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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: thames_sider who wrote (90428)	10/17/2008 2:14:03 AM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541851

>>This however was why I compared Dubai, Borneo or Azerbaijan... also small oil-rich nations. The climates are very different (some would prefer the heat... I'd take the Nordic climate any time) but they had uniform populations - obviously each has chosen a different path. OK, Azerbaijan is only a recent new state, but I think its path will not be that of stable social democracy. And as far as disadvantages go, Norway has only been independent for a century or so (although IIRC Sweden wasn't the most interfering of rulers) and was of course occupied by the Nazis for four years, so it's had chances to go down other cultural directions. Social mix, and peripheral placing which left them out of much [certainly not all] of the destructive warfare and politicking, but still able to participate in most of the advances of Europe 1300-1900, might explain it for the Scandanavian nations. There must be something more than simple racial/cultural homogeneity, since plenty of states have that. But it wouldn't explain why they they all have such a similar model - especially Finland, which has a completely different ethnic and linguistic history...<< TS - The cultural differences between Swedes and Norwegians would look miniscule to most outside observers, though to the natives of those countries they seem important. With the exception of those four years during WWII, I don't think any of the Scandinavian countries has ever been invaded, conquered, or occupied by any other nation. The citizens of those nations have usually gotten all their exposure to other cultures by traveling. In any case, I was not arguing that the homogeneity itself was the factor causing those countries to tend toward liberal social policies. I was simply observing that within their cultures, there is general agreement that such policies are the right way to go. I love Scandinavians. My first wife was Swedish, as were half of my ancestors. She worked for SAS (Scandinavian Airlines), so we had lots of opportunities to visit the region. I highly recommend visiting Norway and Sweden. They're wonderful places. - Allen