The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life
Ratings14
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings14
Average rating3.8
A Finnish journalist and naturalized American citizen compares and contrasts life in the U.S. with life in the Nordic region to encourage Americans to draw on practices from the Nordic way of life to create a fairer, happier, more secure, and less stressful society.
At a 2012 conference on social mobility, where experts discussed whether people worldwide were attaining a better life than their parents', Ed Miliband, the leader of the British Labour Party, made a surprising quip: "If you want the American dream, go to Finland." For decades, the country best known for opportunity had been the United States. No longer, said Miliband. Anu Partanen, however, had recently left Finland and moved to America for the love of her life, a man who would ultimately become her husband. Their relationship flourished, but she found that navigating the basics of everyday life--from health insurance and taxes to education and child care--was much more complicated and stressful than in her homeland. At first she attributed her crippling anxiety to the difficulty of adapting to a freewheeling new culture. But as she got to know Americans better, she discovered that they shared her deep apprehensions. To understand why life in Finland is so drastically different from the way things are in the United States, Partanen began to look closely at both countries. In The Nordic Theory of Everything, Partanen compares living in the United States with life in the Nordic region, focusing on four key relationships--parents and children, men and women, employees and employers, and government and citizens. She debunks criticism that Nordic countries are socialist "nanny states," revealing instead that it is we Americans who are far more enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies than we realize. Step by step, Partanen explains how the Nordic approach allows citizens to enjoy more individual freedom and equality than we do. She wants to open Americans' eyes to how much better things can be--to show her beloved new country what it can learn from her homeland to reinvigorate and fulfill the promise of the American dream. Offering insights, advice, and solutions, The Nordic Theory of Everything makes a convincing argument that we can rebuild our society, rekindle our optimism, and restore independence to our relationships and lives. --Adapted from dust jacket.
Reviews with the most likes.
Anu is in a unique position of having had the experience of living in a Nordic country that's often blasted as being a welfare socialist nanny state by Fox News. She brings that experience when she moved after her wedding to the United States and busts several myths along the way. She tackles everything from healthcare, education, innovation, etc. that separates the two countries and touts the vast superiority of her home country, Finland. She makes a solid case as to why the Nordic way confers more freedom and individualism to its citizens, letting them focus on the things they consider important and yet achieve prosperity.
I've my issues with some of the things she said including the fact that she ends up becoming a U.S. citizen in spite of the differences that she touts as being superior in her home country. Immigration is something the Nordic countries are new to and with the recent trends, not everything is going well. Once we see how the Nordic countries handle immigration, we'll have something to compare it to the U.S.
After reading this book and seeing how far we in America go wrong when it comes to health care (eek!), education (double eek!) and happiness (oh my!) in comparison to the Nordic countries, my only thoughts are:
(1) America! How far we are from where we could be!
(2) Education! Read about the Nordic countries and you will weep in thinking about what we do here.
(3) Could I convince my husband to ever leave his beloved homeland/country of Texas for Finland? And, if so, how much cold can we stand?
I love the topic and agree with the message. The book is too lightly researched and relies far too much on the same anecdotes over and over again to make the same repetitive points. Would have been great at 100 pages instead of 300.
