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> Some things about the US still surprise me. In "socialist Sweden" (as it's sometimes called) retroactive taxation is unconstitutional. The difference between

> Some things about the US still surprise me. In "socialist Sweden" (as it's sometimes called) retroactive taxation is unconstitutional. The difference between the US and postage-stamp-sized European countries like Sweden is that there is great political and cultural variation between different parts of the US. California is chock full of socialists/liberals.

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rosser 14y ago
postage-stamp-sized European countries like Sweden At 174K mi^2, Sweden is larger than California's 164K mi^2.
- aaronblohowiak 14y ago
  Population-wise, Sweden is about the same as new york city.
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  You're being intentionally obtuse. As is immediately apparent if you look at a population density map of Sweden[0], the vast majority of the population is concentrated in the southern part of the country. 0: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Swedishpopdensity.svg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Swedishpo...
  - rosser 14y ago
    If you meant population, you should have said population. The phrase "postage-stamp-sized European countries" is pretty broadly understood and used to mean things like Andorra, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, &c. By no stretch of the imagination is interpreting a widely-used phrase as it's widely used "being intentionally obtuse."
georgemcbay 14y ago
I'm a socialist/liberal who lives in California and I think the idea of retroactive taxation on anything (be it person or business), is nightmareish and should be abolished.
MaysonL 14y ago
Given that Sweden is about 10% larger than California, albeit with less than a third the population, it's hardly "postage-stamp-sized". Given that we elected Reagan, Schwarzenegger, and David Dreier, California's chock full o' wingnuts as well as socialists/liberals.
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  > Given that Sweden is about 10% larger than California, albeit with less than a third the population, it's hardly "postage-stamp-sized". I already addressed this point below in response to another reply: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5062138 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5062138 > Given that we elected Reagan, Schwarzenegger, and David Dreier, California's chock full o' wingnuts as well as socialists/liberals. I'm not familiar with Dreier, but there's no doubt that Californians have a soft spot for actors.

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rosser 14y ago

postage-stamp-sized European countries like Sweden At 174K mi^2, Sweden is larger than California's 164K mi^2.

aaronblohowiak 14y ago
Population-wise, Sweden is about the same as new york city.
w1ntermute 14y ago
You're being intentionally obtuse. As is immediately apparent if you look at a population density map of Sweden[0], the vast majority of the population is concentrated in the southern part of the country. 0: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Swedishpopdensity.svg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Swedishpo...
- rosser 14y ago
  If you meant population, you should have said population. The phrase "postage-stamp-sized European countries" is pretty broadly understood and used to mean things like Andorra, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, &c. By no stretch of the imagination is interpreting a widely-used phrase as it's widely used "being intentionally obtuse."

georgemcbay 14y ago

I'm a socialist/liberal who lives in California and I think the idea of retroactive taxation on anything (be it person or business), is nightmareish and should be abolished.

MaysonL 14y ago

Given that Sweden is about 10% larger than California, albeit with less than a third the population, it's hardly "postage-stamp-sized". Given that we elected Reagan, Schwarzenegger, and David Dreier, California's chock full o' wingnuts as well as socialists/liberals.

w1ntermute 14y ago
> Given that Sweden is about 10% larger than California, albeit with less than a third the population, it's hardly "postage-stamp-sized". I already addressed this point below in response to another reply: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5062138 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5062138 > Given that we elected Reagan, Schwarzenegger, and David Dreier, California's chock full o' wingnuts as well as socialists/liberals. I'm not familiar with Dreier, but there's no doubt that Californians have a soft spot for actors.