The older I get, the more convinced I get that there is no such thing as a unique solution that provides an ideal societal concept for all cultures and nations alike.
The Scandinavian countries are often deemed “Socialist”. For good reasons.
But, just like a convenient label like “Capitalist” doesn't capture all of what America is and what America really stands for, it is, perhaps, more apt to call a country like Sweden something like a Capitalist-Socialist-Lutheran nation.
Capitalist-Socialist-Lutheran?
- Sweden has more roller coasters and McDonald's Restaurants per capita than the US.
- Sweden is, in one way, more Socialist than the Soviet Union. Instead of having a government pretending to pay the workers for their efforts and having workers pretending to actually work, Sweden has invented the welfare state consisting in perfectly healthy people driving around in premium/luxury cars without performing any work whatsoever accusing the government of letting them down.
- Martin Luther wasn't a son of any of the Nordic countries, but Lutheranism sure existed in this part of the world before Martin Luther.
In order to really understand Nordic culture, all one has to do is to realize the beauty of the so called Jante Law.
Aksel Sandemose, a 20th century Danish-Norwegian author, invented the term, but the spirit of the Jante Law/Janteloven is actually age old.
What Sandemose accomplished was to give an explicit, verbal interpretation of a tacit social “law” inherent in Viking Culture. Compare it to the Norse “Hávamál”! (Wikipedia features excellent articles on both of these Nordic texts and their respective contexts by the way)
The commandments that make up the Jante Law:
“1. Don't think that you are special.
2. Don't think that you are of the same standing as us.
3. Don't think that you are smarter than us.
4. Don't fancy yourself as being better than us.
5. Don't think that you know more than us.
6. Don't think that you are more important than us.
7. Don't think that you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at us.
9.Don't think that anyone of us cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach us anything.”
Sens moral for immoral visitors of Swedish amusement parks:
It's okay to cheat the system a little, everyone does, but don't take it to far.
If you dare to, you might have to spend years in prison with nothing better to do than contemplating on the Jante Law.
Do you have any good links that explain Jante law more thoroughly?