For his latest documentary, 'Where To Invade Next', Michael Moore has invaded Europe (aka visited a series of countries, cherry-picking their best policies and planting the US flag with the people he admires the most), and discovered some jaw-dropping facts, which he loves and plans to steal to take back to the USA to help make it great again.
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Here are just some of the things he discovered on his journey:
ITALY
If married, you get eight weeks of paid holiday, seven if you’re not
Employees get an extra month of salary in December – payment for what is called the ‘13 month’
On average, Italians live four years longer than the average American
The average lunch break for Italians is two hours long
Italy is in the top 15 countries for productivity
FRANCE
School lunches are required to be healthy and usually include a cheese course even in lower income schools
French pay-cheques include a detailed list of what your taxes are paying for
France teaches kids sex education, and rates of teen pregnancy in France are twice as low as those in America.
FINLAND
Finland went from the lowest-ranking country for academic success in Europe to one of the top in the world
No homework is given to younger school students and no more than 20 minutes for the older ones
They are against standardised tests and promote happiness as fundamental in the classroom
Younger students only have 20 hours of school a week
They have the shortest school days and years in the Western world
It is illegal to set up a school that charges for tuition
SLOVENIA
University is free to everyone, not only national citizens, but foreigners as well
The University of Ljubljana has more than 100 courses in English
ICELAND
This was the first country to democratically elect a female president in 1980, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
Iceland’s financial crisis in 2008 was the fastest in history wiping out 85% of their economy in weeks
The only bank to survive was run by women
In Iceland, 40% of corporate boards must be women
In Germany, it’s 30%
In America, no laws like this exist and although women make up 52% of the population, only 20% of Congress is made up of women
GERMANY
Doctors can write prescriptions for a three-week stay at a spa if a patient is very stressed
36-hour working week and it is illegal for employers to email/contact employees when on holiday. Many companies also signed up to a no-emailing-out-of-hours policy
Employees in large, share-based companies (those with over 500 employees) have a right to 50% of the seats on the company’s supervisory board
PORTUGAL
Drug use is legal, and you cannot be arrested for using drugs
Drug use went down significantly when it was decriminalised 15 years ago
NORWAY
Even in maximum security prisons, prisoners have their own room and bathroom that they have keys to
Prison guards do not have guns
Only 20% of released prisoners are re-arrested within 5 years
In the US, 80% are re-arrested within 5 years
The longest possible prison sentence is 21 years
Norway has one of the lowest murder rates in the world
TUNISIA
Free, government funded women’s health centres and free access to abortion
Conservative Islamic Party willingly stepped down when a large percentage of the population protested their austere measures
UK
Michael Moore did not visit the UK, noting that the UK is too like the US, noting gender pay inequality, student debt and childhood obesity.
Where to Invade Next is released in the UK and Ireland on 10 June 2016.