Anonymous #1 18h

Because there’s a lot of people a little too deep in the sauce of “America is the greatest country until the people decide to elect somebody I disagree with” The people wanted Mandani, the people got Mamdani, NYC is not any worse of a city. If rich people move away, there is plenty of rich people who would love to move into their places NYC is the financial hub of the world and some ppl think rich people live there because of their historical tax rates (which has always been relatively higher)

1

Anonymous #1 12h

Russia, Albania, Cuba, pre-1980 China, Portugal, Spain, Iran, Ghana, Angola, East Germany, Byelorussia, North Korea, Mozambique, Vietnam, Laos… And every country with leaders who openly say to have “the end goal of seizing the means of production”

1

Anonymous OP 12h

What about Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Iceland which are more inline with Mamdani’s policies (social market economy/welfare-state capitalism) than pure socialism? Check which countries have the happiest residents or have the highest trust in their societies. Usually when people misrepresent facts to tell you something is bad, it’s because they need to fabricate a reason for it. Why not listen to the average New Yorker? His approval started at 48% and has since climbed to 58%

4

Anonymous #2 10h

When you parrot people’s desires and anxieties you become popular. All of those countries started “seizing private property” which led them to have to go through massive Milton Friedman like reforms in the 80’s. My great grandfather moved to southern Europe to escape Scandinavian poverty after the socialist reforms of 1930.

1

Anonymous #2 10h

On happiness, you should look up “Hygge”, “Sisu” and “Lagom” - danish, finish and Swedish terms that may show you why they rank so high

1

Anonymous OP 8h

What exactly do the words mean? They all seem nice

1

Anonymous OP 8h

What happened in 1930???

1

Anonymous #1 8h

1929 you had the global Great Depression after the USA passed the Smoot-Hawley act causing a chain of global protectionism (opposing free trade and markets). Scandinavian countries fearing social unrest passed a series of social policies. They calmed down the people not because it made them better off but because now the illusion of “the state is supporting us” was established. But because giving out welfare doesn’t make people better off they did not get richer. The change started during

1

Anonymous OP 7h

the Second World War. Peripheral countries like Scandinavian and the Iberian peninsula started industrializing. Both areas got better off. During the 1960 and the 1970, oil was discovered in Scandinavia giving it another boost and between 1970’s to the 1980 they did major free market reforms. At any point, Scandinavian political ideology defended “seizing the means of production”, “ending private property.” Social policy controlled civil unrest and market policy made them wealthier.

1

Anonymous #1 7h

They are. They sound close to some American values. However in some Scandinavian societies they create resistance towards displaying or facing negative emotions. In a survey that skews answers. Based on my family experience and other Scandinavian kids what I have seen happening is a constant display of joy publicly and a complete crashing out privately. I did not grew up in Scandinavia, so take it with a grain of salt. I personally doubt those surveys.

1

Anonymous OP 7h

In opposition, my southern European side of the family is Portuguese and I am deep into the Portuguese culture. They display their unhappiness almost constantly. Their anti-depressant usage per capita is off the roof and their national music is about longing - Fado. They rank 69th on the World Happiness report - extremely low for western Europa. However, the genuine happiness displayed between people, family support, union and dedication is not in anyway comparable to Scandinavian countries.

1

Anonymous OP 7h

This to say, basing our political opinion on a ranking, especially when such opinion advocates for economic reforms, is dangerous without understanding the local cultural context.

1

Anonymous OP 7h

Just like Scandinavian countries the country benefitted from the Second World War but the true progress only started after market reforms. Scandinavian countries went further with market reforms, Portugal and Spain didn’t and today in their constitution it still says that the goal is to reach a full socialist society. All together, made Scandinavia richer and Iberians poorer.

1

Anonymous OP 6h

So how is Democratic Socialism bad? It’s known as the Nordic Model and led to the creating some of the highest GDP per capita nations in the world?

1