American woman living in Sweden describes the 'socialist nanny-state' and it sounds amazing

[OxQQme]

snip>
"Alison Gerber is an American woman living in Sweden and she went on a must-read Twitter rant describing what it is like to live in the highly taxed, ‘socialist nanny-state hellscape of the GOP’s fantasies.’ Frankly, it sounds amazing. From top-notch medical care to low-cost pre-schools, here is the thread:

Alison Gerber @alisonkgerber

So I'm an American living in Sweden, the socialist nanny-state hellscape of the GOP's fantasies. Here's what it's like to live in a country with a high effective tax rate and a commitment to spending for the common good:

Alison Gerber @alisonkgerber

I don't worry that a minor accident, illness, or other bump in the road will derail my family's future or mean that we lose everything. We have excellent health care and social insurance, and the state steps up when we are in a crisis.
2:35 AM - Dec 20, 2017

snip>" Alison Gerber @alisonkgerber

there was a crazy world of free and nearly-free stuff to do all the time with small kids, mostly run by the city but also with city and state money through a variety of organizations. Our favorite was the local "open preschool", a few blocks from our place,

Alison Gerber @alisonkgerber

where parents could bring their pre-preschool-aged kids to a giant very well stocked playroom and hang out. There were rooms full of toys and full-time professional pedagogically-trained staff to play with the kids, but you didn't drop them off:

lots more---> https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/22/1726873/-American-woman-living-in-Sweden-describes-the-socialist-nanny-state-and-it-sounds-amazing

[MountCleaners]

1. I really believe...

...that we would have a more peaceful society if we had some of these things. It shows the hostility and distrust (racism) that the right wing has for everyone else. It exacerbates the violence, corruption and general nastiness in the culture. The values are anti-human.

[Squinch]

2. This is why conservadunces are so anti-Sweden these days.

[maxsolomon]

3. but at some point it will all collapse!

it can't go on! then it will be total anarchy! cats and dogs, living together!

[Lochloosa]

4. But.,..but....CATS AND DOGS! God forbid...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. This is why the Scandinavian countries are the happiest countries in the world.

http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2017/

Norway has jumped from 4th place in 2016 to 1st place this year, followed by Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland in a tightly packed bunch. All of the top four countries rank highly on all the main factors found to support happiness: caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance. Their averages are so close that small changes can re-order the rankings from year to year. Norway moves to the top of the ranking despite weaker oil prices. It is sometimes said that Norway achieves and maintains its high happiness not because of its oil wealth, but in spite of it. By choosing to produce its oil slowly, and investing the proceeds for the future rather than spending them in the present, Norway has insulated itself from the boom and bust cycle of many other resource-rich economies. To do this successfully requires high levels of mutual trust, shared purpose, generosity and good governance, all factors that help to keep Norway and other top countries where they are in the happiness rankings.

All of the other countries in the top ten also have high values in all six of the key variables used to explain happiness differences among countries and through time – income, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on in times of trouble, generosity, freedom and trust, with the latter measured by the absence of corruption in business and government. Here too there has been some shuffling of ranks among closely grouped countries, with this year’s rankings placing Finland in 5th place, followed by the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia and Sweden tied for the 9th position, having the same 2014-2016 score to three decimals.

http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2017/

The U.S. scored 14th.

[riverwalker]

9. Norway believes the oil is a resource that belongs to everyone

Not just a handful of oil barons. The money goes to the people. It’s so perfectly logical, which is why GOP would go insane.

[MountCleaners]

11. How oil is obtained and how it is used...

...affects everyone, therefore everyone should have a say in it. Sounds like communism to brainwashed Americans, but some day we'll see the environmental devastation and realize it's just common sense. Besides, communist countries aren't known for their environmentalism, and far leftists call environmentalists "liberals" and "reformists", so that is a nutso charge.

[Lunabell]

6. Sounds like pure hell

To have all that security.

[Grammy23]

7. We have had decades of propaganda shoved down our throats

Telling us why anything that has a whiff of socialism about it is bad. Only America is good. The rest of the world is a bunch of losers. That is what we are taught. Most Americans have not traveled enough outside of our borders to see first hand how other people live. I’ve traveled a little and know that people in other countries seem quite happy for the most part. Perfect living arrangements and environment? No, but we don’t exactly have a paradise here, either.

I have seen enough to know that living in another country longer than being a”tourist” might just be ok. And given how things are going here in the US of A, it might be time to revisit that bail out plan again.

[msongs]

8. reminds me of the mike moore movie where we "invaded" a bunch of countries nt

[GulfCoast66]

10. That cannot be true...

Because they are not Christians and they like gays, abortion, blacks and healthcare for everyone. And many other anti Christian ideas. So this story must be false. They are miserable and any article saying otherwise is fake news.

And it makes me sad that I have to add this so as not get a hide-