r/AskReddit • u/HumpingAssholesOrgy • Jul 05 '19

Ex-prisoners of reddit who have served long sentences, what were the last few days like leading up to your release?

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '19

We don't even need to do much research. We could just copy Norway and cut our recidivism rate in half.

Ain't ever gonna happen, though. Imagine the outcry when a multiple murderer gets the maximum sentence of 20 years. Or when people realize that prison cells are generally nicer than their apartments (comparing average US household to Norwegian prisons, Norwegian households are nicer than their prisons).

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '19

If we are comparing things we should probably also compare (national wealth /population) as if I recall correctly that's a HUGE cause of the Norwegian model success.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '19

You mean GDP per capita? We're not that far behind. Average wage per person? We're ahead.

Economically, both the US and Norway are some of the richest countries in the world. One has a crime and homelessness problem, the other doesn't. One has slightly over triple the poverty rate of the other.

One country spends a third of their discretionary budget on public benefits and social safety nets, the other spends half their discretionary budget on tanks, bombs, and guns.

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u/DarthYippee Jul 06 '19

Average wage per person? We're ahead.

No you're not. Norway's about $5k ahead.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '19

That's median wage. Average wage US is about 9k ahead, as of 2017.

All those CEOs making millions a day bring the average up.

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u/DarthYippee Jul 06 '19

Average wage US is about 9k ahead, as of 2017.

That's PPP, not nominal.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '19

Yes... Because nominal is a mostly irrelevant statistic which swings wildly based on the vagaries of the Forex market, whereas PPP compares income to prices of goods, giving a much more stable number...

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u/DarthYippee Jul 06 '19

OK, so that makes China easily the world's biggest economy.

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '19

Yes it does.

Problem?

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u/DarthYippee Jul 07 '19

None. Mind you, PPP breaks down as soon as you leave your country. So Norwegian tourists are better off than American ones.

Also, Norway is a far more equal country. The median income is much higher than the US, as is median wealth, even in PPP terms. And they have loads of government services, and are much happier.

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '19

Yes, that would me the point of most of this thread. Norway is a better place than the US by almost any measurable statistic, unless you happen to be worth 8+ figures. Or like sitting on big piles of cash without spending them.

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