# I Pit the new Norwegian government. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 4, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342 "2013-10-04T12:52:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/1 "2013-10-04T12:52:08Z")
This is going to be horribly obscure and boring for most of you, but I’m angry and need to vent. Us Norwegians apparently had a collective attack of the stupids last election, and voted out our darling prime minister for a new, blue, coalition. And the new government will consist of the Progress Party (FRP) and the Right Party (H). For our American listeners, the Right party is slightly to the left of Obama, where the Progress party is is a sort of weird Lets-privatise-everything-and-spend-all-the-money-and-we-dont-like-libraries mishmash. I don’t mind the Rights as such - they’re an old party, have been in government before, fiscally quite sound, and I can see the logic to their views even if I don’t agree. FRP is an entirely loose cannon, and could do anything. But what gets my goat is this will be a minority coalition, and one of the parties that will cooperate with them is KRF - the Christian Nutter Party. And one of the things the christian nutters have pushed through us reintroduction of the right of doctors to refuse to provide treatment that “goes against their conscience”. YOU TRAITOROUS GODBOTHERING FUCKWITS! WE WERE THIS CLOSE TO HAVING AN EQUAL SOCIETY AND NOW YOU’RE SETTING US BACK. The right to abortion upon request should NOT be relinquished this easily you BLUE ASSHOLES\*. The right to contraceptive counseling, IVF for lesbian couples and gender dysphoria counseling should not depend on the whim of the individual doctor. Your vote-pandering just cost us an important part of our freedom. I hope your happy. I guess you are. Go ahead and sell our waterfalls to the japanese, and privatize the oil for pennies. You are just crazy enough to do it. FUCK YOU IN THE EAR WITH A RUSTY CACTUS! But hey, you legalized pro boxing and Segways. Go you. And fuck the blue voters too. Look what you did. You fucked it all up. All of it. Nuts. \*Both government parties use blue as their logo color. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/2 "2013-10-04T13:24:02Z")
I was going “Ho, hum…” until I got to the part about Segways. Seriously, the medical part is scary. Thanks for posting this. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/3 "2013-10-04T14:06:01Z")
You’ve this American’s sympathy. I’m of the notion that if your conscience doesn’t permit you to dispense birth control pills, perhaps you shouldn’t be a pharmacist. If your conscience doesn’t permit you to give sound medical advice on reproductive matters, perhaps you should choose a specialty/practice that doesn’t require you to give such advice. You knew what you were getting into when you chose your profession; now be a professional and fucking do it. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/4 "2013-10-04T14:15:22Z")
So, in Norway Right is left and Progressives are conservatives … and they are all blue. Did I get that right? Or do I mean left? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/5 "2013-10-04T14:30:09Z")
Of course your real problem is that your constitution is such as to foster multiple small parties, and thus coalition governments in which parties who few people actually support can come to wield undue influence. If you had a constitution™ like America’s, the governance of Norway would surely go much more smoothly, and the potential for economically illiterate far-right-wing religious nutters to impede the proper functioning of government, and do serious damage to the interests of the people and the nation, would be much reduced!!!\ ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/6 "2013-10-04T14:35:58Z")
Weird. I would have thought Norway’s advanced educational system would have prevented this sort of stupid among the voters. In America, ignorance and stupidity consistently vote Republican, especially in the South. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/7 "2013-10-04T14:49:15Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > So, in Norway Right is left and Progressives are conservatives … and they are all blue. Did I get that right? And political opposition is treasonous and insane. Hey, I guess some things are universal. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/8 "2013-10-04T14:53:12Z")
Um, OK, what’s the Segway thing about? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/9 "2013-10-04T14:53:14Z")
So maybe I’m stupid too, but why would you want to force doctors to perform procedures that they have moral issues with? Wouldn’t you want to find a doctor who is in favor of the the procedure or medication you’re looking for? I say let the “moral” ones opt out of what they don’t want to do, so you can find a doctor who fits your needs better, instead of someone who is reluctantly doing what he’s required to by law. Can’t you pick your own doctor in Norway? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/10 "2013-10-04T15:11:10Z")
If you’re in a small town or in an urgent situation, you might be fucked. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/11 "2013-10-04T15:13:52Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > So maybe I’m stupid too, but why would you want to force doctors to perform procedures that they have moral issues with? Wouldn’t you want to find a doctor who is in favor of the the procedure or medication you’re looking for? I say let the “moral” ones opt out of what they don’t want to do, so you can find a doctor who fits your needs better, instead of someone who is reluctantly doing what he’s required to by law. Can’t you pick your own doctor in Norway? A disingenuous argument. In the US we’ve seen how VERY effective chipping away at birth control and abortion services can be in denying it to women. It’s just a move towards banning abortion and birth control services, nothing more, nothing less. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/12 "2013-10-04T15:16:15Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Um, OK, what’s the Segway thing about? Abortion procedures are a little different in Norway. You don’t want to know more. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/13 "2013-10-04T16:20:21Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > So maybe I’m stupid too, but why would you want to force doctors to perform procedures that they have moral issues with? Wouldn’t you want to find a doctor who is in favor of the the procedure or medication you’re looking for? I say let the “moral” ones opt out of what they don’t want to do, so you can find a doctor who fits your needs better, instead of someone who is reluctantly doing what he’s required to by law. Can’t you pick your own doctor in Norway? If its not an option to find another doctor due to price or convenience, then yes, I do want to force doctors to do their jobs. Its their fucking jobs. If they don’t want to do it, they can get fired or manage a hardware store ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/14 "2013-10-04T16:20:58Z")
Boxing used to be illegal in Norway? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/15 "2013-10-04T16:21:35Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > A disingenuous argument. In the US we’ve seen how VERY effective chipping away at birth control and abortion services can be in denying it to women. It’s just a move towards banning abortion and birth control services, nothing more, nothing less. Hey, I’m just Asking Questions. Seriously though. I know there are howling wildernesses in the USA where someone could quite literally only have a single pharmacy or doctor within any sort of reasonable travel distances, but I didn’t think that was the case in Norway. I guess I’d expect in most circumstances, if you found that your doctor/pharmacist/lawyer/carpenter etc. was reluctant to perform ANY service for ANY reason, your first reaction would be to find another provider, not to try to legally force them to perform the service, because I’d expect someone being forced to perform the service wouldn’t do a good job at it. I don’t think that’s disingenuous. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/16 "2013-10-04T17:35:57Z")
[QUOTE=ntjj] So, in Norway Right is left and Progressives are conservatives … and they are all blue. Did I get that right? Or do I mean left? [/QUOTE] Nope. We have the normal left/right, it’s just that your entire field is to the right of us. Obama would be considered a scarily right-wing politician here. Our right is still to right of our left, they’re just to the left of you. I _think_ the progress party is referring to economic progress. The word doesn’t have the same connotations in norwegian. We use the loan-word “progressive” much like you do, but not the norwegian word for progress (_fremskridt_). But yes, they both use the color blue. We call it the blue-blue coalition, as the opposed to the previous one, which was the red-green. [QUOTE=Evil Captor] Weird. I would have thought Norway’s advanced educational system would have prevented this sort of stupid among the voters. In America, ignorance and stupidity consistently vote Republican, especially in the South [/QUOTE] . I’m not sure “prevent” is actually desirable here, I don’t actually want to prevent anybody from voting how they please, despite my rant. I’m perfectly happy with both our education system and our democracy, as it happens. That said, FRP voters are statistically less educated then average norwegians, for what that’s worth. [QUOTE=Tom Tildrum] And political opposition is treasonous and insane. Hey, I guess some things are universal. [/QUOTE] You’re right. That was out of line. No one has committed any actually treason. I meant something more like “treacherous”. Damn english and your advanced vocab 🙂 [QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] Um, OK, what’s the Segway thing about? [/QUOTE] We treat motor vehicles like we do guns and drugs, i.e. they are illegal until proven otherwise. [QUOTE=Rollo Tomasi] Boxing used to be illegal in Norway? [/QUOTE] Pro Boxing, yes. Amateur was fine. [QUOTE=muldoonthief] Seriously though. I know there are howling wildernesses in the USA where someone could quite literally only have a single pharmacy or doctor within any sort of reasonable travel distances, but I didn’t think that was the case in Norway. [/QUOTE] There are places in Norway where getting another doctor involves taking a plane, and those places are more likely to have a conservative doctor. Seriously, look at a map: Norway is a looooooong motherfucker, and most of it is quite rural and sparsely populated. If you flip Norway around by the tip, the other end touches Rome. It is that long. ---
**Author:** ![Mogle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mogle/32/12021_2.png) [@Mogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/17 "2013-10-04T17:40:19Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I guess I’d expect in most circumstances, if you found that your doctor/pharmacist/lawyer/carpenter etc. was reluctant to perform ANY service for ANY reason, your first reaction would be to find another provider, not to try to legally force them to perform the service, because I’d expect someone being forced to perform the service wouldn’t do a good job at it. I don’t think that’s disingenuous. Keep in mind this is Norway, so the doctor will either be a government employee or have a government contract. If you want to get paid with taxpayer money you have to accept that the government get to tell you which services you have to offer. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/18 "2013-10-04T17:45:33Z")
I, for one, am cancelling all future vacation plans to Norwegia! ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/19 "2013-10-04T17:50:58Z")
Don’t do that, they have such lovely [cheese](http://www.tine.no/produkter/ost/gulost/norvegia). ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342/20 "2013-10-04T19:25:08Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Seriously though. I know there are howling wildernesses in the USA where someone could quite literally only have a single pharmacy or doctor within any sort of reasonable travel distances, but I didn’t think that was the case in Norway. Have you ever looked at a map of Norway? Outside of Oslo and and its immediate area, pretty much the whole country is seriously remote, with little settlements squirreled away up remote fjords, often in the Arctic circle, and I imagine, often only reachable by boat, and only then at times when there is not too much ice about. > [@Septima](#): > > Nope. We have the normal left/right, it’s just that your entire field is to the right of us. Obama would be considered a scarily right-wing politician here. Our right is still to right of our left, they’re just to the left of you. Hey, don’t blame me for Obama. I’m British. He is … well not _scary_ right wing, but at least centre right to us (and we haven’t, as yet, got any Christian right nutter parties in our governing coalition - well, unless you count the Ulster Unionists, but they are so anti-Catholic they would probably make abortion mandatory if they could). And, hang on, are you now telling us that you are saying your country is fucked because your new “right wing” ruling coalition is not quite as far to the left of Obama as the former government was? And you think **you** have problems! 😛 What I was complaining about, though was that, if I understood your OP correctly, your Right Party is to the left of your Progress Party which is (by Norwegian Standards) right wing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-norwegian-government/670342.md?page=2)