Muthamaki:
Ignorance is bliss… Sweden is a successful socialist country but you will never hear it mentioned
When you boldly state that, “a welfare state can’t prosper!” I wonder what you’re smoking because Finland, Norway and Denmark are welfare states and they are very prosperous states:D:D http://theweek.com/articles/783700/democratic-socialism-bad-why-norway-great [COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]American conservatives have one international example in their case against democratic socialism: Venezuela. That country is ostensibly socialist and undergoing a severe economic crisis — so bad they’re running out of toilet paper, — and therefore leftism always causes economic disaster. The initial problem with this argument is that Venezuela is not a real democracy, as President Nicolas Maduro has been blatantly rigging constitutional and electoral processes to cling to power. Venezuela may embrace socialism, but it definitely doesn’t embrace democratic socialism.
[COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]A more important rejoinder to this argument is Norway (and the other Nordic countries to a lesser extent). Norwegian workers are heavily protected , with 70 percent of workers covered by union contracts, and over a third directly employed by the government. The Norwegian state operates a gigantic sovereign wealth fund, and its financial assets total 331 percent of its GDP (as compared to an American figure of 25 percent). Meanwhile, its state-owned enterprises are worth 87 percent of GDP. Of all the domestic wealth in Norway, the government owns 59 percent , and fully three-quarters of the non-home wealth (as most Norwegians own their home).
[COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)][SIZE=5]Norway is not some destitute hellscape. Indeed, not only are Norwegian stores well-stocked with toilet paper,[/SIZE][SIZE=6] it is actually considerably more wealthy than the U.S., with a GDP of over $70,000 per person. [/SIZE][SIZE=5]Even when you correct for the moderately large oil sector (which accounts for a bit less than a quarter of its exports), it still has a cutting-edge, ultra-productive economy — far from some petro-state living off oil rents like Dubai.[/SIZE]
[COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]Socially, it routinely ranks as the happiest (2017 ) or second-happiest (2018 ) country in the world . The rest of the Nordics are also usually among the top five as well — even more remarkable when you factor in the phenomenon of seasonal affective disorder and the extreme northerly position of the Scandinavian peninsula.
You’re a moron, comparing apples with oranges. Nordic countries are democracies( in every sense of the word), they incentivize entrepreneurship, they allow zero corruption, they’ve created a good environment for investment, they tax heavily but provide the best social services in the world (education, health, etc), They’ve adopted smart fiscal policies. Welfare is a social net that allows citizens to bounce back after set backs like, job losses, health issues etc, not a tool for controlling the masses. Venezuela is the opposite of Norway.