Is life really better in Scandinavian countries?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, it is not. Just traveled through several of these countries, quite the disappointment.

Typical American response.

From a Swede - My sister in law has basically been on maternity leave for 8 years, because she keeps having kids. Healthcare, dat care, subsidized post secondary school, you name it. I wish my husbands job existed in Stockholm because life is so much better in Scandinavia.

Ps. In Norway things are so good, even the cows have a good life. There is a law you need to provide a thin mattress for them to sleep!

This is why I’d argue it’s a bad life. There are laws about anything and everything. I don’t want the government in my business. There are even government officials in Norway who travel around bars to make sure patrons aren’t being overserved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's all about what you prefer. Less staff but more piece of mind and security, go to Scandinavia. Here I'm still struggling to pay off student loans and I took out so few. I had to work around my husband's schedule because we couldn't afford daycare. Constantly worrying about breaking a bone or getting sick. No doctor accepts my dental insurance and 1-2 take my health insurance.
Even nearby Baltics have a decent life. Nobody I know works over 40 hours, schools and retraining are widely available, very generous parental leave, free daycare and schooling.
People in that region travel a lot. My friend just flew to Barcelona for $80. Looking forward to summer and travel in the winter, really helps with the cold climate.

Fwiw my friends in Scandinavia all have enormous mortgages. Go read about mortgage debt in these countries. My friends also can’t outsource the things we typically do because they are so expensive. My friends are urban professionals but having a nanny or staying at home is only for the extremely wealthy. They have similar jobs as my friends here but live like they are lower middle class. Their kids go to large state run daycares where they are sick nonstop and they can’t even do things like go out to eat or order takeout because it’s so expensive.

[Anonymous]

Here’s an article on personal debt in scandanavia: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/why-northern-europe-is-so-indebted/

When my mom recently bought a condo it was in cash. My friends in Sweden didn’t even know what I was talking about. Everyone has huge mortgages. The state provides most benefits so individuals aren’t trying to build wealth. Instead it’s about getting as much from the government as you can and taking on the max amount of personal debt you can afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s an article on personal debt in scandanavia: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/why-northern-europe-is-so-indebted/

When my mom recently bought a condo it was in cash. My friends in Sweden didn’t even know what I was talking about. Everyone has huge mortgages. The state provides most benefits so individuals aren’t trying to build wealth. Instead it’s about getting as much from the government as you can and taking on the max amount of personal debt you can afford.

With the exception of a few trust fund babies, most everyone I know in the DMV has a huge mortgage too…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s an article on personal debt in scandanavia: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/why-northern-europe-is-so-indebted/

When my mom recently bought a condo it was in cash. My friends in Sweden didn’t even know what I was talking about. Everyone has huge mortgages. The state provides most benefits so individuals aren’t trying to build wealth. Instead it’s about getting as much from the government as you can and taking on the max amount of personal debt you can afford.

With the exception of a few trust fund babies, most everyone I know in the DMV has a huge mortgage too…

But this isn’t true across America. Over 40% of homes don’t even have a mortgage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s an article on personal debt in scandanavia: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/why-northern-europe-is-so-indebted/

When my mom recently bought a condo it was in cash. My friends in Sweden didn’t even know what I was talking about. Everyone has huge mortgages. The state provides most benefits so individuals aren’t trying to build wealth. Instead it’s about getting as much from the government as you can and taking on the max amount of personal debt you can afford.

With the exception of a few trust fund babies, most everyone I know in the DMV has a huge mortgage too…

But this isn’t true across America. Over 40% of homes don’t even have a mortgage.

That's because they're owned by boomers, who bought them in the 70s or early 80s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s an article on personal debt in scandanavia: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/why-northern-europe-is-so-indebted/

When my mom recently bought a condo it was in cash. My friends in Sweden didn’t even know what I was talking about. Everyone has huge mortgages. The state provides most benefits so individuals aren’t trying to build wealth. Instead it’s about getting as much from the government as you can and taking on the max amount of personal debt you can afford.

With the exception of a few trust fund babies, most everyone I know in the DMV has a huge mortgage too…

But this isn’t true across America. Over 40% of homes don’t even have a mortgage.

That's because they're owned by boomers, who bought them in the 70s or early 80s.

Who cares what the reason is? The point is that on average Americans do NOT have extreme levels of personal debt like they do in Scandinavian countries.

This is from 2021 and shows homes owned outright at 13 and 19 percent for norway and Sweden. It’s double that in the US.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/957803/homeowners-with-and-without-an-outstanding-mortgage-in-eu-28-per-country/

[Anonymous]

It’s a personality thing: I want all the opportunities and all the responsibilities. Others don’t. I don’t want to live in a place where everything is done for me but there is a cap on what I can do/achieve. Others may be ok with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worked in a Scandinavian country for many years and the poster who noted the homogeneity of the population is spot on. There is little discussion on how racist and unwelcoming they are to immigrants or non-white people. It’s not even subtle.

People criticize American individualism but most Americans would be shocked to live in a Scandinavian country and be expected to be the same religion (not religious), dress the same, lifestyle the same, food the same, I could go on….you must conform.

I’m so glad to be American and do whatever I want within reason. I can be who I want to be.

Even a month ago someone in Norway was convinced of hate crimes by posting something offensive on the internet. Can you imagine posting something hateful on Facebook and being sent to jail?

Have you ever been to Scandanavia? For example, Sweden is second only to the US in racial diversity with 20 percent non-white inhabitants thanks to generous asylum criteria for refugees. It’s got mosques, synagogues and temples which might give you a clue that not everyone practices the same religion. And it’s got 1 year maternity/paternity leave. I tried to google to see what you were babbling about regarding Norway and being put in jail for putting something on Facebook and couldn’t find it. Why don’t you include a source so we can judge.

You think 20% non-white is diverse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Worked in a Scandinavian country for many years and the poster who noted the homogeneity of the population is spot on. There is little discussion on how racist and unwelcoming they are to immigrants or non-white people. It’s not even subtle.

There are non-white countries like this in Asia and Africa, Japan is a good example. Do you feel the same about them?

[Anonymous]

I meant they're not welcoming to ethnicity outside their own, not non-white

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worked in a Scandinavian country for many years and the poster who noted the homogeneity of the population is spot on. There is little discussion on how racist and unwelcoming they are to immigrants or non-white people. It’s not even subtle.

People criticize American individualism but most Americans would be shocked to live in a Scandinavian country and be expected to be the same religion (not religious), dress the same, lifestyle the same, food the same, I could go on….you must conform.

I’m so glad to be American and do whatever I want within reason. I can be who I want to be.

Even a month ago someone in Norway was convinced of hate crimes by posting something offensive on the internet. Can you imagine posting something hateful on Facebook and being sent to jail?

Have you ever been to Scandanavia? For example, Sweden is second only to the US in racial diversity with 20 percent non-white inhabitants thanks to generous asylum criteria for refugees. It’s got mosques, synagogues and temples which might give you a clue that not everyone practices the same religion. And it’s got 1 year maternity/paternity leave. I tried to google to see what you were babbling about regarding Norway and being put in jail for putting something on Facebook and couldn’t find it. Why don’t you include a source so we can judge.

Not that PP but the first thing that came up for me on the first try when I googled was this : https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/18918131.2021.1872762

In January 2020, two persons in Norway were condemned by a unanimous Supreme Court of Norway for comments posted on ‘closed’ Facebook groups. With the two decisions, the Supreme Court confirmed for the first time the boundaries of hateful, racist, and discriminatory speech in the context of online utterances in social media. It also established a new sanctioning standard for hate speech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worked in a Scandinavian country for many years and the poster who noted the homogeneity of the population is spot on. There is little discussion on how racist and unwelcoming they are to immigrants or non-white people. It’s not even subtle.

There are non-white countries like this in Asia and Africa, Japan is a good example. Do you feel the same about them?

Yes! Most people don’t want to live in Japan for these reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worked in a Scandinavian country for many years and the poster who noted the homogeneity of the population is spot on. There is little discussion on how racist and unwelcoming they are to immigrants or non-white people. It’s not even subtle.

People criticize American individualism but most Americans would be shocked to live in a Scandinavian country and be expected to be the same religion (not religious), dress the same, lifestyle the same, food the same, I could go on….you must conform.

I’m so glad to be American and do whatever I want within reason. I can be who I want to be.

Even a month ago someone in Norway was convinced of hate crimes by posting something offensive on the internet. Can you imagine posting something hateful on Facebook and being sent to jail?

Have you ever been to Scandanavia? For example, Sweden is second only to the US in racial diversity with 20 percent non-white inhabitants thanks to generous asylum criteria for refugees. It’s got mosques, synagogues and temples which might give you a clue that not everyone practices the same religion. And it’s got 1 year maternity/paternity leave. I tried to google to see what you were babbling about regarding Norway and being put in jail for putting something on Facebook and couldn’t find it. Why don’t you include a source so we can judge.

You think 20% non-white is diverse?

Do you have any idea how non-diverse some of these countries used to be? Brunettes practically counted as diversity!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a personality thing: I want all the opportunities and all the responsibilities. Others don’t. I don’t want to live in a place where everything is done for me but there is a cap on what I can do/achieve. Others may be ok with it.

This accurately describes life in Scandinavia.