We Can’t Replicate Scandinavian Success and Here’s Why
In the years since the onset of the 2016 campaign season, the American Left has become perfectly captivated by the dreamy narrative of democratic socialism. Hailed as pleasant and peaceful and suspiciously cooperative (which I’ll explain in a moment), it is juxtaposed with American capitalism with its supposedly “exploitive,” tasteless impulses. The Scandinavian nations with their seemingly envyingly successful welfare states and prosperous economies, are continually put forth as prime examples of the validity of socialism.
It is incumbent of me to point out that the Nordic nations are really not practitioners of “democratic socialism” at all. Thus, the term, as used by popular, trendy political figures such as Bernie Sanders, is actually pretty intellectually dishonest. It is more correct to say that these nations are primarily welfare states minus any other economic features of socialism. High taxation is merely paired with a surprising affinity for a private-enterprise, market economy. Precisely because these countries are rooted in free market orthodoxy do they seem “suspiciously cooperative” and peaceable for ostensibly falling underneath the socialist umbrella.
And despite having a large public sector, the Nordic public sector doesn’t swallow up all of the privately owned companies. The truth is, these nations have…
