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Petromania and Petrostan

When Norway discovered oil, we got a very special relationship with the state. Author Simen Sætre calls it petroleum mania, and now it's time to find a medicine.

While novelists dig ever deeper into their own novels, a lot of good non-fiction books are published in Norwegian. Do you think non-fiction books are theoretical with excessively long and clumsy sentences? No, it's called professional literature and sold as pensum. On the other hand, prose is often reader-friendly and focuses on reality. They are often printed by the best journalists, those who are tired of writing about dead celebrities and narcotized gay thieves.

Simen Sætre said to Dagsavisen, “I immerse myself in an existential question, and travel around the world to find the answer. There is no room for the newspaper articles. Here comes the conclusion first.” In his book, Sætre finds out what a lot of oil money does to small countries. Norway prefers to compare itself with countries in the West, but it is also useful to compare ourselves with the small oil-rich states. Sætre calls them Petrostan. In Kuwait, he meets business woman, Danah, who talks about the impact of high oil revenues: “Everything people used to do themselves has become the state's task. So we ended up with people just sitting in the office and get money for it.”

In Petrostan, many work safely in the state, or state-funded companies. But not all people sit in the office. In Norway and other oil-rich countries such as Kuwait, Qatar, Emirates, Gabon, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, there is a new “servant class” of immigrants who take jobs we do not want to do ourselves. In 1979, Swedes worked 50 hours less than the Norwegians a year. Now they work 151 hours more than us. Many of them operate our restaurants and shops. Eastern Europeans are carpentering, picking strawberries and doing farm works, while Africans and Asians are driving buses, cleaning and working at hotels.

In Petrostans, many natives look down on immigrants, as if the oil was something the country had earned, and not by pure luck. These people go on welfare rather than taking a low status job. Shall we first work; we will certainly be designers, IT consultants or sociologists researching whether women or men are more likely to use blinking SMS symbols. And when something goes wrong, we appeal to the state. The phrase “staten må ta ansvar (the state must take responsibility)” receives 159,000 hits in Google. The state must take responsibility for the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra's development, for feeding wild animals, the Olympic Park's future and the population's diet, among other things.

In Petrostan, democratic elections are transformed into a competition to promise the most use of oil money. The economy is a power struggle over the state's money, and people become clients instead of contractors. In Norway, 1.3 million people receive their main income from social security. Before the oil revenues, a Norwegian used to work 430 hours more a year. We have become less willing to take risks and innovate. What will it lead to when the oil runs out?

Sætre called the book Petro Mania, the syndrome that occurs in Petrostans. But something makes the Norwegian government prevent infection. For example, we have higher tax rates and petrol prices than other Petrostans. In the Arab oil countries, Sætre met people who hardly pay taxes, and therefore cannot have influence or a transparent access to politicians' spending. The State finances itself with oil money. For example, in Turkmenistan, gas is so cheap that public transport is unprofitable. Instead, the streets are full of polluting pirate taxis.

If you want to strengthen your immune system against oil disorders, there is much you can do. Look at yourself before you blame the government. Is there much to do in the office? Start your own business or find you a job where you needed. In 2030, Norway will lack 13.000 nurses and 40.000 other health professionals, unless the interest in medical studies increases. Get other interests than the consumption of expensive, useless objects. Have interest in the world community, and realize that Norway cannot do everything by itself. And in the end, stop believing that your country is different – it follows the pattern of all Petrostans.

TAGS: Oil, State, Simen Sætre, Book

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