Scandinavia - working socialist economies?

[Cyrus]

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I did not imply that everyone in Eruope is in agreement.

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So why do you use terms like "the people of europe" if not to downplay the dissenters?

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Because the majority of people think that way. I assumed that people here are above a certain level of intelligence and, thus, can understand that when someone says "Americans like burgers", one means "most" or "a significant number of", etc. I could be wrong.

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Obviously, a lot of people support these policies. That doesn't make them legitimate (it doesn't necessarily make them illegitimate, either). Theft doesn't magically become legitimate when your gang grows past some critical size.

[/ QUOTE ] Well, it may surprise you to know that when (for example) theft becomes institutionalised, it is legitimate, in both senses of the word. As a matter of fact, when such choices are made voluntariyl by a group of people, large (society) or small, who are you to say otherwise?

Ah yes, this is where we enter the realm of "absolute morals", a realm where democracy and the will of the individual might not rule! (It's a realm, after all...)

[Bjorn]

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I did not imply that everyone in Eruope is in agreement. Europeans have not been unanimous or nearly unanimous about anything in the last two millenia, bless their inventive, belligerent, nervous souls!

The fact is that a significant number, oftentimes the majority, of Europeans are quite content with the social policies associated with the European Union, although, at the same time, they complain about the "bureaucracy" that comes with 'em.

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It might be worth pointing out that very little of what would normaly be considered social policies (unemployment benefits, health care, welfare, pensions etc etc) is actually done at the EU level. Those things are still firmly in the hands of the national goverments.

In fact I don't really think it is worthwile to classify what "europeans" think on most subjects. We don't share a common language, havn't had similiar histories, havn't got any sort of unified culture don't use (or even have access to) the same media and so on.

/Bjorn

[Bjorn]

I don't know about GDP but one of the big slogans of the Social Democrats (who has been ruling in sweden for most of the post-WW2 era) allways used to be "Full Employment". So jobs have definitly been a big priority at least in sweden.

/Bjorn

[Cyrus]

In this thread, it was argued that financial performance is THE indicator of a society's well-being. Or words to that effect.


Perhaps the following two links will prove useful to those who wanna have a second thought about that :

Infant mortality comparison across nations : How goes America ?



Defense spending in the United States.

[tylerdurden]

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Wow, the federal government is a "society"?

Seriously, though, thanks for showing yet another reason that statism is undesirable.

[mackthefork]

20 European entries in the top 25 in the world, sounds like a good flyer. Good post.

Mack

[ACPlayer]

Our infants, statistically, do worse than Cuba.

I certainly would not have expected that ranking. The table is a shocker!

[Arnfinn Madsen]

Cuba has free healthcare.......

[ACPlayer]

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Cuba has free healthcare.......

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No shocker there (free as in govt paid that is).

Our healthcare system is the best in the world (the aggregated and restated sentiment of many of the Right Wing posters on this forum).

[Arnfinn Madsen]

I don't know the details of all the countries, but those with a strong, wellfunctioning government seem to do best. Who else than a strong government can secure the well-being of a small child? (given the reality that not all parents are good)