ago, most European countries have much more restrictive abortion laws than the United States. That includes Norway. There’s no legal abortion on demand in Norway after the 12th week, though it may be allowed under cases of medical necessity. In the USA, courts routinely knock down attempts to restrict abortion even after the 20th week. > [@](#): > > - How can you speak of the rule of law when your presidents break international laws to make war whenever they want? > - How can you throw away the Geneva Conventions and your principles to advocate torture? I hate torture and oppose it strongly. However, there is little reason in the main to believe that international law will always give better human rights results than American law. Vast amounts of human rights abuse in many countries is routinely ignored by the United Nations and other international bodies, giving little reason why anyone would want international law to play a larger role than it does. Despite the humiliating use of torture during Dubya’s Administration, the USA still has many human rights areas to be proud of. Our defenses of free speech and freedom of religion are among the world’s strongest. Given the proliferation of “hate speech” bans in many other countries, there’s just reason for Americans to fear what would happen if we let international laws and standards override our own national laws. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/32 "2015-01-28T02:48:03Z")
I didn’t bother reading the replies so far so forgive me if I repeat info. And giving the obviously anti-US nature of the questions forgive me if I treat this thread as a ‘hostile witness’. 😃 So in a nutshell: \* - Why can’t you Americans stop interfering with women’s health care?\* If you want to talk about abortion, just say so, don’t use pretentious, pseudo-intellectual euphemisms. And abortion is legal in all 50 states. \*\* Why can’t you understand science? - How can you still be so blind to the reality of climate change?\* Don’t ask two identical questions when only one is enough. Climate change as it exists today is less science than it is a neo-hippie fad and it deserves to be held up to intense scrutiny by anyone claiming to be a real scientist. Not doing so is the very definition of ignoring the ‘scientific method’ and instead caving to politics & media hype. \*\* How can you speak of the rule of law when your presidents break international laws to make war whenever they want?\* 9/11 was more than a justification for everything we’ve done in the war on terror. If anything, we haven’t gone far enough. When terrorists attack and destroy one of your country’s greatest structures/achievements and murder 3000+ of its innocent citizens call us. Till then questions like the above mean next to nothing. \*\* How can you throw away the Geneva Conventions and your principles to advocate torture?\* Waterboarding is not torture. \*\* How can you hand over the power to blow up the planet to one lone, ordinary man?\* First, a nuclear war would not ‘blow up the planet’, but it would destroy most of Western civilization. And second, it is neither in the hands of ‘one’ nor an ‘ordinary’ individual. It would require two (and actually quite a few more) top members of the US govt to launch a nuclear strike, and on many levels the US President can hardly be called an ‘ordinary individual’ (and this coming from one of the only countries that has _ **NEVER** _ had a king). \*\* Why do you Americans like guns so much? Why do you kill each other at such a rate?\* Because this country was formed by armed revolt and personal ownership of firearms was (and to some degree still is) an integral part of that. Again, those of you who’s history is dominated by aristocracy & peasantry will never understand this. And we are a nation of over 300 million people. Percentages distort. Any other homework? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/33 "2015-01-28T08:19:54Z")
If only these were the sorts of questions I were asked. Instead, I get on a daily basis, ‘Will this be on the exam?’ and ‘Do I have to keep to the assignment deadline?’ and ‘Does a hangover count towards an excused absence?’ Of course, I’ve pre-empted a lot of it by informing people that Americans are issued with a gun and a banjo at birth. I’ve seriously never been asked any of the questions in the OP despite working several years at a university populated in the majority by British and European students and staff. No wait, I told a lie – I was once asked early on why one of my American colleagues is SO DAMNED LOUD, and myself and the other American aren’t. That’s been about it. Hit enter not preview: another instance recently: a student asked me a bit shyly if it were ok for her to use clips from _Team America_ in her class presentation (which was indeed relevant to her topic), as she was worried I’d find it offensive. I’ve got another student doing his senior thesis on the influence of Classics on early Federalist propaganda who was fretting over how he ought to refer to the American Revolution in his paper. Oh! I’ve also been asked several times why all the baddies in Hollywood films are played by British actors. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/34 "2015-01-28T12:34:47Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > My first reaction would be to dismiss the Norwegian as an arrogant, condescending prick. The article makes it pretty clear that the author is an American, contrasting America with the way things are done in Norway. > [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Norway happens to be sitting on an oil field which has generated a sovereign wealth fund of $750 billion supporting a nation of 5.1 million people, or about $150,000 per person and growing. Understand, this represents not the value of the oil, but the profit after extraction and _after_ funding a generous welfare state. We’re not all so lucky. **All** the oil income goes into the sovereign wealth fund. That is why its so big. There is no “after”. Oil does not fund the welfare state. The welfare state is funded of the governments normal non-oil income. The fact that it can be generous without a crushing tax burden is normally attributed to policies like maternity leave, childcare etc which ensures a large workforce participation, and the fact that the country is mostly middle class. > [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Of this bounty, Norway spends 1.5% of GDP on defense. Meanwhile they shelter under the NATO nuclear umbrella. I wish the US could spend 1.5% of GDP on defense. I really do. But if we did the world would be dominated militarily by Russia, China, and Iran, and Norway might find such a world surprisingly uncongenial. Norway has conscription for men and women, and a military budget that is in the top 30 in the world. Not per person, total expenditure. 1,5 % of Norways GDP is enough to put its military expenditure in the top 30 in the world. Perspective. The US military budget is not normal, or usable as a yardstick. And if you total up the 2009 military budgets of Russia and China, you’d be well short of the total of the UK, Germany and France. Also, the US military budget is 4 % of GDP. Healthcare is 18 %. Norway spends 9 % of GDP on healthcare. US waste in healthcare is more than twice its total military budget and if the US reduced is spending to Norways % of GDP, that would save one-third of the healthcare waste. > [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Norway is a nation of 5.1 million people, almost all of whom have been in the country for generations and share a common world view and heritage. The US is a country of 330 million people, most of whom arrived either enslaved or dead broke, from every corner of the world, with almost nothing in common. Maybe we deserve some credit for building the society that we have, imperfect as it is. In general, having more people should make it easier to get results. thats whay the economies of size are all about. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/35 "2015-01-28T13:52:09Z")
> [@Grim\_Render](#): > > And if you total up the 2009 military budgets of Russia and China, you’d be well short of the total of the UK, Germany and France. I’m curious about what numbers you would use to back up this statement. [These lists](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures), which admittedly are from 2013, don’t support you. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/36 "2015-01-28T14:38:17Z")
> [@Grim\_Render](#): > > In general, having more people should make it easier to get results. thats whay the economies of size are all about. If you’re talking financial & industrial stuff, yeah. **Freddy** is clearly not. If you’re talking about voluntary consensus, no. We have metaphors for this: too many chiefs, not enough Indians; too many cooks spoil the soup; please everyone and you’ll please no one, etc. It’s actually a pretty good description of why the USA has the problems it does. A squabbling and disarticulated populace is easily manipulated. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/37 "2015-01-28T14:44:26Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I’m curious about what numbers you would use to back up this statement. [These lists](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures), which admittedly are from 2013, don’t support you. SIPRI yearbooks [2009](http://www.sipri.org/yearbook/2009/files/SIPRIYB0905.pdf) (table 5.2) and[2010](http://www.sipri.org/media/media/pressreleases/pressreleasetranslations/storypackage_milex). To keep it in tune with the above, Norway military budget alone was about 6 billion in 2009. 1/9 th of Russias. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/38 "2015-01-28T15:14:35Z")
> [@Grim\_Render](#): > > SIPRI yearbooks [2009](http://www.sipri.org/yearbook/2009/files/SIPRIYB0905.pdf) (table 5.2) and[2010](http://www.sipri.org/media/media/pressreleases/pressreleasetranslations/storypackage_milex). To keep it in tune with the above, Norway military budget alone was about 6 billion in 2009. 1/9 th of Russias. Thanks. Two of the three tables at my Wikipedia link are from the same source, but from 2013. What a difference a few years makes. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/39 "2015-01-28T15:19:42Z")
> [@Isosleepy](#): > > … > Guns: There are around 300 million guns in America. Even if you wanted to “just get rid of them” it would be impossible to get to that point without a very lengthy spell of only lawbreakers owning guns…If you’re not a drug dealer, friends with drug dealers or hang out with drug dealers, your odds of getting shot are pretty low… Very good points. Come to West Virginia (you know, country roads, Blue Ridge mountains, Shenandoah river…) sometime. One of the most heavily armed places in the world, and one of the safest too. People are polite. _Very_ polite. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994/40 "2015-01-28T15:34:07Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Thanks. Two of the three tables at my Wikipedia link are from the same source, but from 2013. What a difference a few years makes. Indeed. The high oil price has allowed Russia to allocate far more money to its military budget than previously. However, some friends of mine who are heavily into military matters have argued quite convincingly that little of Russias increased spending has made all the way to the military. They believe that much of the money stopped with the military production and purchasing authorities. Its hearsay, but it does fit with my understanding of how Russia works. Chinas increase is a different story I understand, but less relevant to Norway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-101-how-would-you-answer-these-kinds-of-questions/710994.md?page=3)