Sweden Loves Immigration — The Rest Of The Nordics Are Less Sure
Has Sweden’s open-door immigration policy made it the black sheep of Scandinavia?
In 1936, a book called Sweden: The Middle Way was published, arguing that Sweden’s style of capitalism with heavy government intervention was a sensible alternative to the stark ideological extremes represented by the US and the Soviet Union. Endorsed by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, it soon became a bestseller.
Sweden’s calmly centrist approach may have been a little drowned out by the absurdity of the Cold War but 87 years later, Sweden and its Nordic neighbours are back in vogue as common examples of progressive, liberal utopias.
Left-leaning politicians around the world like to point to the Nordic countries as shining examples of the welfare state at its best: free education, free healthcare, generous parental leave and unemployment benefits, and workers’ rights safeguarded by strong trade unions.
There’s even a veritable industry of Nordic lifestyle literature suggesting that the key to happiness in life might be things like:
