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Swedes are very different from, say, Norwegians. Swedes are forthcoming and ambitious; if you succeed in your ambition, you're celebrated by your countrymen (so
by erikbye 9y ago
Swedes are very different from, say, Norwegians. Swedes are forthcoming and ambitious; if you succeed in your ambition, you're celebrated by your countrymen (so long what you're doing is in the politically correct sphere). You're allowed to be proud of your achievements. Norwegians keep their head down; most seem content with what little they have. If you do achieve more success than your average countrymen, you're scrutinized, not celebrated. You must have done some immoral stuff along the way, right?
All Norwegians know this. Any other Norwegians here who can confirm?
Finns are kind of similar to Norwegians, in this aspect, only, drunker and more depressed. Danes are even more content than Norwegians with having even less, giving almost everything back to the state. They just want their "hygge".
- leksak 9y agoAs a Swede I disagree; I find that "Jantelagen" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante) is as strong in Sweden as anywhere else that I've been in Scandinavia if not even more so. Although, I live in Northern Sweden: far away from Stockholm. Maybe individual success is viewed more kindly there, I do not know.
- TrickyRick 9y agoStrongly disagree. As a swede I've been taught my entire life not to think I'm special or in any way better at anything than anyone else. It's only in recent years I've come to realize that being good at something does actually give you the right to say you're good at it as long as it's true and not empty bragging. That's not to say Swedes aren't hard working but you'll rarely hear a swede talk about their achievements in the way a person from the US would for instance.
- KozmoNau7 9y agoWhich also makes it sound extremely crass and impolite when an American expat living here goes into full-on self-aggrandizing mode.
- henrikschroder 9y agoTrust me, Janteloven is still going strong in Sweden as well. I guess that if you look at Sweden from the outside, you mostly see those that have been successful and defy it, which might make you think it's not present.
- KozmoNau7 9y agoDude, have you ever actually been to Scandinavia? Because wow, those are some deep misconceptions.
- erikbye 9y agoLived here all my life. https://www.quora.com/How-are-Danes-Norwegians-Swedes-and-Finns-distinguished-from-one-another https://www.quora.com/How-are-Danes-Norwegians-Swedes-and-Fi...
- KozmoNau7 9y agoYour post is very indicative of distinctly non-Scandinavian politics and philosophy.
- erikbye 9y agoYes, my political views aligned with some 0.2% of this year's turnout (parliamentary election).
- KozmoNau7 9y agoWhich makes your descriptions of the Scandinavian countries extremely biased at best, and not indicative of what's actually going on.
- erikbye 9y agoEveryone's biased, but descriptions matching those above are commonly observed here regardless of political views. They are in fact common to the point of triteness. If I were to talk about what's actually going on and explain why Norway fosters less tech innovation than Sweden it would have to be in a different form than comments. But I wanted to point out that the explanation might have to do with things unrelated to regulations, taxes, and safety nets. Are Finns drunker than Norwegians? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_c... Is this bias?
- olavk 9y ago> Norwegians keep their head down; most seem content with what little they have. Are you aware that Norway is one of the richest countries in the wold?
- silvestrov 9y agoThey are rich as a society, not as individuals. They don't have a neighbour who has created a multi-million dollar company.
- erikbye 9y agoExactly. Median income in Norway is scary low, especially for single-person households. https://www.ssb.no/en/inntekt-og-forbruk/nokkeltall https://www.ssb.no/en/inntekt-og-forbruk/nokkeltall
- somecontext 9y agoIn case anyone is interested, Statistics Norway believes that the median after tax income for households consisting of persons living alone under 45 years old was 280,200 NOK/year in 2015. The exchange rate with the dollar varies of course, but this is somewhere between 33,300--38400 USD/year. This report https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-256.pdf https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publicatio... suggests that the median income of non-family households in the United States was ~33,800 USD/year, before taxes but after cash transfers from the government. I am not sure how to compare the before and after tax measures, but even if I could, there are still many remaining differences between the United States and Norway. Also note that the two groups being compared are not the same, because of the age restriction.
- olavk 9y agoScary low compared to what?
- erikbye 9y agoFor being one of the richest countries in the world the median income is way too low (especially for single-households). And a direct comparison with other countries can't be done without factoring in all the taxes we have in addition to payroll tax. Norway is also one of the most expensive countries in the world. We have 25% VAT on most goods and services. 15% for food and drink. Alcohol is heavily taxed, for high alc/vol 65% of the purchase price is taxes. Vehicles are heavily taxed, compared to, i.e., Sweden. A $50k car in the U.S. would be $100k here, or more, depending on engine size, emissions, etc. High environmental taxes for fuel, electricity, etc. Taxes on gifts, inheritance, property, wealth, pension, etc. http://www.skatteetaten.no/en/Rates/Value-added-tax/ http://www.skatteetaten.no/en/Rates/Value-added-tax/