与保姆挪威的生活 - 生活在一个社会民主的"天堂"到底是什么样子？

Life With Nanny Norway

What it’s really like to live in a social-democratic “paradise.”

与保姆挪威的生活

生活在一个社会民主的”天堂”到底是什么样子？

For thirteen years in a row, Business Insider – citing its standard of living, health-care system, and high life expectancy – has put Norway at the top of its annual list of “best countries to live in.” The high life expectancy is an objective fact; the other items are a matter of debate. Norwegian health care? It works admirably, unless you require an operation or treatment that the government considers too expensive or for which there’s a waiting list. Standard of living? Incomes are high, but so are taxes.

Business Insider连续十三年以其高质量的生活水平，医疗保健系统和高预期寿命为理由，将挪威列为年度”最宜居国家”名单的榜首。高预期的寿命是客观事实; 其他的项目则是一个有争议的话题。 挪威的医保系统？ 它一般令人钦佩地运转着，除非你需要一个政府认为太贵或有一个等候名单的手术或治疗。 生活水平？ 收入很高，但税收也是如此。

But I’m not here to argue with Business Insider’s rankings. I’m here to point out an aspect of Norwegian life that never figures on any of these “best country” lists, whether put out by Business Insider or the United Nations or whomever. I’m talking about statism – the degree to which the state is a palpable part of everyday life.

但我不是在这里来争论Business Insider做出的排名。 我在这里是为了指出挪威生活从来没有出现在任何这些”最宜居国家”名单上的一个方面，无论是Business Insider网站还是联合国或任何其他人发布的。 我正在谈论国家主义 - 国家渗透在日常生活的每一方面

Briefly put, Norway is pretty much statism central. I’m more accustomed to it now, but when I was first living here I was acutely aware every single day of the presence of the government in my life. I’m not talking about some abstract, theoretical phenomenon. It’s a real, palpable feeling. A feeling of being a bit less of an individual and a bit more part of a collective. An awareness that your eleven-digit “person number” (which includes your birth date) comes up a lot more often than your social-security number ever did back in the U.S. A sense of being covered by an umbrella, but also surrounded by a wall.

简而言之，挪威几乎是以国家主义为核心。 我现在更习惯这样的生活了，但当我第一次住这里时，我敏锐地意识到政府在我的日常生活中无处不在。 我不是在说一些抽象的理论现象。 这是一种真实，可触知的感觉。 是一个少了一点作为个人，而多了一点作为集体一部分的感觉。 意识到你使用十一位数字的”个人号码”（包括你的出生日期）比你在美国使用社会安全号码的场合多得多。一种被一把保护伞覆盖，但也被一堵墙包围着的感觉。

For the last four years, to be sure, Norway has had a supposedly non-socialist coalition government, led by the Conservative Party, with Labor heading up the socialist opposition. In the September 11 elections, the governing coalition was returned to power. But the non-socialist label is deceptive: whichever party or parties happen to be running the country at any given time, the public sector is overwhelmingly dominated by Labor and other leftist parties. While in power, the so-called conservatives may pass legislation signaling a bit more support for business interests or the military, but they never do anything that significantly reverses Norwegian statism.

可以肯定的是，在过去的四年中，挪威有一个由保守党领导的所谓非社会主义联合政府，以及有着工党领导的社会主义反对派。 在9月11日的选举中，执政联盟重新掌权。 但这个非社会主义的标签是具有欺骗性的：无论在任何时候哪个或哪些政党恰好在经营着这个国家，公共部门绝大多数是由工党和其他左派政党主导的。 在执政期间，所谓的保守派可能会通过立法，为商业利益或军队提供更多的支持，但他们从未做过任何能显著扭转挪威国家主义的行为。

Now, to live under a statist system is, as it were, to live in someone else’s house, and thus to live by their rules. Nanny Norway doesn’t think it’s good for you to drink. So she doesn’t allow anyone other than herself to sell liquor, and makes buying it as costly and troublesome as possible. In my town of 12,000 people, there’s one state-owned liquor outlet. Hours are limited. The tax on (for example) a bottle of vodka is 300%. Beer is more than twice as expensive as anywhere else on earth.

现在，在一个国家统制体系下生活，就像是住在别人的房子里一样，并因此按照他们的规则生活。 保姆挪威不认为你喝酒是好事。 因此，她不允许除她以外的任何人出售酒，并尽可能让买酒变得昂贵和麻烦。 在我的12000人的城镇里，有一家国有卖酒的商店。 营业时间有限。 而且（例如）一瓶伏特加酒的税率为300％。 啤酒价格是地球上其他任何地方的两倍以上。

Nanny Norway thinks it’s best for you to eat at home, so going out to dinner is also a pricey proposition. Lunch? Almost nobody goes out to lunch. Years ago, in a New York Times article about Norway’s high prices, I made casual reference to the matpakke, the modest packed lunch – usually a sandwich or two wrapped in wax paper or aluminum foil – that Norwegians of all socioeconomic levels take to work. After VG, Norway’s largest daily, ran an article about my article, I received hundreds of emails and text messages – including death threats – savaging me for insulting a beloved national tradition.

保姆挪威认为你最好在家吃饭，所以出去吃晚餐也是一个昂贵的选择。 午餐？ 几乎没有人出去吃午饭。 多年前，在一篇关于挪威高昂物价的纽约时报文章中，我不经意间提到了matpakke，即适合所有社会经济层面的挪威人带去上班的廉价午餐 - 通常是用蜡纸或铝箔包裹的一个或两个三明治。 在VG - 挪威最大的日报， 刊登了一篇关于我的文章的报道之后，我收到了数百封电子邮件和短信，其中还包括一些死亡威胁，谴责我侮辱了一个深受爱戴的民族传统。

When I moved to Norway, I was introduced to another tradition: dugnad. If you rent a flat in somebody else’s building, he’s not responsible for taking care of the property – you are. You’re expected to get together with the other tenants every so often and rake the leaves, mow the lawn, wash the stairs, and generally act as if you work for the guy you’re paying rent to.

当我搬到挪威时，我被介绍另一个传统：dugnad。 如果你在别人的大楼租用公寓，他不负责打理这建筑 - 而你要负责。 你应该每隔一段时间就和其他房客聚在一起，耙叶子，修剪草坪，洗台阶，通常就好像你为那个你交房租的家伙工作一样。

It’s interesting how the people of Norway have been taught to regard various forms of deprivation as cherished traditions.

有趣的是挪威人如何被教会将各种形式的剥夺视为珍贵的民族传统。

For a European country, Norway is very large yet also very thinly populated – which means that people have to drive long distances. But although she is a leading oil producer, Nanny Norway thinks it’s bad for you to use gasoline. Hence, while her petroleum fund – which contains the profits from the sale of North Sea oil – is worth just under a trillion dollars, Norwegian citizens pay the planet’s highest gas prices.

对于一个欧洲国家来说，挪威地理面积非常大，但人口也非常稀少 - 这意味着人们需要长途地驾驶。 尽管她是一个产量领先的石油生产国，但保姆挪威觉得使用汽油对你不好。 因此，尽管她的石油基金（包含销售北海石油的利润）价值接近1万亿美元，但挪威公民却支付了全球最高的天然气价格。

Nanny Norway has made laws about things you never imagined somebody might think of making a law about. We once considered having our cats declawed. It’s illegal. (The vet looked at us as if we were savages for even contemplating it – yet the same vet will put a cat to sleep on request, no questions asked.) It’s OK to keep the ashes of a beloved pet in your home – but illegal to possess the ashes of a human loved one. (They have to be buried in a cemetery – but if no relative is still around twenty-five years later to pay a renewal fee, the remains will be dug up and thrown out.)

保姆挪威已经制定了许多法律，你从未想到有人可能为那样的事情制定法律。 我们曾经考虑让我们的猫做除爪手术。 这是非法的。 （兽医看着我们，好像在看野蛮人一样，即使我们只是有这个念头 - 然而同样的兽医会根据请求让一只猫睡觉，而不问任何的问题。）把心爱的宠物的骨灰留在家中是可以的 - 但是在家里存放心爱之人的骨灰则是非法的。 （他们必须被埋葬在墓地 - 但如果在25年后还没有尚在的亲戚续费的话，遗骸就将被挖出并被扔掉。）

One thing has improved. When I moved here, the Web was in its infancy, and the media’s ideological lockstep was numbing. The rise of independent online news and opinion sites has made a vast difference. Still, it irks to know that your tax money is helping to subsidize privately owned newspapers – all of which faithfully echo the political establishment’s views, even as they pretend to be providing a wide spectrum of perspectives. Even more irksome is the compulsory semi-annual license fee (now $184) that supports the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, a shameless propaganda outfit that critics call the Labor Party Broadcasting Corporation.

有一件事情已经有所改善。 当我搬到这里时，网络还处于起步阶段，而之前媒体亦步亦趋的意识形态则让人麻木。 独立的在线新闻和观点网站的兴起造成了巨大的变化。 尽管如此，你还是会很沮丧地得知，你的税款会被用于补贴私人拥有的报纸 - 而所有这些报纸都忠实地反映了政治机构的观点，即使他们假装提供了更广泛的视角。 更令人讨厌的是，你需要支付支持挪威广播公司的强制性半年牌照费（现在是184美元），而这家公司是被一个批评者称为工党广播公司的无耻宣传机器。

Unsurprisingly, running a small business is even tougher in Norway than in the U.S. To start any small business is, in a sense, to issue a declaration of independence, and that makes statists uncomfortable. So they make it as difficult as possible, piling on the rules, paperwork, and taxes. To work as a freelancer, I had to register as a business. But doing what I do is easy in Norway compared to trying to squeeze a profit out of a shop or restaurant.

不出所料，在挪威经营小企业比在美国要更为艰难。从某种意义上说，创办小企业就是发布独立宣言，这让国家主义者感到不舒服。 因此，他们尽可能地让事情变得困难，制定堆积如山的规则，文书工作和税收。 为了成为一名自由职业者，我不得不注册为一家企业。 但是，与经营商店或餐厅艰难盈利相比，在挪威做我所做的事还算容易。

As a writer, I’m particularly aware of laws and practices that affect my profession. Publishing? If your book is being put out by a Norwegian house, there’s no use hiring an agent to get you a good deal: everybody gets the same contract and advance. It’s the law. Booksellers? If you own a bookstore, you can’t lower prices on new books – the government sets the prices, and changing them is forbudt. (That’s Norwegian for verboten.) Libraries? Every year, members of Arts Council Norway, a division of the Ministry of Culture, peruse the lists of new books and pick out those that the nation’s libraries will be required to order. In a country as small as Norway, making the cut can spell the difference between a flop and a hit.

作为一名作家，我特别意识到影响我职业的法律和其相关实践。 出版？ 如果你的书被一家挪威的公司推出，那么雇佣一名代理人来帮助你获得一笔更好的交易是没有用的：每个人都会得到同样的合同并执行。 这是法律。 书店？ 如果你拥有一家书店，你不能降低新书的价格 - 政府设定价格，改变它们的价格则被视为 forbudt。 （这是挪威语的禁止。）图书馆？ 每年，文化部下属的挪威艺术委员会成员都会仔细阅读新书目录，并挑选那些国家图书馆需要订购的书籍。 在像挪威这样的一个小国，预算裁减可以意味着巨大的一笔钱。

Naturally, the fix is in – meaning that writers with friends in high places, or backgrounds in left-wing politics, do well under this system. Favored scribblers get handsome stipends every year or two from the state-supported writers’ unions. A few especially favored writers even receive a taxpayer-funded annual income, comparable to a respectable professional salary. Again, the fix is in.

自然的，这个行业是被操纵扭曲的 - 这意味着有有着高官朋友的作家或左翼政治背景的作家在这个体系下表现得很好。 每年或每两年，受惠于国家支持的作家工会，被青睐的写作者会获得可观的奖金。 一些特别受青睐的作家甚至获得纳税人资助的年收入，这与一份可敬的专业工资相当。 再次说明，这个行业是被操纵扭曲的。

Are there positive things about Norway? Plenty. Overwhelmingly, Norwegians are civilized, decent, honest, patriotic, down-to-earth, responsible-minded, and family-oriented. The landscape is spectacular, the air salubrious, the tap water excellent, and the products of Norwegian farms reliably tasty and wholesome. The country has a proud armed forces, manufactures cutting-edge defense systems, and pays more per capita on military expenses than any other NATO member.

那挪威有积极的一面吗？有许多。 绝大多数挪威人都是文明的，体面的，诚实的，爱国的，脚踏实地，负责任的，以家庭为导向的。 这里景观壮观，空气清新，自来水优良，挪威农场的产品值得信赖的可口和卫生。 这个国家拥有骄人的武装力量，制造出先进的防御系统，并且比任何其他北约成员的军费开支都要高。

We’ve seen that Business Insider hails Norway’s high life expectancy; my sense is that that genuinely impressive statistic has less to do with any welfare-state benefit than with good genes, healthful dietary habits that go back generations, and a tradition of participation in winter sports and other vigorous physical activity well into one’s golden years. I could go on. But the bottom line is clear. All these stellar attributes exist in spite of statism – not because of it.

我们已经看到，Business Insider赞扬挪威的高预期寿命; 我的感觉是，真正令人印象深刻的统计更少地与任何福利国家的好处相关，而更多地可以用这些来解释：良好的基因，可以追溯回好几代的健康饮食习惯，以及在一个人黄金岁月里参与冬季运动和其他有力的体育活动的传统。 我可以继续大书特书下去。 但底线很明显。所有这些优秀的特质都存在，尽管有着国家主义 - 而不是因为它。