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Scandinavians are under constant propaganda pressure since early childhood of how their countries and their "systems" are the best in the world. Most of them ar

Scandinavians are under constant propaganda pressure since early childhood of how their countries and their "systems" are the best in the world. Most of them are incapable of waking up. Quite strange, considering that Germany is just around the corner, and has been more successful in almost every aspect.

lifestyleguru 2y ago
I guess this BBC article is the pinnacle of living in this bubble. Here is a wooden shack in the middle of nowhere, pay EUR 3000 to come over and sleep in it.
DanielHB 2y ago
Born outside of Sweden and living in Sweden now, you have a few misconceptions here. Scandinavians (or at least the Swedish) complain quite a lot about public services and government, so many discussions I have end with "you know that here is better than pretty much everywhere else". My favorite one is people complaining about trains and public transport where both are waaaaaaaaay better than most other countries. Sure it is not Swiss-level of service (I travelled quite a bit in Switzerland trains), but still very good overall. And this carries over to almost everything, healthcare, education, job opportunities, entrepreneurism. Not quite the best at anything, but somehow average to very good at everything. If this "complaining" attitude wasn't a thing you wouldn't be seeing right-leaning political parties rising here. Maybe it is this attitude that keeps the services and institutions working well? I don't know. I remember a former coworker who complained so much about everything Swedish (from culture, to weather, to people, to institutions, to government). He travelled quite a lot but only ever stayed in the big centers or touristy places. He got enamored with China and thought things were so much better there in every respect compared to Sweden, he took a few months off to live there (considering moving permanently) and came back completely disillusioned. Classic case of only seeing the good parts of other places. One thing that he actually complained about that quite surprised me was that the trains in China were overcrowded and people were rude in public transport. That was like the one thing I thought China was better than Sweden (because of their overbuilt infrastructure). Another one that happens a lot when I tell stories about my home country ends up with me saying "what trains? There are no trains!"

lifestyleguru 2y ago

I guess this BBC article is the pinnacle of living in this bubble. Here is a wooden shack in the middle of nowhere, pay EUR 3000 to come over and sleep in it.

DanielHB 2y ago

Born outside of Sweden and living in Sweden now, you have a few misconceptions here. Scandinavians (or at least the Swedish) complain quite a lot about public services and government, so many discussions I have end with "you know that here is better than pretty much everywhere else". My favorite one is people complaining about trains and public transport where both are waaaaaaaaay better than most other countries. Sure it is not Swiss-level of service (I travelled quite a bit in Switzerland trains), but still very good overall. And this carries over to almost everything, healthcare, education, job opportunities, entrepreneurism. Not quite the best at anything, but somehow average to very good at everything. If this "complaining" attitude wasn't a thing you wouldn't be seeing right-leaning political parties rising here. Maybe it is this attitude that keeps the services and institutions working well? I don't know. I remember a former coworker who complained so much about everything Swedish (from culture, to weather, to people, to institutions, to government). He travelled quite a lot but only ever stayed in the big centers or touristy places. He got enamored with China and thought things were so much better there in every respect compared to Sweden, he took a few months off to live there (considering moving permanently) and came back completely disillusioned. Classic case of only seeing the good parts of other places. One thing that he actually complained about that quite surprised me was that the trains in China were overcrowded and people were rude in public transport. That was like the one thing I thought China was better than Sweden (because of their overbuilt infrastructure). Another one that happens a lot when I tell stories about my home country ends up with me saying "what trains? There are no trains!"