Yes, both were socialist. The difference between Stalin's communism
and Hitlers NAZIs was that Stalin preached "Power to the
Proletariat" whilst Hitler, like Reagan and now Bush, believed in
government should serve the 'elite' and "trickel down" economics.
Under Stalin, bureaucrats decided what products to produce. Under
Hitler it was rich industrialists assisted by government-supplied
slave labor.


For all the liberal nuts we have in America, not pulling their weight,
this country still does pretty well. According to the UN, the US ranks
above Japan, Ireland, Switzerland, Britain, Finland, Austria,
Luxembourg, France, Denmark, New Zealand, Germany, and Spain in quality
of life. Try being poor in Japan vs. in the US. High productivity
combined with limited government DOES trickle down. The US economy
proves that everyday. Big government just squelches the kind of
economic mobility that we have in this country. In most countries,
today's poor are tomorrow's poor. In America, today's poor are
tomorrow's middle class. That's the Republican goal. The Democrat goal
is to have perpetually dependent voters that keep them in power.


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Norway tops UN quality-of-life index
by Kristoffer Rønneberg
http://www.norway.org/News/200404Norway_undp.htm

For the fourth year in a row, a United Nations study has ranked Norway
as the best place to live in the world. The index ranks nations
according to income, life expectancy and education levels.

7/16/2004 :: Every summer, the United Nations Development Program
issues a thorough, state-of-the-world-like report in which the world's
countries are ranked according to the Human Development Index, a system
for determining standard of living. This year, as in the previous
three, Norway tops the list, while neighboring Sweden has climbed one
spot to number two.

The UNDP has created the index in order to measure the extent of human
development in countries around the world. In the report's foreword,
its authors write that in order to reach the UN's Millennium Goals,
countries must strive to become inclusive, culturally diverse
societies.

"Human development is first and foremost about allowing people to lead
the kind of life they choose-and providing them with the tools and
opportunities to make those choices," the report reads.

High average income

The report states that Norway has a life expectancy of 79 years and a
school enrollment ratio of 98 percent.

As usual, industrialized nations figure heavily in the top 20, with the
United States coming in at eighth place, and the United Kingdom at
12th. At the bottom of the list, for the seventh year in a row, lies
Sierra Leone, still suffering from the consequences of civil war.

Norway tops the list, the report argues, because of its high wealth
combined with a small population. The average income in Norway is,
according to the report, a staggering USD 36,600. Only Luxembourg, with
an average income of USD 61,190 can top that. In comparison, Sweden's
average income is USD 26,050, while that of Ethiopia is USD 780.

Millennium Goals

But the report is not primarily created as a way of seeing how well the
already rich countries fare when compared to each other. More
imporantly, the report shows how far the United Nations have come in
implementing the Millennium Goals that were agreed upon in 2000. See
the link on the right hand side for more information on these goals.

The 2004 report shows disturbing signs that development is actually in
reversal in 20 of the world's nations. 13 of these lie in sub-Saharan
Africa. According to the report, the main reason for this reversal is
the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis. Life expectancy in eight of the sub-
Saharan nations has now fallen below 40 years because of the disease.

"The Aids crisis cripples states at all levels because the disease
attacks people in their most productive years," Mark Malloch Brown,
head of the UNDP, told the BBC.

Read the full report by clicking the UNDP link on the right.

The top 20:

1. Norway
2. Sweden
3. Australia
4. Canada
5. Netherlands
6. Belgium
7. Iceland
8. United States
9. Japan
10. Ireland
11. Switzerland
12. Britain
13. Finland
14. Austria
15. Luxembourg
16. France
17. Denmark
18. New Zealand
19. Germany
20. Spain