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The "neighbour" argument is DOA and has been from the start. There are no meaningful differences between Sweden and other countries except in its government res
by native_samples 5y ago
The "neighbour" argument is DOA and has been from the start. There are no meaningful differences between Sweden and other countries except in its government response - Scandinavians aren't aliens and thus nobody was claiming they were incomparable back at the start. Instead it was headlines like "Sweden is a cautionary tale to the world". The idea that you aren't allowed to compare them only appeared once Sweden proved that COVID mitigations were a terrible failure.
The real question is actually what's special about Norway and such. Sweden isn't an outlier here.
- borski 5y agoThere are definitely meaningful differences between countries. As an example, Sweden has a much higher percentage of people who care about protecting the rest of the populous; that is, if they’re sick, they tend to stay home on average much more than someone working in the US. (Even pre-COVID). Italy has a higher percentage of older people. Countries have differences. Comparing Sweden to its neighbors is, in fact, the right approach imho.
- sofixa 5y agoOf course there are differences. Do you know that in France used to kiss on the cheek when meeting, including strangers? And many continued well into the pandemic because "it's just the Chinese and Italians, we're better than them". Population density, age distribution, patterns of living matter. Ignoring then all to fit your preconceived notion that all countries were equally at risk from Covid is just.. wrong. And btw not only did Sweden's strategy result in multiple times the death rate of its neighbours, it also resulted in a similar economic downturn. So it was all for very little.