... then we're in a heap of trouble.

Norway is officially the best place to live, according to the UN. The UN's criteria is typical, and includes factors such as wealth (everyone knows money makes you happy, right?), educational levels (because a degree in art history adds so much to the quality of life), health care (unless you are unborn) and life expectancy (ditto).

I guess big government = good life, in the view of the United Nations.

Top Ten Reasons I think Norway, and second runner up Iceland, are NOT the most ideal places to live:

1. 60% of children are born from parents who are not married.

2. Norway requires military service from every man between 18 and 44, whether you want to be a soldier or not. Conscientous objectors are still forced into 12 months of public service.

3. Although there is technically 'freedom of religion', there is an established State Church. (Lutheran)

4. If you run a company, 40% of your board members are required, by law, to be female. They are not required to have any qualifications, just be a girl.

5. Half of the population growth is attributed to immigration. Norwegians are not reproducing themselve. (Could the demise of marriage and imposition of same sex unions have anything to do with it?)

6. Norway supports abortion worldwide, being one of the major funders of the UN Population Fund.

7. Norway has one of the highest teen abortion rates in Europe; almost 20% of all pregnancies end in abortion (reported abortions of all women, not just teens, only) How can a country that kills one out of five children be a good place to live?

8. The climate is strange. There are up to 24 hours of daylight in the summer... and 21 hours of darkness in the winter. Talk about depression!

9. It's cold. (Where do you think reindeer come from, people?) Today it is 1 degree Centigrade - which is 33 degrees F. It's 70 over here in South Carolina. And sunny. Maybe that's why there are only 4 million Norwegians - the population of my state, or the population of the entire Denver Metro area.

10. Their Christmas traditions are downright scary. Their "Santa Claus" is fjøsnissen, literally: the Goblin who Lives in the Barn. A good Norwegian housewife makes SEVEN different kinds of cake for Christmas - scary to everyone but Martha Stewart, and her staff! Holiday meals include, in addition to seven kinds of cake, porridge and boiled cod. If it's a really special occasion, they might dip the cod in lye first.

Although, the government pays people with more than one child. They get a check, and possibly even their rent paid... maybe I'll move there after all!


Tags: Prolife, Mama Says