• GiddyGap@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    10 months ago

    And that’s very stupid.

    It may feel stupid to you, but Scandinavia is a very different world than, for example, the US. They’ve never had a reason to not trust their governments. They are among the happiest countries in the world and their economies are outstanding and have been for a long time, and the standard of living is second to none. They feel like their governments work for them.

    Same can be said of Germany, but they’ve obviously gone through different historic events and their approach to government is different.

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      They’ve never had a reason to not trust their governments.

      From how people actually from those countries (and not approving Americans) seem to me, the main reason their governments function well is exactly that they don’t have too much power or bureaucratic depth to brew something bad, and because people don’t trust them or respect them too much.

      I’d say that’s the reason these are “among the happiest countries in the world”.

      That they don’t “trust” the government (the way approving Americans would want to), they just don’t fear it or treat it as magic. And I think most people elsewhere willing to live “like in Scandinavia” would push things into the opposite direction, if given their way.

      • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        I’ve lived in several Scandinavian countries for many years. You’re wrong.

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          10 months ago

          Oh. Well, then we’ll see that trust erode, because that’s what happens to trust always. Nature has feedbacks to compensate for disturbances. And Scandinavian countries’ good government is a relatively new thing historically.