The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life

What if you had a government that took care of every citizen from before the time they were born? Health care, education, etc? It turns out that this can be a good strategy for creating individuals who are well-educated, content, and productive. In the United States we don't have very many safety nets compared to the Nordic countries. By the time any significant help kicks in, a citizen may be in such a horrible state that there is almost no return, or if there is return it is going to be very expensive and a huge challenge on all sides. A nearly vertical uphill struggle.Partanen has lived in both Scandinavia and the United States. She first explains--based on first-hand knowledge--that the levels of anxiety and depression experienced in the United States are not as typical in Finland. Then she explains why: the Finish government doesn't invest in helping poor people; the government invests in all its citizens, so that they don't become disadvantaged.Of course, such an approach assumes that one can stomach a society where everyone does well. Perhaps that is at odds with the American dream? It might be missing a small group that is so wealthy that it has its own unique set of mental and physical and emotional problems. But I think I could handle the absence of such a group.Partanen notes that Finland didn't come to this solution automatically. They restructured their society systematically after studying other countries around the world to identify methods that seemed to work. When it then turned out they were testing highest in the world in education, and were gaining praise from other countries, at first they didn't believe it; that was not their self image.Change is possible. Positive change is possible.Read this book. Imagine. Vote.

This extraordinarily interesting book just published was brought to my attention by a Finnish friend who has lived and worked in the United States for many years, becoming a U.S. citizen in the process. As a retired American Foreign Service Officer for 35 years who in the 1970s and 1980s served twice in the U.S. Embassy in Finland and dealt with Nordic issues in the Department of State in Washington, I had come to admire greatly the Nordic social/political/economic model that to a greater or lesser degree has been followed for several decades by all five of the Nordic countries: Sweden, Finland, Norway Denmark and Iceland. This model has been studied and characterized by social scientists, economists, historians and other academics from many different perspectives and points of view. However, I think the author of this book has performed a unique and extraordinary service by being able to convey the essence and "feel" of what is going on in Nordic societies that those of us who were fortunate to have lived there for some years came to recognize and admire but which is so hard to articulate to an often self-satisfied and self-absorbed American public skeptical of and ill-informed about how foreign countries govern themselves. Perhaps her most important contribution has been to dare to question why most Americans consider that social investment in education, health care and measures to assure decent income opportunities, adequate vacation and leave time and the general "well-being" for all of its citizens should be condemned as "socialism" and as a threat to individual freedom, self-determination and as a disincentive to individual initiative. Indeed she goes on to argue that those very programs encouraging the well-being of all Nordic citizens in fact enhance the freedom of citizens to pursue their individual talents and dreams free from the burden of unequal education, health care and opportunity. This position stands on its head the traditional American sense of freedom drawn from our pioneer days of rugged frontier individualism. Obviously, these concepts deserve and receive in the book far more scrutiny, and the book can appear at times quite strident in its criticisms mostly on the U.S. side of the equation. It is notable, however, how the Nordic countries as a group (and often Finland in particular) rank at or near the top of the entire developed world in so many important disciplines in contrast to a lagging United States. It is a fascinating book which should lead us to compare where we in the United States are as a nation compared to the Nordic countries, which seems to serve as a model toward which other nations appear be trending. By the way I am the author of a book "On the Finland Watch: an American Diplomat in Finland During the Cold War," published in English in 2000 and 2001. The book analyzes the triangular U.S. relations with Finland and the Soviet Union during the Cold War period.

Bought as a gift! Always looking for fun self improvement books and this one was great.

Todo bien.

Firstly 5 stars for quick delivery.Back in 2020, 3 months delivery time was estimated.Got my hands on it in Feb and a day's delivery was wonderful.About the book, eye opener for a simple yet progressive approach to education, lifestyle, eating habits and health.Gives us an idea of what we can tweak in our life to work towards a stressfree life.Does emphasize on State's contribution a lot.But people bring the change.Although too much comparison with US isn't fair. US still is miles better than rest of the world if not versus the Nordic countries.Must read .

The author totally nails a sweet spot between relevance and detail explaining the public policies that make a modern society great.I had read two of the books she mentions and found that she conveys their key ideas better than the originals!Very highly recommended!

Absolutely EXCELLENT! The same important lessons for the U.S. also apply to Canada - with certain exceptions, above all medical care. The system of medical care in Canada is FAR better than in the U.S., for reasons that are common knowledge. In Canada, the system for education and the funding for it is also much better than in the U.S., at all levels, and as a result the costs of getting a good education in Canada are far less of a concern than they are in the U.S. . I note also that the book has very good reviews from Americans - in spite of the U.S. not being shown in a favourable light in some respects, notably medical care and the costs of education. Canadians should also pay careful attention to this very important book - because of the lessons it has for them too. In my view the book in also very "well balanced" because its Finnish author Anu Partanen goes to great trouble to describe the good points and the bad points about life in both the U.S. and her native country which is Finland. It is also very well documented, as evidenced by the long list of references cited.

Really well researched and well written, eye opening. I'm European and although I had some understanding of the american social system, after reading this book I fully appreciated the lunacy of some of the policies and systems over there, and got an even better understanding of the way the Nordic countries consider their children and their people and how the whole system is set to be fair to all. Really enjoyable due to the examples and nice narrating style.