This is a good description of what the Nordic countries are doing and thinking with their economies, which makes far more sense than what we are doing.
--Kim
Denmark's Post
We had better have a little heart-to-heart about everyone’s absolute favorite word when the topic of Denmark comes up: Socialism!
We completely understand that it rattles your nerves whenever one of your own politicians points across the Atlantic and has wet dreams about the Scandinavian model.
But let's lay our cards on the table before you start hunting for government-owned bakeries and the hammer and sickle on our city halls.
We are not socialists!
In fact, we are some of the most cynical and well-oiled capitalists you will ever meet.
We have simply, in all our boring, pragmatic wisdom, figured out that the free market functions significantly better when the workforce doesn't die from an untreated toothache before turning forty.
We love free trade, profit maximization, and global monopolies. Just ask our pharmaceutical industry, which, as we speak, is busy buying up large chunks of your government bonds using the very money you pay just to be able to fit into your pants.
Does that sound like a communist utopia where we sit in a drum circle sharing organic beet-flavored tea? Hardly.
The misunderstanding undoubtedly stems from our tax burden, which undeniably could make a Texan CPA weep salty tears and reach for his heart medication.
But you shouldn't view it as socialist forced redistribution at all. Think of it instead as an exclusive premium subscription service for peace of mind.
We simply pay top dollar to avoid having to drive around in armored cars, to be able to drink water straight from the tap, and, on a purely practical level, to spare ourselves the sight of our neighbors going to the dogs.
This isn't just driven by bleeding hearts; it's also stone-cold cost-benefit analysis.
It is simply too expensive, inefficient, and above all, incredibly annoying to run a business in a society where the masses can't read, write, or get a broken leg fixed without going personally bankrupt.
So you can safely pack your McCarthyism back into mothballs. We love money exactly as much as you do (even if we don't brag or talk about it).
We just have the strategic superiority of having collectively bought the ultimate insurance package against societal collapse, all while making an absolute killing selling you plastic bricks and weight-loss drugs.
It isn't socialism or communism. It's just really, really good business….
Thanks for reading
We’re curious to see how many people actually read the whole thing. If you just finished reading this, please drop us a hint in the comments
Comments:
Thanks for this. Been trying to explain it to people for years! It's "capitalism with a robust social safety net." The social safety net makes life pleasanter for everyone. The problem with many Americans is they are more invested in making others suffer than feeling good themselves, which itself is a product of the fear and anxiety caused by not having that social safety net, done on purpose by the people who want to siphon off all the money.
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Hint
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Why is it some people have such a hard time understanding this system?
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We do quite enjoy our plastic bricks…
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Well said! Nordic socialisms are some of the best countries to live in!
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And since human beings are social creatures, and no man is an Island, and no business can make it without people working for it and people being able to buy the products/services, to me it’s pure logic that taking care of the people is good for business. No matter how you put it, it’s not the product/service that makes the profit, it’s the people. I think that much of the confusion comes down to the misconception of the billionaires being the ones creating the jobs and the profit, when in fact, it is the people creating it all, simply because without customers there will be no buying, and without the employees, there will be nothing to sell. But then again, I am a Dane, so to me it just makes sense
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Well-written and with humor. Thank you.
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I wholeheartedly support the idea of social liberalism!
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How would a couple in their late 50s come there and go back to the states to visit their family a couple times a year but also let them come visit a couple times a year. Sounds like Denmark is a place we would like to contribute our talents to. And enjoy the beauty of.
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A Canadian Democratic Socialist myself. Fairly distant from the center as a leftie. Wish the US was more open to alternatives instead of blaming those with different ideas as evil or demonic. Socialists like myself are good freindly and decent people far from your boogeyman image of us. We love peace and democracy and human rights, and that everything should be shared in society because it's for the common good of society and everyone in it and we always strive to help out and serve be of positive benifit to society and help one another so noone goes without or gets left behind.