A long post: Things we have in Europe (and especially in Finland) that Americans don't.

Please note, I've never been to the United States (and probably never will visit), but here's what I've read. Some of these things really surprise me, "You don't have that? How do you even live like that?". If I didn't get something right, please let know. I'm curious how the US system works.

Healthcare and social security:

- Universal healthcare
- Free university education
- Paid parental leave for months
- Paid sick leave
- 4-5 weeks mandatory vacation
- Protection against unfair dismissal
- Collective bargaining agreements
- Free school meals
- Free school supplies
- Prenatal clinics
- Baby boxes from the government
- Subsidized daycare
- Unemployment benefits that actually work
- Pension systems that function

Money and bureaucracy:

- Prices that include tax
- Pre-filled tax returns
- Direct bank transfers without third-party apps
- No one writes checks ever
- Digital government services with proper authentication
- National ID systems designed for security, not cobbled together like SSN
- Biometric passports
- Automatic voter registration
- Elections on Sundays
- Early voting everywhere

Food and health culture:

- Normal portion sizes
- No buckets of soda sold as drinks
- Sugar content that doesn't require a warning label, small candy bags
- Vegetables as a normal part of every meal
- Affordable fresh produce
- Fruit that isn't coated in wax and corn syrup
- School lunches that are actual food
- Restaurants that serve salads without deep-frying them first
- Water served free at restaurants
- Fresh drinking water from the tap everywhere
- Bread that isn't sweet
- Stock cubes for everything
- Real rye bread
- Sour milk products like piimä and viili
- Quark
- Proper chocolate from cocoa
- Licorice and salmiak
- Lactose-free everything
- Proper food labeling with actual nutritional information

Homes and buildings:

- Bidet sprays in toilets
- Floor drains in bathrooms
- Floor heating
- Drying cabinets
- Electric kettles that actually boil fast
- 230V outlets
- Ceramic and induction stoves
- Front-loading washing machines
- District heating
- Triple-glazed windows
- Proper insulation
- Radiators that work
- Most of the apartments have saunas
- Shared laundry rooms
- Balconies on almost every apartment
- Building associations with proper governance
- Walls that handle winds and storms

Transportation:

- Proper bike lanes with winter maintenance
- Walkable city centers
- Pedestrian zones
- Functional public transit
- Very functional and modern trains that go places, every train has a family car and playground for children
- Roundabouts
- Free highways
- Mandatory winter tires
- Strict driving schools
- Annual vehicle inspections
- Zero tolerance laws for drinking and driving

Standards that make sense:

- The metric system (1, 10, 100, you know)
- Celsius (Zero is zero, you know, everything below is freezing)
- 24-hour clock
- Dates written day/month/year like they should, days are days, not "72 hours"
- Comma as decimal separator, not thousands
- Weeks starting on Monday
- Week numbers
- A4 paper

Culture:

- Freedom to roam on anyone's land within limits, but definitely without getting shot at
- Berry and mushroom picking anywhere
- Summer cottages (most of the people own one)
- Sauna culture
- Name days
- Coffee breaks as a cultural institution
- Shoes off indoors always
- Clean indoors and never full floor carpets
- Proper entryways for coats and shoes
- Quiet neighbors
- Personal space respected
- Silence that isn't awkward

Things we don't have to fear:

Healthcare:

- We don't get bankrupt from getting sick
- We do not have to choose between insulin and rent
- We don't get in debt because of the ambulance bill
- Giving birth doesn't cost a fortune

Violence:

- Our children aren't getting shot at school
- The neighbor's kid won't find their parents' gun
- We don't get shot for ringing the wrong doorbell

State power and politics:

- We don't have ICE agents raiding our workplace
- Our police doesn't treat minorities in thw way America does
- Our President is only a face and doesn't have much authority, government makes the decisions

Work and money:

- We don't have to fear losing everything because we lost our job
- We can't get fired for no reason
- We don't have to fear to be without income between jobs, everyone has the right for monetary support
- We don't know the concept of having a crippling student debt for decades
- We don't have to choose between education and financial stability

Daily life:

- We don't have the tip culture, paychecks usually cover basic living
- We don't have surprise charges at checkout, taxes are always calculated in all prices
- Kids can walk to school alone without care in the world
- Kids can play outside without parents and it's safe

US have freedom, it's the land of the free, they say. Freedom to go bankrupt. Freedom to get shot. Freedom to work three jobs and still not afford rent. Freedom to choose between medicine and food. Freedom to live in a for-profit system that sees you as a customer, not a citizen.

The American Dream to me seems to always been a marketing slogan. The Nordic model actually delivers.

#USA #Europe #NordicModel #WelfareState #Healthcare #Politics #Inequality #Finland