My confusion is here: we pay soooo much taxes in USA. How come they cant use our taxes to give all these benefits to us (i.e: free healthcare)? WHERE are our taxes going? Oh... thats right, going to war and weaponry.

The average personal tax rate in the US is 13.29%, not 37%, according to Statista for 2019. That's the TOP Federal income tax bracket. And in Norway it's 27.5% according to the OECD. (cont...)

The USA pays for their security. And the security of many other nations...like Israel. Countries like Norway and Costa Rica have little to no military budget. They rely on the USA to protect them. If they paid for their security, things would look different.

Norway is not democratic socialism, Marianne. Norway is a social democratic nation. Norway isn’t socialist, it’s capitalist but with stronger safety nets & increased union power. People don’t need to think we must embrace socialism in order to adopt some of Norway’s policies.

I would add that the United States has 'the' most expensive healthcare in the world. United States: $12,530 per person Norway: $8,240 per person

Norway has no minimum wage and a 25% sales tax compared to the US average of 6%

They tax significantly heavier and have higher living costs. I love the Nordic countries and my friends there are mostly content to pay the tax, but it is an incredibly expensive place to make a home for yourself.

Norway is not socialist. They're a social democracy.

You forgot to mention that Norway nationalized their natural resources to help pay for all those services.

Life expantancy has unprecedentedly dropped 2 years since the pandemic began, it’s not close to 79 years anymore. Ranking the US as the 14th happiest country is a joke also.