Now what, the United States? – NRK Urix – Foreign News and Documentaries

When I was a kid, it was Beverly Hills 90210 that was on television. Every Tuesday night, if I remember correctly. But while at the time we dreamed of America and the good life there, many Americans today dream of leaving the country.

When Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election managed to mobilize more than 70 million voters, it was largely thanks to the message of “Make America Great Again” and put “America First.” Many Americans want the glory days to return. Joe Biden doesn’t have an easy job when he takes control of America in adversity.

Let me introduce you to my friend “Chris”. For me, it represents in all its simplicity the development that the country has gone through.

Something change

Chris grew up in one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the capital of the United States, far from my world, in a small town on the Norwegian coast. His family had a maid at home. You know, the kind you only see in old movies, who walked around in a black dress and a white apron. Yes she did.

Chris was the son of a renowned chief physician who toured the best hospitals in Europe to teach the latest practice in the United States.

He attended one of the leading private schools in the country. He did not become a doctor as his father wanted, but received a good education and became a lawyer. Today he works in the public bureaucracy in Washington DC He is well married to nurse “Catherine” and has had two children. Chris did well. After all, he had a very good starting point.

The couple lived, until recently, on two good salaries and must belong to what we can probably call the middle class in Norway.

But something has changed since Chris was a child. Their children are not sent to private school, they go to the local public school. The couple cannot afford to buy a house here in the capital, they rent part of a semi-detached house.

Chris and Catherine have worked a long time to make ends meet. But it is not so easy when the kindergarten expenses, when they needed it, amounted to 20,000 NOK per month. Health insurance of 6,000 crowns per month. And repayment of loans after education: more than 10,000 crowns a month. Just for Chris.

Plus, of course, there are the enormous costs of renting a home. And they worry. For the future. Because if they can pay for the education of both children. They will probably eventually move out of town, it is expensive to live here.

The differences are great

Chris and Catherine are among those doing well in America. They also belong to a group that has been the target of growing hatred. I hate the central government. Towards the established. Against the bureaucracy.

When I studied, I was fascinated by how the political scientist Stein Rokkan described the center-periphery political dividing line. It gave me a broader understanding of the conflict between city and country, which seems to be directly transferable to the United States. Outside the big cities, distrust is growing in the educated and often internationally oriented “elite.”

And it is precisely this hatred that Donald Trump has managed to exploit. Outside of metropolitan areas, people fight harder than Chris and Catherine. They are tired of the political game in Washington DC and the contempt for politicians is great. They don’t see the value of the work done here.

During the election campaign, I visited several states in the United States. In the important rust belt states that helped secure Trump’s election victory in 2016, I met people who see no hope for the future. People who have no money left over when the bills are paid. Trump has given them hope. A hope for an America as it was before. They believe they will pay less tax under it. Let them keep a thousand bucks or two more, so they can buy the new jacket they can only dream of right now. Or fix the window in the house that should have been replaced too long ago. Around them, they see things deteriorating. Disappearing jobs. People moving. That is why many of them voted for Trump again. If he leaves again in four years, they will probably do it again.

Many of those I know are interested in hearing about Norway, although they don’t always know exactly where in the world the country I come from is located. When I talk to them about our system, with free education and healthcare, they think it sounds like a dream. But they don’t think it can work here. For many Americans, it is difficult to understand how they can benefit from a welfare state system that we are used to. They are afraid of losing more of the benefits they have grown up with. For them, it’s about that thousand dollar bill. Or as one of those I interviewed in the election campaign said:

“Well, I already paid for my kids’ college, so I don’t see how such a welfare system would help me.”

The I-et has always been strong in the United States. That the individual should have unlimited opportunities to create a better life for himself and his family is at the core of the American dream. It’s not what the big “we” can put together. For this man, socialism was an insult. He doesn’t want it like in Venezuela, “where they don’t even get water,” as he said.

A brilliant image was presented to him.

In my many travels, I have seen how deep poverty affects the country. In Lowndes County, Alabama, I met Tarvorius, 16, who grew up in one of the poorest places in America. When the UN visited in 2017, they were shocked. Many of the inhabitants did not have access to a sanitation system. In Lowndes County, the most powerful country in the world looks more like a developing country than a developed country, according to the grave report of the visit.

In West Virginia, I have visited communities where people say they all know someone who is addicted to drugs. The opioid crisis in the United States is far from over. I think about them a lot right now and plan a return trip. How are they doing now that the corona pandemic is raging worse than ever, affecting both health and the economy?

In Maine, I’ve met ordinary families who fear the future because the price of vital medicines only goes up and up. A married couple I knew traveled to Canada to buy insulin to treat diabetes. Because although Canada has a drug price regulation, it is the companies themselves who must set the price in the US And here, in the country’s capital, I have met homeless people who sleep in the car or outside. They are not alone. There are more than 500,000 of them in this country. The so-called “land of opportunities”.

The United States of today is not the United States that I saw on the television screen as a teenager. Although that probably wasn’t the reality then either. A brilliant image of this promised land was presented to us. America is a country where it is good to be rich. But the rich are few and the poor are many.

“Made in USA” was written on many of the clothes, and probably on my toys as well, when I was little. Or maybe I remember wrong? Now anyway, only my slightly tired bathtub here bears this label. For children’s toys, “Made in China” applies. Amazon happily delivers the latest from there in two days to my door.

Joe Biden has many challenges to face when he heads the ship in January. Throughout the election campaign, he has emphasized that he wants to unite the American states. It will not be an easy task.

He lost his job during the pandemic

Chris and many Democrats I speak to here also believe that Trump has done the right thing in taking on China, which they fear will be a stronger economic power than the United States.

Chris and his colleagues are the first generation of Americans who cannot expect to experience the same growth in wealth as previous generations.

Chris and Catherine have started joking that they may have to send their children to Norway where we have access to free education. By the way, Catherine just lost her job during the corona pandemic. Now they will only live on an income.

I think we are lucky in Norway. I know that my children can get whatever education they want. I know they will get medical help if something happens. Everyone gets it in Norway, regardless of income. We are not left with a large bill if we get sick, like here.

I recently said only that in a meeting with the families of friends with whom we have formed a common cohort in our neighborhood. Now it has become like this. We were listening to music from the 90s and I exclaimed:

“Ah, that was the moment when we looked to America and dreamed of the good life here. There were times when.”

We laugh. At least some of us. Because that is no longer the case. Everyone knows that.