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Жизнь в Норвегии | У каждого миллионы, которые нельзя снять, а сосед видит вашу зарплату | Фильм 4K — Transcript

by Country Films · 5,861 words · 898 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:11100 years ago, people were fleeing from
0:13here. This country was one of the
0:15poorest corners of Europe. Barren rocks
0:17, harsh cold, and eternal herring on
0:20the table. And almost a third of the
0:22population left for overseas forever,
0:25escaping poverty. Today, it is one of
0:27the wealthiest countries on the planet.
0:29It has a common account holding over
0:32one and a half trillion dollars. The
0:34largest sovereign wealth fund in the
0:36world. If you divided it among all
0:40citizens, including infants, everyone
0:42would be a millionaire. But no one can
0:45withdraw this money—not an ordinary
0:47person, nor the Prime Minister. A
0:50country that got fabulously rich on oil
0:52has forbidden itself from living
0:54extravagantly. This is Norway. Here,
1:01anyone can go to the tax office website
1:04and see how much their boss or neighbor
1:06earns. It is legal here to walk through
1:09someone else's land and pitch a tent
1:11almost anywhere. And this is not an
1:14intrusion, but an ancient right of
1:15everyone to nature. Here, a prison
1:18looks like a student dormitory, and a
1:20prisoner has a key to their own room.
1:24In this same country, buying a flashy
1:26sports car will trigger sincere
1:28disapproval, because putting yourself
1:30above others is considered one of the
1:32greatest shames. How do people live who
1:36found wealth under their feet and
1:38decided to barely touch it? And what
1:41did the Norwegians realize that other
1:43countries that got rich on oil did not?
1:47This is the story of life in Norway.
1:51The first thing you need to know about
1:53this country is that it is much larger
1:55than it appears on a map. Norway
1:57stretches from south to north for
1:59nearly 2,000 kilometers. And if you
2:02drive from Oslo to the northernmost
2:05point of mainland Europe, you will
2:07cover a distance roughly the same as
2:09from Oslo to Rome, all while staying in
2:12one country. And if you were to unfold
2:15its coastline with all its fjords and
2:18islands, you would get a thread......
2:20long enough to wrap around the equator.
2:23It is all about the fjords themselves.
2:26These are not bays in the usual sense
2:28of the word, but valleys that were
2:30carved by glaciers and then flooded by
2:33the sea. Sheer walls hundreds of meters
2:37high, black water sometimes over a
2:40kilometer deep, waterfalls plunging
2:42straight into it, and a village of ten
2:45houses somewhere at the foot. It is
2:49precisely these landscapes that made
2:51Norway what it has become for the rest
2:53of the world. Only for the locals, this
2:56is not a postcard, but a commute to
2:58work. Because to this day, there are
3:00places in the country that are easier
3:02to reach by water than by land. Add to
3:06this the islands, of which Norway has
3:08more than 200,000, and mountains that
3:11cover most of the land. People have
3:14always settled here where they found
3:16flat ground by the water, and they
3:17still live that way today. A chain of
3:21towns and villages stretches along the
3:23coast, while the interior of the
3:25country is almost empty. So in terms of
3:27population density, Norway remains one
3:29of the least crowded countries in
3:31Europe. Approximately fifteen people
3:34per square kilometer. A separate story
3:38is the light. North of the Arctic
3:41Circle, which is a good third of the
3:43country. In summer, the sun does not
3:45set at all. And in June at one in the
3:47morning, you can easily read newspapers
3:49on the street. But in winter, it
3:52doesn't rise above the horizon for
3:54weeks. And in Tromsø, the polar night
3:57lasts for almost 2 months straight. How
4:00Norwegians cope with this, we will talk
4:03about separately, because there is
4:05really something to learn there. And
4:08the last thing without which this
4:09country cannot be understood. At this
4:12latitude, by all laws, there should be
4:15tundra. But Norway is saved by the Gulf
4:18Stream, which brings water here from
4:20the tropics. Thanks to it, ports in the
4:24north do not freeze even in February,
4:26and Oslo is sometimes warmer in winter
4:28than Moscow, even though it lies
4:30significantly further north. Such is
4:33the stage on which everything happens.
4:36But most Norwegians do not live among
4:39these fjords at all, but a couple of
4:42hundred kilometers south, in places
4:44that look much more ordinary. About
4:47700,000 people live in Oslo, which is
4:50not much for the capital of the richest
4:52country. And it looks accordingly,
4:55without skyscrapers, without imperial
4:57scale, and without diamond shop windows
5:00. On the main street are squat brick
5:03and wooden houses, trams, bike paths,
5:06and an embankment with former port
5:08warehouses turned into cafes. The
5:12tallest building in the city is an
5:14ordinary hotel, and the most notable is
5:17the opera house, whose roof can be
5:19walked up because it is made like a
5:21slope descending right into the water.
5:25The idea behind this is very Norwegian.
5:27The building belongs to everyone, which
5:30means everyone can walk on it. Public
5:33transport is so well organized that a
5:35personal car in the center is more of a
5:37burden than a point of pride. And you
5:39can even meet a minister on the tram,
5:42which will surprise no one except a
5:44visitor. But the prices will certainly
5:46impress a visitor. An ordinary lunch in
5:49a cafe easily costs 30 euros, and a mug
5:51of beer 12. At the same time,
5:55Norwegians themselves sincerely do not
5:56consider Oslo the main place of their
5:58lives. The capital for them is a place
6:01where they work, and real life begins
6:03somewhere else entirely. This other
6:06thing is called "hytte," which in
6:08Norwegian simply means a small house.
6:12There are about half a million of them
6:14in the country, for 5.5 million
6:15inhabitants. That is, on average, one
6:17such house for every second or third
6:20family. There are about half a million
6:22of them in the country. For 5.5 million
6:25inhabitants. That is, on average, one
6:28such house for every second or third
6:30family. It is located in the mountains,
6:34by a fjord, on an island, or in a
6:36forest, and is most often a small
6:38wooden house with a sod roof, on which
6:40grass grows in summer. And here is what
6:43is important to understand. This is not
6:46a "dacha" in our sense. And certainly
6:48not a country mansion. A classic hytte
6:51is emphatically simple. Many have
6:54neither plumbing nor electricity. Water
6:57is carried from a stream, and light is
6:59provided by candles and a kerosene lamp
7:01. The toilet is outside, and the
7:04heating is a stove you stoke yourself.
7:08It turns out that people who have
7:10dishwashers and heated floors at home
7:13travel 100 km to chop wood and wash
7:15dishes in a basin. And they go there
7:18every weekend. At Easter, the whole
7:21country goes at once. Offices empty out
7:24, the roads clog up, and Norway moves
7:27entirely into its cabins. If you ask
7:30why, you’ll get roughly the same
7:33answer: to take a break from the excess
7:35. In a country where you can afford
7:38almost anything, the favorite pastime
7:40remains the ability to temporarily
7:42forgo convenience. This is, in fact,
7:45where the main Norwegian idea begins,
7:47which deserves its own story. This idea
7:51is called "friluftsliv," which
7:53translates roughly to "open-air living,
7:55" though the translation doesn't convey
7:58half the meaning. For a Norwegian,
8:01it’s not a hobby or a sport, but
8:03something like a base setting. A person
8:06must regularly be outside, preferably
8:08where there is no asphalt, and
8:10preferably regardless of what the
8:12weather is doing. It all begins quite
8:16literally in infancy. Norwegian
8:18children nap in strollers outside, not
8:20just in summer, but year-round,
8:22including in freezing temperatures. The
8:24stroller is wheeled onto a balcony or
8:26left at the entrance of a cafe while
8:28the parents drink coffee inside. It is
8:31believed that in the cold air, a child
8:33sleeps soundly and gets sick less often
8:35, while getting used from the first
8:37months to the idea that the outdoors is
8:39a normal environment, not an ordeal.
8:41This logic only continues from there.
8:44In preschools, children are taken out
8:45for walks in any weather. There are
8:47entire forest kindergartens where
8:49classes are held in the open air all
8:51year round. And they start skiing at
8:54age two, because there’s a saying
8:55here that Norwegians are born with skis
8:57on their feet. From the same root grows
9:00the main national explanation for
9:02everything in the world. There is no
9:04such thing as bad weather, only bad
9:06clothing. This phrase sounds like a
9:09joke, but it is taken completely
9:10seriously. And it is directly linked to
9:13this attitude that in a country where
9:15it is dark and wet for half the year,
9:16people still head into the mountains on
9:18weekends. All this is possible thanks
9:21to a right that exists almost nowhere
9:23else in the world. It is called "
9:26Allemannsretten," literally "every
9:29man's right," and it means exactly this
9:31: "You can freely walk on any
9:33undeveloped land, even if it is private
9:36, pitch a tent and spend the night 150
9:39meters away from a residential house,
9:41and pick berries and mushrooms on
9:44someone else's property and keep them."
9:48In return, you are required to follow
9:51simple duties. Do not litter, do not
9:53build fires during the fire hazard
9:55season, close gates behind you, and do
9:58not disturb the owners or the animals.
10:01And what is surprising to a visitor is
10:03that this system works perfectly
10:05without guards or fines, simply because
10:07violating it is considered shameful
10:09here. Behind this right stands a very
10:13old idea. Nature cannot belong to any
10:16one person, because it belongs to
10:18everyone at once. From it grew the
10:21Norwegian habit of spending weekends in
10:24the forest, their love for hytter, and
10:26everything else we have seen. And this
10:30idea almost verbatim repeats how the
10:32Norwegians handled their main wealth,
10:34found at the bottom of the sea. On
10:38December 23, 1969, oil began to flow
10:41from a drilling platform in the North
10:44Sea. Norway learned that it was rich
10:47right on the eve of Christmas. Before
10:49that moment, the country lived quite
10:51differently. Back at the beginning of
10:53the century, hundreds of thousands were
10:55leaving here. Almost a third of the
10:57population moved to America, escaping
10:59landlessness and hunger. And to this
11:02day, there are more people of Norwegian
11:04descent living in the state of
11:06Minnesota than in some Norwegian
11:08counties. Those who remained survived
11:10on fish, timber, and the sea, and there
11:13was no talk of wealth. And then, at the
11:16bottom of the sea, a deposit was found
11:18that changed everything. This is where
11:21the most interesting part begins. Not
11:23about oil, but about the decision.
11:26Usually, from this point on, the
11:27history of oil-producing countries
11:28develops in the same way. Money flows
11:31in, taxes drop, major construction
11:34begins, officials get rich, and 20
11:36years later, it turns out the deposit
11:38is depleted, there is no industry, but
11:41there is a habit of living beyond one's
11:44means. This happened to many, and the
11:47Norwegians understood this perfectly
11:49well, because the examples were in
11:51plain sight. That is why, in 1971, the
11:54parliament adopted a document that went
11:57down in history as the 10 Oil
11:59Commandments. Its main idea was that
12:03the oil in Norwegian waters belongs to
12:05the whole society, not to individual
12:07companies. And the state must manage it
12:10in such a way that the whole country
12:13benefits. But the most important
12:16decision was made later, in the
12:18nineties, when the money became truly
12:20large. The country created a fund and
12:23began to put all oil revenues into it,
12:26and allowed itself to spend only what
12:29the fund earns itself, on average about
12:323%per year. In other words, the oil
12:36money itself is not spent at all. They
12:38live off the interest, and the capital
12:41remains untouched. It is all called the
12:45Government Pension Fund, although
12:47pensions are almost never paid from it,
12:49and the name is more of a declaration.
12:52The money is set aside for future
12:54generations, including those who have
12:57not yet been born. The numbers that
13:00follow sound almost implausible. Today,
13:03the fund holds more than 1.5 trillion
13:06dollars. And it is the largest
13:07sovereign wealth fund in the world. It
13:10owns approximately one and a half
13:12percent of the shares of all public
13:14companies on the planet. This means
13:17that every Norwegian has a small piece
13:20of almost any major corporation whose
13:22products you use. Per capita, this
13:25comes out to more than 2 million kroner
13:27. And this money cannot be withdrawn by
13:31either a citizen or the government. The
13:34fund also has a conscience in the form
13:37of an ethics council, which decides
13:39what the country cannot invest in. They
13:43have removed nuclear weapon
13:44manufacturers, tobacco companies, and
13:46firms involved in human rights
13:48violations and environmental
13:50destruction from the portfolio. And we
13:53were talking about the billions that
13:55Norway consciously decided to forgo.
13:59Even with those 2 million to their name
14:02, a Norwegian will still bike or take
14:04the tram to work and bring a packed
14:06sandwich for lunch. The country's
14:10wealth is barely reflected in what its
14:13daily life looks like. And this is
14:16explained not only by the fund, but by
14:19unwritten rules learned here from
14:21childhood. This rule is called the Law
14:24of Jante, and it isn’t written in any
14:26legal code. Although it works more
14:29reliably than many laws. It emerged
14:31from a book. Nearly 100 years ago,
14:34Danish-Norwegian writer Aksel Sandemose
14:37described the fictional town of Jante,
14:39whose residents live by ten unwritten
14:42commandments. They sound something like
14:45this: "Don't think you are special.
14:47Don't think you are smarter than us.
14:50Don't think you are better than us.
14:53Don't imagine you can teach us anything
14:55." The author wrote it as a satire on
14:58the stifling atmosphere of a small town
15:00, but it turned out differently.
15:02Scandinavians recognized themselves in
15:05the text, and since then, Janteloven
15:07signifies a very real social order. In
15:10practice, it looks like this. Boasting
15:14is so frowned upon in Norway that
15:15someone who buys an expensive car would
15:17rather explain that it’s second-hand
15:19and meant for trips to their cabin,
15:21than allow themselves to be proud of
15:23the purchase. Talking about salary
15:26among friends is an awkward topic.
15:29Ostentatious luxury evokes not envy,
15:31but bewilderment. It is assumed you are
15:34either spending foolishly or placing
15:36yourself above others. And both options
15:38are bad. This is also why foreigners
15:41are so surprised by Norwegian managers.
15:44You call the boss by their first name,
15:46not by their title. A company director
15:49stands in the general line in the
15:50canteen and carries their own tray. The
15:53Prime Minister might be spotted on a
15:55commuter train. Distance between people
15:58is considered something indecent. And
16:00importantly, this isn't performative
16:02humility by the wealthy, but a norm
16:04that is the same for everyone. The coin
16:07has a flip side, which Norwegians
16:09themselves are talking about more and
16:11more. Janteloven stifles ambition.
16:15Anyone who wants to stand out, achieve
16:17more, or make a loud statement faces
16:20quiet social condemnation. Young
16:23entrepreneurs complain that success in
16:26Norway has to be literally hidden, and
16:28athletes or artists who have achieved
16:31global fame first diligently emphasize
16:33how ordinary they are. And yet, it is
16:37from this rule that the country’s
16:39main feature grows. An almost complete
16:42absence of ostentatious stratification.
16:45A wealthy Norwegian lives outwardly
16:46much like an ordinary one. The same
16:50jackets, the same boots, the same cabin
16:52, and the same line at the supermarket.
16:55And so that no one doubts who actually
16:58earns what, the country has one more
17:01mechanism that makes newcomers 'eyes
17:04widen. In Norway, data on citizens'
17:08incomes is open not just to the tax
17:10office or police, but to everyone. It
17:13works quite literally. Anyone can visit
17:16the tax authority's website, log in
17:18with their own account, and see how
17:21much their neighbor, boss, former
17:23classmate, or a famous footballer
17:25earned that year. You can see their
17:28income, tax paid, and total net worth.
17:31This practice is not new. In one form
17:33or another, tax lists have been
17:35published in Norway since the 19th
17:37century, when they were printed as
17:39books and laid out in public offices.
17:42The logic behind this is very
17:44Scandinavian. If a society is built on
17:47equality and high taxes, then everyone
17:48should be able to see that their
17:50neighbor is paying their fair share.
17:53Transparency is considered the best
17:55cure for tax evasion, corruption, and
17:57rumors that the wealthy are hiding
17:59everything. Plus, it really helps with
18:03salary negotiations when you know
18:04exactly what your colleagues in the
18:06same position are making. True, the fun
18:09pastime did have a side effect.
18:12Norwegians began eagerly digging into
18:13the incomes of people they knew, and
18:15newspapers started publishing ranking
18:17supplements to make it easier to
18:18compare themselves with their neighbors
18:20. It reached the point where, in 2014,
18:23the rules were changed and a simple but
18:25effective innovation was introduced.
18:28Now, a person can see exactly who has
18:30been looking up their income. Curiosity
18:33quickly subsided, because looking at
18:35someone else's figures under your own
18:37name is not the same thing as snooping
18:39anonymously. To a newcomer, this all
18:42seems like an invasion of privacy, and
18:44debates about this system are indeed
18:46happening in the country. But most
18:48Norwegians still consider this openness
18:51to be normal, and they explain it the
18:53same way. You only hide what you are
18:56ashamed of. Behind this habit, which
18:58seems strange to us, lies the thing
19:00that holds the whole country together.
19:02Trust. And it shows itself in far more
19:06than just tax returns. There is a word
19:10in the Norwegian language that
19:11Norwegians themselves chose as the most
19:13important word in their language in a
19:15national vote a few years ago. That
19:18word is "dugnad," and it means
19:20collective, unpaid work for the common
19:23good. It looks something like this. In
19:27the spring, all the residents of a
19:29building go out into the yard together
19:31to trim bushes, fix fences, paint
19:33benches, clean up the trash that piled
19:35up over the winter, and then drink
19:36coffee and eat waffles at a communal
19:38table. No one forces anyone, but not
19:41showing up is considered awkward. The
19:44neighbor who stayed inside didn't break
19:46any rules. However, everyone noticed.
19:49Many things that people pay money for
19:51in other countries are handled the same
19:54way. Parents in kindergartens and
19:57schools paint walls, fix playgrounds,
19:59and staff events. Sports clubs exist
20:03because adults coach children for free
20:05and work the concession stands at
20:07competitions. The trails in the
20:10mountains where tourists hike are
20:11marked and maintained by volunteers.
20:14Norwegian trust in everyday life grows
20:16from that same soil. Along country
20:20roads, there are stands with berries,
20:22eggs, and potatoes that have no
20:24salesperson or camera—only a box or a
20:26jar where the buyer puts the money
20:28themselves. It works not because
20:31everyone is a saint, but because
20:33cheating at such a stand here means
20:35cheating your neighbor, and in a small
20:37country, a neighbor will sooner or
20:39later turn out to be a friend of a
20:40friend. Actually, the size is part of
20:43the explanation. There are just over 5
20:46million Norwegians in the whole country
20:48. Society is homogeneous, institutions
20:50work, and the transparency we talked
20:52about adds confidence that no one is
20:54getting ahead at your expense. This
20:58results in that very high level of
21:00trust for which Scandinavia is famous.
21:03People trust not only their neighbors,
21:05but also the police, doctors, officials
21:07, and the state as a whole. And this
21:10trust extends even to those who have
21:13broken it once. In a Norwegian prison,
21:16a prisoner has a key to their own room,
21:19and the number of those who return
21:21behind bars is one of the lowest in the
21:23world, because they believe here that
21:25it is more beneficial to return a
21:27person to society than to cross them
21:29out of it for good. However, it is
21:32easiest to judge a country not by its
21:34prisons, but by what is on people's
21:36tables. The easiest way to start a
21:40conversation about Norwegian food is
21:42with fish, because it is what fed this
21:44country long before any oil and
21:45continues to feed it today. Norway is
21:49one of the world's largest exporters of
21:51salmon. Fish farms stand in protected
21:54fjords along the entire coast, and
21:56fillets from here end up on tables from
21:58Tokyo to Madrid. If you have ever eaten
22:02salmon at a sushi bar, it is quite
22:03likely that it grew up right here.
22:06Norwegians themselves cook fish without
22:08any frills. Boiled cod with potatoes
22:11and carrots, baked mackerel, fish soup
22:13with cream, which is considered the
22:15number one home-cooked dish on the west
22:16coast. Added to this are shrimp, which
22:20are bought by the bucket in summer,
22:22peeled right on the pier, and eaten
22:24with bread and mayonnaise, washed down
22:26with beer. This is a separate national
22:29ritual called a shrimp feast. Norwegian
22:33cuisine also has things that scare
22:35foreigners. Rakfisk is trout that is
22:38salted and left to ferment for several
22:40months, after which it is eaten raw. It
22:43has such a smell that it is usually
22:45prepared in the yard. Lutefisk is dried
22:49cod soaked in lye until it becomes
22:51gelatinous. A traditional Christmas
22:54dish, which Norwegians treat with
22:56tenderness, and guests with caution.
22:59And surströmming. However, that is a
23:02Swedish story. Although it is not easy
23:04for an untrained person to distinguish
23:06between these smells. But there are
23:08things that everyone likes without
23:10exception. Brunost is a brown cheese
23:14made from whey boiled down to caramel.
23:17It tastes like something between cheese
23:19and boiled condensed milk. It is sliced
23:21with a special plane and spread on
23:24waffles. By the way, waffles here are
23:27baked in the shape of hearts, served
23:30with sour cream and lingonberry jam,
23:32and no "dugnad", school party, or
23:34evening at a cabin goes without them.
23:38Lunch for most Norwegians looks modest
23:41to the point of asceticism. This is "
23:43matpakke". A few sandwiches wrapped in
23:46special paper, which are taken along to
23:49work and school. A hot lunch at a café
23:52is a rarity and a luxury. A proper meal
23:55happens in the evening when the family
23:57sits down to dinner together, while
23:59coffee remains the truly national drink
24:02. In terms of consumption per capita,
24:05Norwegians consistently rank in the
24:07world's top three. They drink it black,
24:09without sugar, and in massive
24:11quantities, starting early in the
24:12morning. Any invitation to visit here
24:16sounds like an offer to have coffee,
24:17and it is not customary to refuse. And
24:20here is what's interesting. In a
24:22country where one can afford any
24:25delicacy, everyday food has remained
24:27exactly as simple as it was for
24:30fishermen 100 years ago, just like
24:32everything else in Norwegian life. The
24:36workday in Norway ends early, and this
24:39is not a perk, but a standard that is
24:41taken seriously here. The standard work
24:44week is 37.5 hours. At 5:00 PM, offices
24:48empty out, and a person who regularly
24:51stays late prompts not admiration, but
24:54questions. It means they either
24:57organized their work poorly, or the
24:58boss is failing at planning. Vacations
25:01are long here, and in the summer, the
25:03country practically comes to a halt. In
25:06July, Norwegians go on vacation en
25:07masse, and this applies to everyone,
25:09including management. A special point
25:12of pride is parental leave, which is
25:13shared between the mother and the
25:15father. Moreover, a portion of the
25:18months is reserved specifically for the
25:20father and is lost if he does not take
25:22them. Therefore, a dad with a stroller
25:24on a weekday is a perfectly common
25:26sight, not a reason for sentimental awe
25:28. Work is also organized differently
25:31than in most countries. The hierarchy
25:33here is so flat that decisions are made
25:35through discussion rather than being
25:37handed down from above. You address the
25:39boss by their first name: "Arguing with
25:42a manager is normal, but flaunting
25:44power is not done." Labor unions are
25:47strong. Collective agreements cover
25:49most industries, and firing someone is
25:52difficult and expensive. Salaries are
25:55high by European standards, and the gap
25:57between professions is noticeably
25:59smaller than usual. A bus driver and an
26:02office worker can earn comparable
26:04amounts, which is a result of that same
26:07system of agreements. They also help
26:09with education. The state provides
26:11students with loans and grants for
26:13living expenses. And a portion of the
26:15loan is written off if studies are
26:17completed on time. But all of this has
26:20to be paid for, in the most literal
26:22sense. Norway consistently ranks among
26:24the most expensive countries in the
26:26world. Lunch at a simple café costs 30
26:29euros. A mug of beer in a bar costs
26:32about 12, and a bottle of wine at a
26:34state-run store—the only place that
26:37sells strong alcohol—easily exceeds
26:3920. Groceries are one and a half to two
26:42times more expensive than in the rest
26:43of Europe. Services are exponentially
26:45more expensive because labor is costly
26:47here. A plumber who comes for an hour
26:50will present a bill that would make a
26:52visitor gasp. Taxes are corresponding.
26:56Income tax for the average worker
26:58approaches a third of their earnings,
27:00it is noticeably higher for high
27:01salaries, and on top of that, there is
27:03a 25%value-added tax. Surprisingly,
27:08complaints about taxes are heard far
27:10less often here than one might expect.
27:12And the reason is simple. Norwegians
27:15see where their money goes. Medicine
27:18and education in the country are paid
27:20for in advance. The state covers
27:22expensive surgeries and childbirth, and
27:25once expenses hit a certain annual cap,
27:27treatment becomes completely free. The
27:31first thing visitors notice on a
27:33Norwegian bus is that people sit so as
27:35to leave as many empty seats as
27:37possible between them, sitting next to
27:39each other only when there are no other
27:42options. There is absolutely no talking
27:44, and an attempt to start a
27:46conversation with a stranger will be
27:48met with polite bewilderment. From the
27:50outside, it is easy to mistake this for
27:51coldness, but the matter is quite
27:52different. Personal space here is
27:54considered a form of respect. Not
27:57bothering someone, not dragging them
27:58into a conversation, not taking up
28:00their attention without cause. It’s
28:02roughly the same as not littering in
28:04the woods. Norwegians themselves joke
28:06about this too. There are jokes
28:08circulating online about how a local
28:10would rather miss their bus than
28:12approach a stop where neighbors are
28:14already standing. On the other hand,
28:17what comes easily and quickly to a
28:18European is earned slowly and seriously
28:20here. Friendships in Norway are built
28:23over years, often starting back in
28:25school or university. But if a person
28:27has become your friend, they will
28:29remain one for a long time and will
28:31treat you the way only relatives do in
28:32other countries. Visitors often
28:35complain that it is almost impossible
28:37to befriend a Norwegian. Those who have
28:39succeeded usually say that it was worth
28:41it. The home plays a much bigger role
28:44here than in southern countries.
28:46Norwegians rarely meet in cafes for no
28:48reason and almost always invite you
28:50over. And the very idea of comfort has
28:53its own name here. Koselig. This word
28:56describes an evening when it is dark
28:58and wet outside, but candles are lit
29:00inside, the stove is burning, there is
29:02coffee and waffles on the table, and no
29:04one is in a hurry. Candles, by the way,
29:06are burned here on an industrial scale.
29:08In terms of per capita consumption,
29:10Norway is among the world leaders. And
29:12this is a direct consequence of the
29:13fact that it is dark in the country for
29:15half the year. But there are places in
29:17this country where character and life
29:19itself are structured a few degrees
29:21differently. And they are located where
29:25the map ends. The Lofoten Islands lie
29:28far beyond the Arctic Circle, and they
29:30look so surreal that photos from there
29:32are usually mistaken for paintings.
29:34Sharp mountains rise directly out of
29:36the water. At their base stand red
29:38ochre-colored wooden houses, and
29:41between them, cod dries on wooden racks
29:44. Cod here is not just food, it is the
29:47history of the country. Every winter,
29:49the fish comes to these shores in
29:51massive schools. And for centuries, the
29:53population of the islands would
29:55multiply during this time. Men from all
29:57over the coast would flock here for the
29:59fishing season. The catch was neither
30:02salted nor frozen, but hung in the wind
30:04, where cold, dry air would turn the
30:06fish over several months into something
30:08as hard as a board that could be stored
30:11for years. It was this dried cod that
30:14fed the country long before any oil and
30:16became the first Norwegian export
30:19commodity. It was brought to Europe
30:21back in the Viking Age, and Italy has
30:24remained its main buyer for centuries,
30:26using it to prepare national dishes. It
30:30makes for an amusing picture: one of
30:31the most "Italian" of traditions
30:33actually originates from the Norwegian
30:35cliffs. Further north lies the land of
30:38the Sami, an indigenous people living
30:40across the territory of four different
30:42countries. There are several tens of
30:44thousands of them in Norway. They have
30:46their own language, their own clothing,
30:49their own "yoik" songs, and their own
30:51occupation that defines their way of
30:53life. Reindeer herding. Herds migrate
30:56between winter and summer pastures. The
30:59families follow them. And although
31:02snowmobiles have long replaced sleds
31:04and they keep in touch by phone, the
31:06logic of life itself has remained the
31:08same. It is dictated by the reindeer
31:11and the seasons. The Sami even have
31:14their own parliament, which handles
31:16matters of language, culture, and
31:18reindeer herding. But this recognition
31:20did not come immediately. As late as
31:22the mid-20th century, children in
31:23boarding schools were discouraged from
31:25speaking their native language. Winter
31:27in the north means the polar night. In
31:30Tromsø, the sun does not rise above
31:32the horizon for almost two months, and
31:34people live during this time in blue
31:36twilight that lasts a few hours a day.
31:39Norwegians take this more calmly than
31:42one might expect. Darkness here is
31:44considered not a hindrance, but a
31:46season that has its own advantages. Two
31:49things serve as compensation for it.
31:52The first is the northern lights, which
31:54for the locals are not a spectacle, but
31:56just the weather. It can be seen from
31:58the porch, and people stopped running
32:00out with cameras for it long ago. The
32:02second is the polar day, when the sun
32:04does not set at all, and people work in
32:06their gardens all night, go into the
32:08mountains at dawn, and barely sleep,
32:10making up for everything the winter
32:12denied them. It would be dishonest to
32:16end the story about Norway on a note of
32:18pure admiration, because this country
32:20has problems too, and they are
32:21discussed here more loudly than one
32:23might think. One should start with the
32:26main contradiction. Norway is an
32:28exemplary environmental power. Almost
32:31all of its electricity is generated by
32:33hydroelectric plants. The share of
32:35electric vehicles on its roads is the
32:37highest in the world. The country
32:39invests billions in protecting tropical
32:41rainforests on the other side of the
32:43planet. All of this is true. And at the
32:46same time, it is true that the
32:48country's prosperity is built on the
32:50extraction and sale of oil and gas—
32:52exactly what the world is trying to
32:54move away from. Norwegians understand
32:57this perfectly well, arguing about it
32:59in elections and in parliament, but for
33:01now, new drilling licenses continue to
33:03be issued. Too many jobs and revenues
33:07are tied to this industry. This leads
33:10to a second question, which in the
33:12country is called "life after oil."
33:15Production will eventually decline, but
33:17the habit of a high standard of living
33:18will remain. And what will be the
33:21pillar of the economy then? There is no
33:23precise answer yet. The fund is
33:25certainly huge, but state expenses are
33:27rising, and the population is aging.
33:30This arithmetic is causing serious
33:31concern among Norwegian economists.
33:34There are also simpler things, but they
33:36are quite tangible. The high cost of
33:39living we mentioned makes life
33:40difficult for those who earn little.
33:43For a young family like the Voslas,
33:45buying an apartment is hard; rent eats
33:47up a significant portion of their
33:48income. Winter darkness brings seasonal
33:52blues like clockwork, and weekend
33:54alcohol consumption remains a national
33:57health concern, despite the strict
33:59state monopoly. And, finally, there is
34:03a quiet problem that Norwegians
34:04themselves notice. For all the sense of
34:07community, there is a fair amount of
34:09loneliness here. The distance we talked
34:12about works both ways, and for someone
34:15without a circle of friends from school
34:17, it can be truly difficult, especially
34:20for a newcomer. So this paradise is
34:24quite earthly, which doesn't negate the
34:27main question for which we told all
34:29this. So what did the Norwegians
34:33understand that other countries, which
34:35got rich on oil, did not? Focus on one
34:38image. Late evening, a small house
34:41somewhere in the mountains. Outside the
34:43window, the fjord is growing dark.
34:45Inside, a stove is burning, candles are
34:47lit on the table because there is no
34:49electricity here, and coffee is cooling
34:51in cups. A man, who on paper is
34:54credited with those very 2 million, has
34:56just chopped firewood and is now
34:57sitting on the floor with his children,
34:59and tomorrow he will take the tram to
35:01work. This picture contains the entire
35:04answer. They did not allow money to
35:07change their lives. Oil could have
35:10turned the country into a showcase, but
35:12instead, it turned it into a fund that
35:15no one touches. Wealth could have
35:17divided people into classes, but it
35:19remained almost invisible. The same
35:22jackets, the same boots, the same line
35:23at the supermarket, and the same boss
35:25who is called by his first name. They
35:29remained what they were before any oil:
35:31with the sea, the forest, skis,
35:34firewood, and the right to walk freely
35:36on their land. And it seems that this
35:40is exactly what they consider true
35:42wealth, while the fund is just
35:44insurance for those not yet born. And
35:47they stayed together. A country where
35:50you can look up a neighbor’s earnings
35:52and leave money in a roadside box with
35:54no attendant, where in spring the whole
35:56building comes out to paint the fence,
35:58and prison tries to bring a person back
36:00rather than write them off. This is a
36:03country that decided that trust is
36:05worth more than any income. 100 years
36:08ago, people fled from here due to
36:09hunger. Today, there is a line of
36:12people wanting to move here. Between
36:15these two points lies one generation,
36:17one oil field, and one decision: not to
36:20spend. Life here is not measured by how
36:24much a person managed to take. It is
36:27measured by how much they managed to
36:29leave for their children, their
36:30neighbors, and those they will never
36:32see. Because in a world where everyone
36:36is running somewhere, there are still
36:37people who are already home.

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