By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

I dislike Scandinavia being used as a poster boy for socialism for multiple reasons.

1) Most of Sweden's largest and richest companies were founded before the socialist party ever existed. Ikea and Volvo (perhaps Sweden's two most famous brands) certainly were, and Sweden was unregulated capitalism, back then.

2) Scandinavia is an extremely resource-rich region, with small, indigenous populations who have a (stereotypically) strong work ethic. What part of the world wouldn't do well with these circumstances?

3) Scandinavia is an extremely "safe" region. Very little war, or natural disasters have plagued the countries. They are also surrounded by extremely affluent and friendly neighbours with great trade policies between them.

What region or country wouldn't do well with the above circumstances? Capitalistic or socialistic? It's a shame that no other region in the world has similar circumstances, but with a far more capitalistic society. I'd argue that the capitalistic version would probably be far better off than Scandinavia.