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A review by purajit
The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen
3.0
Anu offers an in-depth, careful view of the Nordic philosophy of life. While she tends to be excessively repetitive, this book is nevertheless an important read for anyone trying to grasp what exactly the Nordic countries are doing. For people who subsribe to the rather fake and all-talk ideals of American freedom and independence, this book offers a philosophy that shows you how to actually _create_ this freedom and independence rather than talk about them as just words. For anyone else, this book still offers an interesting and unique way to look at Nordic policy creation - not just the policies themselves.
Even though I'd already read a good amount about the Nordic countries before this book, reading this made me feel a lot less hopeful since it becomes immediately obvious just how far behind America is in achieving the freedom and independence it prides itself on - not just through law, but also through cultural change and public thinking.
As a response to the other criticisms I saw of this book - this book is _not_ meant to be a guide to implementing Nordic policies in the US: it is meant to show you the mindset and thinking that went behind making these policies, and defends this mindset from the stupid (and rarely, interesting) criticisms it receives from Americans. It shows you how this process led to the policies currently in place in these countries. And it shows you how patently insane many (but not all) aspects of the American philosophy of life, freedom, independence, and equality are, how Americans are completely oblivious of that.
Even though I'd already read a good amount about the Nordic countries before this book, reading this made me feel a lot less hopeful since it becomes immediately obvious just how far behind America is in achieving the freedom and independence it prides itself on - not just through law, but also through cultural change and public thinking.
As a response to the other criticisms I saw of this book - this book is _not_ meant to be a guide to implementing Nordic policies in the US: it is meant to show you the mindset and thinking that went behind making these policies, and defends this mindset from the stupid (and rarely, interesting) criticisms it receives from Americans. It shows you how this process led to the policies currently in place in these countries. And it shows you how patently insane many (but not all) aspects of the American philosophy of life, freedom, independence, and equality are, how Americans are completely oblivious of that.