Thanks everybody! I appreciate it
It's a girl. We call her Marit, named after my gf's grandmother.
And yes, the Norwegian healthcare is obviously not "free". We do pay taxes. There's income tax. There is a also a wealth tax (0.85% on your net wealth) this tax only applies to people worth over USD 200 000. Theres also pretty steep taxes on alcohol and tobacco, everything with sugar in it and gas.
My point is though that I am very satisfied with how the system here works. Every citizen pay a fixed amount of money to the government every year. This gives all residents some basic rights such as:
Healthcare
Education (from first degree to uni)
Sick leave
49 weeks paid parental leave
A safety net if you get laid off
Subsidized kindergarten
Probably a lot more
Maybe (probably) some years you will end up paying more in taxes than you "get back from the system". Some will even do this all of their life. People here are mostly content about it though, and think it's a fair system. most people will have experienced stages in life when they needed help and got it, without having to go begging to their friends and family on top of their original problem.
There is much less economic stress and pressure than in the US. Some examples:
-Never will you be in a position where you can't afford to send your kid to college. (It's like 50$ a semester)
-Never will you skip doctors appointments because your are scared of the cost
-Never will your family be economically struggling because you get laid off
-Never will you be economically in trouble because you or a family member gets cancer or other Illnesses.
These things make life feel a lot safer.
When discussing this preciously with an American friend of mine, we came to the conclusion that you can get richer in the US than in Norway. (the American dream, right) however you can also be a lot poorer. In Norway everyone is a bit more equal. There's almost no extremes. Most people here have a very pleasant life. Most everyone own their own house, have a decent paying job, 5 weeks holiday yearly and the money to travel. Many have a cabin by the sea or in the mountains, most families have a car or two, our young adults have the opportunity to pursue whatever education they want. There's very little poverty, and there are fewer ultra rich.
I do realize that this thread might be heading for the politics forum. My intention was just to give you an inside view from a "communist" country. (Lol, that is what (some of) the US media calls us, right?)
I'm just very surprised that these basic things aren't something the American population would want.