Well I agree with the OP. Saying the nordic countries are built on the backs of the third world is not enough, as that statement applies to the whole of Europe.
That is not to say that there aren't different levels of distribution and exploitation within a capitalist system. I always said that Brazil and the United States are both settler colonial nations, but the latter's great disaster is the dust bowl - ours is the 1850 Law of Land where it was illegal for normal people to seize land nobody claimed without paying for it. And guess who even had money at all at the time? But if the nordic countries existed outside of the imperial heartland, they'd be transformed by that. They might even have welfare systems, but the odds would be good that they'd be as poor as a south american nation.
They might retain their work and political culture, and therefore be not nearly as unequal as, say, Brazil. But one should ask if their work and political culture could rise up in a reality of general financial predations and consistent western political coups or trade wars. If Sweden wasn't in Europe would it be free to be as it is, or would it be under the mother of all sanctions right now? If the Swedes had lived under the Francophonie, would they be free to develop the kind of institutional solidarity they hold dear? Probably not. They'd be as desperate as anyone else that lives in such countries, where dogs eat dogs so they can get a few dollars to pay eternal debts.
I do want to stress that I don't begrudge or think less of what scandinavian people accomplished. Look at the gulf arab states. Some of them 'distributed' their wealth amongst their people on the basis of enslaving foreigners. The biggest one is Saudi Arabia and Jedda didn't use to have a sewer system until 2015 or something. With a different history the wealth of Norway could be in the hands of 12 people instead of a sovereign wealth fund.
So at the end of the day is that people who root for 'AES countries' and people who like 'The Nordics' should stop looking for kinks in each other's armor. If you're american and you live off your own labor there's a handful of policies that you desperately need for yourself. Health care is just one of them. Competing to see which foreigner is truly socialist is what the CIA wants you to do. That's what matters.
Well I agree with the OP. Saying the nordic countries are built on the backs of the third world is not enough, as that statement applies to the whole of Europe.
That is not to say that there aren't different levels of distribution and exploitation within a capitalist system. I always said that Brazil and the United States are both settler colonial nations, but the latter's great disaster is the dust bowl - ours is the 1850 Law of Land where it was illegal for normal people to seize land nobody claimed without paying for it. And guess who even had money at all at the time? But if the nordic countries existed outside of the imperial heartland, they'd be transformed by that. They might even have welfare systems, but the odds would be good that they'd be as poor as a south american nation.
They might retain their work and political culture, and therefore be not nearly as unequal as, say, Brazil. But one should ask if their work and political culture could rise up in a reality of general financial predations and consistent western political coups or trade wars. If Sweden wasn't in Europe would it be free to be as it is, or would it be under the mother of all sanctions right now? If the Swedes had lived under the Francophonie, would they be free to develop the kind of institutional solidarity they hold dear? Probably not. They'd be as desperate as anyone else that lives in such countries, where dogs eat dogs so they can get a few dollars to pay eternal debts.
I do want to stress that I don't begrudge or think less of what scandinavian people accomplished. Look at the gulf arab states. Some of them 'distributed' their wealth amongst their people on the basis of enslaving foreigners. The biggest one is Saudi Arabia and Jedda didn't use to have a sewer system until 2015 or something. With a different history the wealth of Norway could be in the hands of 12 people instead of a sovereign wealth fund.
So at the end of the day is that people who root for 'AES countries' and people who like 'The Nordics' should stop looking for kinks in each other's armor. If you're american and you live off your own labor there's a handful of policies that you desperately need for yourself. Health care is just one of them. Competing to see which foreigner is truly socialist is what the CIA wants you to do. That's what matters.
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