Having social programs doesn't preclude you from being a capitalist country. If it did, the U.S. has medicare, medicaid, welfare, social security, food stamps,

Having social programs doesn't preclude you from being a capitalist country. If it did, the U.S. has medicare, medicaid, welfare, social security, food stamps, affordable housing programs, and many others yet we consider it to be highly capitalist. People often confuse political and economic systems (which is fair) because they get tangled together. Both Norway and Sweden are capitalist countries. They have stock markets even. [1][2] At least for me and I'll speak on behalf of others who can correct me but there is great annoyance with "capitalism bad for everything" slogans and phrases precisely because it's more of a lack of functional government (at least in America) than it is private ownership of property or production. You should be able to start and own a business, the government (largely) shouldn't be telling you what you can and can't spend your money on, and entrepreneurship is very valuable and should be promoted and encouraged, not shamed or something you get executed for. -edit- The main difference between Nordic social democracies and a country like the United States is marketing and effectiveness. The U.S. spends an incredible amount of money on social programs. Some groups in the U.S. spend an incredible amount of resources convincing others that government programs are "socialism" and therefore bad. It's a wonder that my older relatives who rail against these programs are the same ones that benefit mostly from them. I always say yea I'm on board we should cut medicare and social security (that they receive) and the conversation changes at that point, though their minds don't. That should tell you something. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Stock_Exchange https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Stock_Exchange [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasdaq_Stockholm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasdaq_Stockholm