Anu Partanen

A Finnish journalist, now a naturalized American citizen, asks Americans to draw on elements of the Nordic way of life to nurture a fairer, happier, more secure, and less stressful society for themselves and their children. Moving to America in 2008, Finnish journalist Anu Partanen quickly went from confident, successful professional to wary, self-doubting mess. She found that navigating the basics of everyday life—from buying a cell phone and filing taxes to education and childcare—was much more complicated and stressful than anything she encountered in her homeland. At first, she attributed her crippling anxiety to the difficulty of adapting to a freewheeling new culture. But as she got to know Americans better, she discovered they shared her deep apprehension. To understand why life is so different in the U.S. and Finland, Partanen began to look closely at both. In The Nordic Theory of Everything, Partanen compares and contrasts life in the United States with life in the Nordic region, focusing on four key relationships—parents and children, men and women, employees and employers, and government and citizens. She debunks criticism that Nordic countries are socialist “nanny states,” revealing instead that it is we Americans who are far more enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies than we realize. As Partanen explains step by step, the Nordic approach allows citizens to enjoy more individual freedom and independence than we do. Partanen wants to open Americans’ eyes to how much better things can be—to show her beloved new country what it can learn from her homeland to reinvigorate and fulfill the promise of the American dream—to provide the opportunity to live a healthy, safe, economically secure, upwardly mobile life for everyone. Offering insights, advice, and solutions, The Nordic Theory of Everything makes a convincing argument that we can rebuild our society, rekindle our optimism, and restore true freedom to our relationships and lives.

In Search of a Better Life

The Nordic Theory of Everything

Pratik M

Anu is in a unique position of having had the experience of living in a Nordic country that's often blasted as being a welfare socialist nanny state by Fox News. She brings that experience when she moved after her wedding to the United States and busts several myths along the way. She tackles everything from healthcare, education, innovation, etc. that separates the two countries and touts the vast superiority of her home country, Finland. She makes a solid case as to why the Nordic way confers more freedom and individualism to its citizens, letting them focus on the things they consider important and yet achieve prosperity. 

I've my issues with some of the things she said including the fact that she ends up becoming a U.S. citizen in spite of the differences that she touts as being superior in her home country. Immigration is something the Nordic countries are new to and with the recent trends, not everything is going well. Once we see how the Nordic countries handle immigration, we'll have something to compare it to the U.S.

Nick Perronteau

Matthew Royal

Partanen expands the idea of freedom to include a freedom from employers -- she advocates that the state should be responsible to ensure that every child has equal access to quality education and healthcare, despite the resources of their parents.

She makes intriguing rebuttals against the argument that this makes "Nordic" countries into socialist nanny states that will inevitably lead to a Soviet-style regime. Finland, as a neighbor of Russia, has a long history of fighting them as invaders and rejecting their totalitarian policies. She says it's the "Nordic theory of love" that desires to make each individual self-sufficient that drives the Finnish policies of state-provided healthcare and education. Her comparison of the amount of taxation and common financial health metrics like debt as % of GDP to US analogues show that in many cases, Finland spends less than and is less intrusive into individuals' lives than the US, while helping ensure better outcomes by leveling the starting point in life for each individual.

This would be a great book for a discussion group to pair with John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty," or similar. Good food for thought about what "freedom," "security," "pursuit of happiness," and "quality of life" mean.

Sarah Vaughan

The premise of this book is a good one: Dear America, you're not as great as you think you are, and here's proof that Scandinavian countries do it better when it comes to healthcare and education systems (not that many Americans needed a book to tell them that).

For me, it's not the overall argument of the book I have a problem with. In fact, I was impressed with the well-researched evidence in support of national healthcare. I'm also not someone who thinks America is hands-down the best country in the world - I'm generally glad to live here, but I know we have a lot of problems, so, for a few pages anyway, I was "into" the book.

The problem for me begins when the author rambles on about her perceived notions of American life, and in particular, the experiences of American women - of which she is not. I wish I had bookmarked the exact page - I know it's towards the front of the book - when the author says that it makes total sense why women in America would constantly be seeking a well-paid spouse over a legitimately good life partner in light of the fact that healthcare costs are so high and maternity leave is only two weeks long. *Crickets* What? I don't know about every American woman, but I myself certainly didn't seek out the highest paid partner just because we have a messed up healthcare system, so I'm slightly miffed by that, but I can understand why someone may have that view if their only exposure to American women is New York City, where upward mobility is a part of every aspect of life, not just soulmate seeking. But what really gets my goat - to use a beloved Southern American colloquial phrase - is that the author seems to think that women in America are poor, anxious, depressed, embittered souls who would much rather live in a country like Finland where they can pursue every creative passion, rather than one like America, where we're expected to get married and raise children. I wouldn't say that's the case, by any means. I left my corporate job to start my own creative business because I value my creative passions. I'm in a committed relationship, and we have chosen to delay marriage and children because we would like to experience what life has to offer before choosing to make big life changes. We would most definitely like to have children, but we're not under any pressure to. I feel like author doesn't really understand the modern perspective or experience of a woman in America - many of these stereotypes seemed straight from the 1950s (women expected to stay home and take care of the children, etc.).

At the end of the day, I just couldn't get past these pages of stereotypes to enjoy the chapters providing practical examples of how America could take steps to reform it's healthcare and education systems. If you're going to go to the trouble to research decades worth of information from several countries on the impact of various programs, at least don't include stereotypes in the majority of the first 50 pages. It felt more like a Finnish woman wanting to prove that her country is indeed superior to America than a journalist who set out to find out more about a particular subject who wants to share her findings.

From childcare to healthcare, provision for the elderly and tackling issues of homelessness, the Nordic countries are world leaders in organising society – no wonder Finland has been ranked among the happiest places in the world. But when Finnish journalist Anu Partanen moved to America, she quickly realised that navigating the basics of everyday life was overly complicated compared to how society was organised in her homeland. From the complications of buying a mobile, to the arduous task of filing taxes, she knew there was a better way and as she got to know her new neighbours she discovered that they too shared her deep apprehensions. The Nordic Theory of Everything details Partanen's mission to understand why America (and much of the Western world) suffers from so much inequality and struggling social services. Filled with fascinating insights, advice and practical solutions, she makes a convincing argument that we can rebuild society, rekindle optimism and become more autonomous people by following in the footsteps of our neighbours to the North.

The Nordic Theory of Everything In Search of a Better Life

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