The Myth of Scandinavian Socialism

Tons of people who support "Democratic Socialism" argue that the US should be more like Scandinavia, and while there are some great things about Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, the idea that they're good examples of socialism is a myth.
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CREDITS:

Written by Seamus Coughlin & Jen Maffessanti
Animated by Seamus Coughlin
Produced by Sean W. Malone

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LINKS:

[gregoriit]

Why does the Norwegian navy put bar codes on the sides of their ships? So when they return to port they can Scandinavian.

[MurderousPingu]

As a finnish person I can't believe and am infuriated that you portrayed norway as a heavy metal band member instead of Finland. DO YOU KNOW WHICH COUNTRY IS NUMBER 1 IN HEAVY METAL GROUPS PER CAPITA IN THE WORLD???? IT'S FINLAND

[MihzvolWuriar]

As a black metal fan, I approve of Norway's avatar, now, to watch Call of the Wintermoon while maintaining the Grimness

[baldurelitraustason]

Use the term Nordic countries because that includes Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland

[oseansoldier]

I demand free Viking horns! It is not fair that only the 1% of the 1% can summon lightning!

[TheLordmep]

So what you're saying is... we'd all be happier with government mandated Viking horns?
...
Makes sense to me.

[dumyjobby]

I worked in Scandinavian countries and other eu countries. By far the easiest and best place to do business. Very unburocratic, also hard working and very intelligent people. It has been a pleasure working there. It's not because they are socialist but because the economy is quite free from government burden, that way they can be very productive

[milesmccall]

One nit-pick: if we're going to be fair about comparing net incomes, we have to subtract what Americans pay out of pocket for healthcare and other things that are covered by social programs in these nordic countries. That extra tax burden doesn't just disappear, they get at least some value out of it (whether or not it closes the gap can be debated).

[coolshampoobottle]

I moved to the US (I’m Norwegian), and I was talking to this guy, and then I said I’m from Norway, and he said, oh that socialist country? I’m tired of people thinks Norway is socialist :(

[iowaclass]

As much as I love all the videos FEE puts out, Seamus’s videos are my favorites

[IsAcRafT]

2:14 could we keep that blonde screaming viking please?? It's really cool.

[johndipaola]

I'm glad Norwegian Black Metal is getting the recognition it deserves

[kristianbrandt]

You're right, we're left with less once tax has been paid. However this tax makes sure we don't have to bankrupt ourselves whenever we're in need of care, pursue higher learning or simply feel like going for a walk.


Here's the thing, it is much more difficult to become a millionaire here, but the odds of you becoming a millionaire aren't in your favour anyway. Perhaps more importantly our tax is adjusted, as a general rule we don't offer tax breaks to billionaires. Some people say this is unfair, i.e ''why should I pay for being succesful?'' But actually it is fair, because it means tax has the same impact on all.


Some say our welfare model lets people to leech of of the system, but our high tax allow us to make sure people don't. This sense of security also makes people happier(Yes, there's actually a way to measure this) which is really important when you live in a country where it rains most of the year.


So yeah, it's the little things. But like most things in this world it isn't perfect and no Scandinavian would use the word utopia to describe it, we complain just as much about our government as any other well-off nation.


Also Viking helmets didn't have horns, likely the tourist office came up with that one. Just like the "throw another shrimp on the barby" was written in the US. You say tomato, Aussies say prawns.

[merrittgaming]

“*Scandinavian* countries like Finland”

Suomi: *PERKELE!*





- In case you don’t get the joke, Finland is Nordic and not a Scandinavian country, which tends to cause some misconceptions.

[schwarzerritter]

It is a common misconception Viking helmets had horns.
Vikings actually had horns and wore helmets made to fit heads with horns.

[Guldmann]

There are a lot of misleading facts in this video. I can only speak for Denmark, which is the country whose economy I have studied (and lived in).

GDP per capita is lower, yes, but the hourly production of each worker is higher. This means that the GDP per capita is lower because we take more vacations and work less, not because we overall are a poorer country. Whether that trade-off is worth it is debatable, but it's just that: a trade-off. We prioritize less work and more leisure, which results in a slightly lower ability to consume.

And yes, taxes are high. But when comparing take-home pay, it is disingenious not to include the price of healthcare insurance in the US, for instance. Yes, free stuff is not "free", but it's a way to redistribute wealth. In the US, everyone pays the same for healthcare. In Denmark, what you pay for healthcare depends on what you earn. This helps the lower and middle class significantly. This point also applies to college. Like before, it's subjective whether or not you prefer this, but many do.

Also, it is a mixed truth to say that we have scaled the social-democratic systems back for the last 30 years. We spend more and more money on our public sector every year, to compensate for the fact that we currently have a lot of children, a lot of elderly people, and few in the working age (this will obviously improve when the large child generation joins the workforce, and the smaller workforce generation retires).

In Denmark, just 4 days before this video was posted, the left wing in Denmark won their largest victory in modern history, with a promise to cut back the tax cuts and reinvest in the welfare state.

Whether you want to call Scandinavia socialist is up to personal taste. We don't, personally. We call it socialdemocratic. However, in the US, these same policies are called democratic socialist, or just socialist, by the mainstream media. If you define socialism as the Bernie Sanders brand, it wouldn't be inaccurate to call Scandinavia socialist. Different strokes for different folks. But this argument can't be used to discredit Sanders or AOC.

The only thing you are 100% correct about is the fact that we mostly don't have minimum wages, and it is up to unions and employers to negotiate the high wages.

[frickinfrick]

I don’t exactly understand how this is supposed to disprove what they believe? Even if they have higher income tax they’re still provided for in other ways that make it less of a problem. Homelessness is still lower, happiness is still higher, the education system is still way better, healthcare is still accessible, the welfare system is still better, what exactly does this change? This seems like it completely dodged the point, most socialists are fine with taxes as long as other services are provided for free universally, why would this change their mind?

[MyRkAcc]

Some of the worlds lowest corporate taxes and highest personal tax. Sounds socialist i guess...

[geekymetalhead]

*sees Black Metal used for Norway*
Me: *happiness noise*

[themole]

I was quite shocked when I realise just how little tax Americans pay. Some states like Florida or Texas don't pay any income tax at all! Here in Europe we're so used to being taxed at 20% income as an absolute minimum we hardly even think about it. I can live with being taxed if we get the public services but people need to stop pretending that our healthcare is free. It's really not.