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Actually no. The non-homogeneous states in America with lots of Nordic peoples tend to be the best governed as well. Think Minnesota ("think Minnesota" is the a
by schoper 14y ago
Actually no. The non-homogeneous states in America with lots of Nordic peoples tend to be the best governed as well. Think Minnesota ("think Minnesota" is the answer to every statistic comparing Europe to the States, crime, gun control, healthcare, etc., because Minnesota is basically Yankee Switzerland on every statistic). Almost as if it's not about the legal structure, but rather the people.
It's more like if you rated everyone on the planet on "does this person make the place where he lives a better place or not", Scandinavians (and their descendants) would score perfect 10s.
A geneticist friend of mine has an explanation for this: he thinks that adaption to civilization makes us more nepotistic. He contrasts guest-rights in Northern Europe with "my brother against my cousin, my cousin against the stranger," of Egypt. When he gets melancholy, he will tell you that future of civilization is Mesopotamia -- where we have been civilized the longest. And Idiocracy.
- rdouble 14y agoThe Nordicism of Minnesota is a bit of mythology perpetrated by Garrison Keillor and the locals. It's more German than Nordic, as are the the other well run states such as Wyoming, North Dakota & Iowa. Vermont is also generally in the top five of "best governed" states and the largest ethnic group is French Canadian, not a group renowned for their skills of governance. Minnesota is not like Switzerland at all. Nor are Minnesotans Yankees. "Yankee Switzerland" is a pretty bad phrase for describing Minnesota.
- eksith 14y agoMinnesota is more than 90% white and Christian : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Minnesota http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Minnesota But I have a feeling, Minnesota's "Yankee Switzerland" status has more to do with public education than with its demographic makeup.
- slurry 14y agoOn the other hand, there tends to be an inverse correlation between a European ethnic group's IQ scores in Europe and their IQ scores in the United States. Germans and Dutch score higher than the Europe-wide average, German-Americans and Dutch-Americans score lower than US-wide average.
- giardini 14y ago"... tend to be the best governed as well. Think Minnesota..." You mean like http://www.betterbankruptcy.com/bankruptcy-blog/2011/07/the-state-of-minnesota-declares-a-government-shut-down/ http://www.betterbankruptcy.com/bankruptcy-blog/2011/07/the-... From the article at that URL: "Minnesota government was forced to shut down Friday, July 1, for the second time in 6 years after Minnesota lawmakers could not reach an agreement for the state’s budget." Mmmmmmm...sounds like paradise.
- skreech 14y agoYou mean "Yankee Sweden", right? Switzerland is not a Nordic country.