Many Norwegians feel guilty, says Elisabeth Oxfeldt.
The professor of Scandinavian literature at the University of Oslo says that wealthy Norwegians are increasingly contrasting their comfortable lives with those of people who are struggling, especially abroad.
“We have seen the rise of a narrative of blame about people’s privileged lives in a world where others suffer,” she says.
Thanks to its significant oil reserves, the largest in Europe after Russia, Norway is one of the richest countries in the world.
The strength of its economy, as measured by its population, is almost twice that of the United Kingdom, and even greater than that of the United States.
Norway even has a budget surplus: its national income exceeds its spending. This is in stark contrast to most other nations, which have to borrow money to cover their budget deficits.
Contrasts
Oxfeldt is an expert on how Scandinavian books, films and TV series reflect the culture of their time, and says she increasingly sees these media exploring Norwegians’ guilt over wealth.
“Looking at contemporary literature, films and television series, I found that the contrast between the happy, fortunate or privileged self and the suffering “other” generated feelings of guilt, uneasiness, discomfort or shame.”
“Not everyone feels guilty, but many do,” adds Oxfeldt, who coined the term “Scan guilt”something that in Spanish would be translated as “scandiculpa”.
Recent Norwegian dramas feature stories of members of the “leisure class” who rely on the services of migrant workers living in basement apartments.
Or women who realise they have achieved gender equality in the workplace thanks to their poorly paid nannies from poor countries caring for their children, Oxfeldt argues.
Life has a way of imitating art. In March, the Norwegian government said it had stopped granting work permits to nannies from the developing world. The tabloid VG had called the practice slavery.
Ethical wealth?
The Norwegian people’s sense of guilt has also been encouraged by a variety of individuals and organizations eager to question whether Norway’s wealth is based on ethical practices.
In January of this year, the newspaper Financial Times published a special report revealing how fish oil made from ground whole fish caught off the coast of Mauritania in Africa was being used as feed for Norway’s vast salmon farms.
Norwegian farmed fish, which is sold to major European traders, “is damaging food security in West Africa,” the paper said.
Environmental group Feedback Global insisted that “the Norwegian salmon industry’s voracious appetite for wild fish is leading to loss of livelihoods and malnutrition in West Africa, creating a new kind of food colonialism.”
The Norwegian government responded that it wanted to “ensure sustainable food” and was working towards “greater use of local and more sustainable raw materials.”
Indeed, Norway says it is keen to drive a transition to a green economy, so ensuring aquaculture is sustainable will be essential as the oil sector winds down to make way for a so-called “green shift.”
This should free up funding, technology and manpower for perhaps more future-proof maritime sectors such as offshore wind and solar power and algae production for food and medicine.
But, at least for now, this will not be enough to silence critics of Norway’s lucrative oil industry.
Climate activists oppose further drilling for oil and gas.
Other critics say Norway is too dependent on its oil revenues.
On the one hand, thanks to its wealth from oil and gas, working hours in Norway tend to be shorter than in most comparable economies, its labour rights are stronger and its welfare system more generous.
It is no surprise then that Norway has long been one of the happiest countries on the planet, according to the World Happiness Report. Today, it is ranked seventh.
But on the other hand, Norway’s “absolute dependence on oil revenues” has resulted in an overly large government budget, a bloated public sector and a labour shortage that holds back the private sector, explains Børre Tosterud, an investor and retired hotelier.
“It is not sustainable,” he insists.
Oil and gas
Norway has always sought its strength in the oceans. The seas have been a source of food and energy, a place of work and a generator of wealth for centuries.
However, it was not until the late 1960s that oil and gas discoveries helped change the fortunes of this previously relatively underdeveloped nation.
Since then, most of Norway’s huge oil revenues have been invested internationally through Norges Bank Investment Management, part of Norway’s central bank.
Its main investment fund, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, also known as “the oil fund,” has assets worth about $1.72 billion.
Norway’s oil export revenues surged following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Critics claimed the country was profiting from the war, or at least not sharing enough of its sudden profit with the victims of the aggression that sparked it.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre dismissed accusations of war profiteering, saying Norway was able to supply much-needed energy to Europe during a time of crisis.
He also notes that Norway has been one of Ukraine’s largest financial backers and as such is arguably exceeding its expectations, given that Norway’s population is only 5.5 million.
Jan Ludvig Andreassen, chief economist at Eika Group, an alliance of independent Norwegian banks, says Norwegians have “become much richer than we expected.”
At the same time, however, he says that after a period of high interest rates and painful inflation, partly caused by a historically weak krona, which makes imported goods and services more expensive, ordinary Norwegians do not feel rich.
Norway is also one of the world’s largest donors of humanitarian aid abroad. “I think Norwegians are generous contributors to good causes,” Oxfeldt notes.
However, taking into account Norway’s additional oil exports as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, Andreassen says Norway’s charitable donations “are insignificant compared to the additional income arising from war and suffering.”
This is an opinion shared by Tosterud.
But do you agree with Oxfeldt that many Norwegians feel guilty?
“Not really, except perhaps in some circles like the environmental movement,” says Andreassen.
Tosterud agrees. “I don’t feel guilty at all, and I don’t think it’s very common in Norway.”
Keep reading:
* The 5 most expensive countries in the world to live in
* Norway’s successful strategy to transform its criminals into “good neighbors”
* The country that has benefited most from climate change (and the most affected)
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