Quote Originally Posted by HoreTore View Post
The only scenario, in the current world, in which we could get attacked, is in a world war 3 scenario. Basically it would have to be an attack on europe(EU), in which case we would be dragged along(due to tasty oil, and a coastline to attack england).
The trouble I see here is this; you would have to spend a huge chunk of your economy on creating a vast military to even slow down a huge threat like Russia. It's unrealistic to expect to be able to do so... it would be like Denmark becoming the 5th greatest military on the planet. Even if you could do so, you'd collapse in on yourself like the Soviet Union.

Because we're talking WW3 here. The world would be at war, including the United States, and well, relying on shipping in such a situation isn't ideal...
I see your point. I really think we've gone beyond self-sufficiency here, though; few nations can support themselves individually. Some are too small or too poor to have a huge army, or cannot afford the space or the effort to grow their own food. What you should have is a stockpile of non-perishable food and containers of fresh water stored by the government in facilities all over the nation, which over time will accumulate and provide food and clean water in times of crisis like war or famine.

Or at least I think it's a good idea. We have gone too far; we cannot revert back to an agrarian economy. There are too many people and not enough arable lands for everyone. A tree cannot revert back into a sapling. The only realistic option to prepare for times of need is to store surplus goods. Take the money you would be spending on farm subsidies and use it to buy non-perishable goods and you'll actually be making an investment in your future rather than spending money on expensive crops that will die and farmland which can be easily destroyed or devastated by conflict or weather patterns. Buy a lot of cheap crops and can them and store them.

Or perhaps a little bit of both. I suppose increasing your own food yield isn't exactly a bad notion; I just think it's expensive and inefficient to put all your effort in that one direction when it may not be practical for Norway.

I'd like to think the United States and other allies will be there to kick some invader butt... that is, if our economy doesn't collapse or we don't lose all credibility with the international community. But I guess you can't count on that.

Because it's very hard to grow something here, and thus very expensive. To explain a little further; let's say you have one acre of land, and you wish to grow wheat there. With the soil in Norway, you can get x amount of wheat from it. With one acre in a more fertile country, like say Brazil, you would get 10x wheat.

Also, 1000 USD is a fortune in some countries, while it's pocket change here....
I think I understand more clearly now. Thanks!