4 ms·

This is so ridiculously contrary to a Northern European existence that it's just funny. US is ridiculously more bureaucratic with lots of back office papers shu

This is so ridiculously contrary to a Northern European existence that it's just funny. US is ridiculously more bureaucratic with lots of back office papers shuffled around by humans. US tax filing is hard to even describe to someone who never lived there. Official procedures can be made smooth by valuing them being smooth.

lazide 9mo ago
You just pay. All the problems are known and have workarounds, it just involves money. That’s my point. It doesn’t have to be nice or clean or smooth, if there is a known solution which someone can just throw money at, at scale. The harder problem with these smaller countries and economies, is people haven’t figured out how to do that yet. So you end up having to track down x or y random lawyer, then hope they don’t screw you, etc.
- yencabulator 9mo ago
  That's a very American approach. Just enable a grift economy existing purely because the original thing was bad. The Nordic approach is to make the original thing better. The end result is less wasteful.
  - lazide 9mo ago
    Also smaller. The ‘waste’ also counts towards GDP, as long as the money keeps moving. Lots of people have built homes and families off it. What really slows an economy down is when money stops moving.
    - yencabulator 9mo ago
      That's an argument for U.S. healthcare insurance industry being a good thing. Uhh.. no?
      - lazide 9mo ago
        It certainly pads a lot of people’s wallets! Like anything, it’s about what trade offs, when, by whom, etc.
    - embedding-shape 9mo ago
      > The ‘waste’ also counts towards GDP, as long as the money keeps moving. Honestly, that explains a lot. Vastly different perspective from what I'm used to, but useful insight into the US.
      - lazide 9mo ago
        Yup. It can be pretty brutal living it too. But most places are, frankly, in their own ways. Still way easier than India, for example, where the answer is often either the same or ‘try to scam your way around the problem’ if you can’t.

lazide 9mo ago

You just pay. All the problems are known and have workarounds, it just involves money. That’s my point. It doesn’t have to be nice or clean or smooth, if there is a known solution which someone can just throw money at, at scale. The harder problem with these smaller countries and economies, is people haven’t figured out how to do that yet. So you end up having to track down x or y random lawyer, then hope they don’t screw you, etc.

yencabulator 9mo ago
That's a very American approach. Just enable a grift economy existing purely because the original thing was bad. The Nordic approach is to make the original thing better. The end result is less wasteful.
- lazide 9mo ago
  Also smaller. The ‘waste’ also counts towards GDP, as long as the money keeps moving. Lots of people have built homes and families off it. What really slows an economy down is when money stops moving.
  - yencabulator 9mo ago
    That's an argument for U.S. healthcare insurance industry being a good thing. Uhh.. no?
    - lazide 9mo ago
      It certainly pads a lot of people’s wallets! Like anything, it’s about what trade offs, when, by whom, etc.
  - embedding-shape 9mo ago
    > The ‘waste’ also counts towards GDP, as long as the money keeps moving. Honestly, that explains a lot. Vastly different perspective from what I'm used to, but useful insight into the US.
    - lazide 9mo ago
      Yup. It can be pretty brutal living it too. But most places are, frankly, in their own ways. Still way easier than India, for example, where the answer is often either the same or ‘try to scam your way around the problem’ if you can’t.