Psychiatric Problems Plague One of Four Norwegians

My point is a basic one of economics, i.e. that people respond to incentives.

Where there are large rewards to be mentally ill, as in Norway, astounding statistics like these are possible. The ridiculousness of the example I brought from my personal experience, of real estate tycoons who run marathons receiving large disability payments from the government, helps to illustrate the point.

In the US, there are large financial rewards for schools when students are classified as "special education," so there have been an explosion of these classifications. In Israel, unemployment payments are higher than the average wage, which exacerbates the problem.

The goal of many conservatives is to provide incentives for good behavior. For example, inducements to states to decrease their welfare rolls has led to sharp increases in US employment. I would like to see Western countries grant the privilege of immigration to those who achieve some level of accomplishment.

The greatest civilizing force that society has, in my opinion, is that women have historically spurned men who do not overcome their natural tendencies toward irresponsibility. The sexual revolution, a "price decrease" from a purely economic perspective, was associated with a large-scale deterioration in behavior. Similarly, suicide martyrdom is sold, to a large extent, as an extreme sexual transaction.