Hvorfor jeg ikke liker FrP

Why I don't like the Progress Party.*

I mean, aside from the obvious reasons. >:-)

Yes, there are lots of reasons to dislike them ... namely, their politics. But that is something with which I personally mostly disagree (although it's not all bad, they do have some good points) and which I fully accept that others hold a differing opinion on. It's a free country and so on. But there is something that I hold against them that has nothing to do with their politics, but 'merely' with their presentation of their politics, and which IMO is seriously detrimental to our society.

I am talking, of course, about their incessant goddamn whining about every little thing.

This is Norway. Year in and year out we're top of the list of the world's best countries to live in. School is free for everyone. Water is clean and plentiful. Our crime rates are among the lowest in the world. Health care costs hardly anything and is available to everyone. There are no prevalent widespread diseases. Poverty rates are very low. We have a small population and our nature is relatively clean and unspoiled. We are as a state metaphorically rolling in money. Our wage level is one of the highest in the world. Everyone can afford food and a place to live. What exactly are our problems??

That is not to say, of course, that there are no problems. Of course there are problems. Nowhere is perfect ... nowhere inhabited by humans, at least. >:-( But compared to so many other places in the world, our problems are so small! We have it so good here. We are so lucky to be born as Norwegians. It's a disgrace that so many fail to appreciate that.

This is what I first and foremost have against FrP. Their concerted efforts to create from this incredibly fortunate people a nation of whiners. All they do is complain, all they focus on is whatever is bad or may be construed to be bad. They whine and they whine and they whine and they want us to ignore our incredible good fortune and join their chorus of complaint. How is it possible that they're succeeding so well??

I'm not at all saying that there aren't people in this country who are struggling. Of course there are, and I feel for them. But why is it wrong to keep a little perspective? (And yes, many people do think that it is indeed wrong.) Sure, it must be awful to for instance not be able to let your child be part of its peer group and to watch it feel left out and friendless. I'm sure it's hard for a mother here in Norway who's crying because she can't afford to let her eight-year-old do taekwondo or take dance classes. But on the other hand, there's a mother in Congo who's crying because her eight-year-old got raped to death by a gang of soldiers on drugs. So ... ? What I'm trying to say is that I fail to see how it helps, how it makes things better, to always be focusing on the negative side of things, on what's bad. But that's consistently what the Progress Party wants us to do.

There are so many things wrong with their political standpoints that I hardly know where to start. But this encouragement of negativity really is the worst part about them. I genuinely believe that they are doing us as a nation and a society serious harm.

Following online debates really is pretty scary these days. I am constantly amazed by the negativity I find there. What some people have to say is just mindboggling, it's like they're writing from an alternate reality. The place they describe is not the country I'm living in. To hear these people talk, people are dying in the streets and you can't leave your house without being assaulted, everyone's on drugs and we're paying 110% taxes, our children can barely read and think 2+2=5, every immigrant's a criminal just waiting for the chance to rape and murder us and the government's going to install mind control chips in all our brains any day now. OK, I'm exaggerating, but not by much. I don't know where it all comes from. Norway is a great place to live. We're so lucky to be here, to belong in this country. When people say in all seriousness that they want to emigrate because living here is so awful, because the country's gone to the dogs and there's nothing left here worth a damn ... I just don't understand where it's all coming from. Good fucking riddance to them. But they're so wrong. Yes, healthcare queues are long for non-essential treatment. But that's how it is, and that's how it's going to be regardless of who's in power over this aging population ... and we don't have more than the number of doctors and nurses we have, no one can wave a magic wand and there they'll be. Yes, our roads aren't perfect and many other countries have much better roads than us, but look at a fucking map!! We're never going to have perfect roads whatever we do, this country isn't suitable for long-distance transport! Yes, food seems expensive, but we'll never get food that costs less without getting severe pay cuts as well, and who'd ever accept that? I don't think I'll ever understand how people can live in the same country yet not in the same reality.

No, our current government isn't perfect. Of course it isn't. But what the Progress Party and their voters seem not to understand is that just keeping the Norwegian welfare state on an even keel is a huge achievement. Especially in this current crisis. I wish the Labor Party and its allies would emphasize that more, because it really is a real achievement and it's to their credit that they've managed it. It's very difficult. If the Progress Party ever comes into power (and remember, that may be as soon as this coming Tuesday!) I think they will discover that it's much, much more difficult than they think it is.

One thing these gloom-and-doomers are right about, though. Our school system must really suck ass. Otherwise we probably wouldn't have quite so many ignorant shitheads.

I would ask one thing of everyone who reads this, regardless of whether you're a Norwegian or a foreigner, and regardless of what you vote. Try to look on the bright side. Try not to let the bad things, which will always be there no matter what you or I or anyone can do, ruin the good things. Try to keep this in mind: Focusing on what's negative will not help your situation, make you feel better or change anything. It's infinitely better for you and for your society that we all spend our energy on making improvements on what we've got, instead of spending it on complaining about what we don't.

Nothing is perfect in this world. But if you're not happy with what you have, imagine not having it.