Nobody is afraid of getting sick, because hospitals never run out of medicine. There is no extortion. There are no children without food. And the most painful thing: they are not smarter than us. We work almost twice as many hours per year as they do, and we retire much later. So… what did they do differently? Here are 7 facts that should hurt us.
- Oil 🛢️
While here fuel theft through tax fraud costs us billions, we sell crude oil cheaply to buy expensive gasoline, and Pemex is the most indebted oil company on the planet… Norway turned its oil into the largest savings fund in the world: more than 2 trillion dollars. Distributed among its population, every Norwegian —even the baby born today— would have more than 6 million pesos. They do not receive it in cash: that money pays for their pensions, hospitals, and schools. There, natural resources work for the people. Here, people work to keep the most indebted oil company in the world alive… with their taxes. The same resource. Two completely opposite outcomes.
- Education 🎓
While here we give students 2,000 pesos and call it “support,” there public universities are free, and the government also provides loans and scholarships to every student so they can live while studying, without having to work during their degree. There, studying is not a luxury or a matter of luck: it is a right that works.
- Healthcare 🏥
While here people sell their cars or mortgage their homes to pay for an illness, and clinics tell them “there is no medicine, buy it somewhere else”… there nobody goes bankrupt because of getting sick. The system is universal, and there is a maximum annual out-of-pocket expense limit: after reaching a certain amount, everything else is covered by the government.
- Work ⏰
While here we continue working 48 hours a week —six days, with only one day off— in Norway the workweek is 37.5 hours… and they have had it since 1986. In other words: they have been working what we are just about to achieve for 40 years. Because yes, here the 40-hour workweek reform was finally approved, but it will be given to us gradually: 46 hours in 2027, 44 in 2028, 42 in 2029, and only by 2030 will we reach 40 hours. Forty years late.
And keep in mind: the Norwegian who works 37.5 hours produces MORE per hour than the Mexican who works 48. It is not that we work too little. It is that our time is worth little. There, leaving work at 4 in the afternoon to pick up your children from school is normal. Here, seeing your children awake during the week is a luxury.
- Security 🚔
While here a taco seller, a tortilla maker, or a transportation worker has to pay “rent” to criminals just to be able to work, there extortion simply does not exist as a concept. Most police officers do not even carry weapons… because they do not need them. Here, starting a business is an act of courage; there, it is a procedure.
- Transparency 🧾
While here politicians “do not know” where their houses, watches, and ranches came from… there tax declarations are PUBLIC: any citizen can check how much anyone earns and pays, including the prime minister. When everyone can see, stealing becomes very difficult.
- Entrepreneurship 💼
While here opening a business can take months between permits, offices, and “bribes,” there you can register your company online in a matter of days, without bribing anyone. That is why people there start businesses without fear… and here fear is part of the business plan.
Norway is not perfect and its people are not superior. In the 1960s, it was one of the poorest countries in Europe. The difference was one thing: they decided that the country’s wealth belonged to EVERYONE, and they built institutions that do not depend on a political party or a savior.
Mexico has more resources, more people, and more talent. What we lack is not wealth. It is deciding what we do with it. 🇲🇽
The image was created for illustrative purposes and does not correspond to a real photograph.
Source: mexicodailypost
