We agree on something!
However, I would not describe the social systems of Western Europe as 'cherry picking'. Politically Austria and Sweden are very different. Their histories in the Twentieth Century have been very different; it is hardly surprising that these two countries have arrived at different solutions to their social issues.
American conservatives appear to loathe anything that smacks of spending their tax dollars on welfare. Most Western Europeans see such expenditure more as investment in people rather than a drain on private wealth. (Perhaps this is the real discussion we should be having?)
I would agree that they see it as an investment, which is why they treat it as an investment and those social benefits aren't doled out as "willy nilly, loose & free" as some people seem to have this image in their mind of.
Many seem to think that these countries are providing these particular services for free, and in a way that gels with their lifestyles and/or passions.
That's often not the case, these countries aren't just looking to throw money away.
For instance, when you look at the staggeringly low number/percentage of people being able to get degrees in Finland in fields like Philosophy, Visual/Performing Arts, and Journalism that I posted previously, and then compare that to what we have in the US:
The primary purpose of the Digest of Education Statistics is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest includes a selection of data from many sources, both government and private...
nces.ed.gov
We have 90k fresh people graduating with Journalism degrees and 88k fresh grads with Fine arts degrees every year in the US.
Despite the fact that there's not near enough stable jobs out there for those specialties to justify it.
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the job forecast for those two fields are
Journalism: 4,600 full-time openings per year, over the next 10 years
Visual and Performing arts: 2,700 per year over the next 5 years (much of it not full-time salaried work)
The Nordic countries are smart and prudent, they keep an eye on those numbers, which is why they say "
We're expecting between 150 and 200 openings per year in the Journalism field over of the next 5 years, and we know some of those will be filled by people who've already gotten their degrees in years past, so we're only going to have 80 opening in Journalism studies this year, and we'll be accepting the 80 applicants who show the most promise in that field after a rigorous and selective application process"
If you talk to some of the young people here about tuition-free education and student debt forgiveness, that's clearly not the idea that's in their head. They've gotten in their mind that it means "I'll be able to pursue and study this thing that's my current passion with no barriers to entry (with the option to change majors part way through if I like something better in 2 years), and I won't be obligated to pay anything for it"
That's not what the Nordic model is doing. The nordic model is treating it like you said, as an investment... and wise investment dictates that sometimes you have to be blunt and honest with people and say "sorry, you're not studying fine arts, there a very limited number of jobs in it, and we don't think you're good enough to be in the top 10% of applicants". It means being pragmatic enough to be able to acknowledge the fact that a person can be deeply passionate about something, but still kinda suck at it. (to put it more bluntly)
As it pertains to the Vienna model
If you look at some of the details I mentioned before about some of the specifics and rules encapsulating the Vienna social housing model (that some of the glowing favorable articles neglected to mention), there are social buy-ins for that, that young people here wouldn't like if they knew the details.
For instance, the city residency requirements (if you're an able bodied person, you have to be living in and working in the city for multiple years to even get on the waiting list).
The move-in fees/taxes are quite pricey (up to $30k...so you're still gonna have to either save up some money or do some financing).
You don't get to pick your own unit, the government picks it for you. Which means the "
Well, y'know, I'd really like to have that nicer new one that's over by the museums and coffee shops, I really think the exposed brick, hardwood floors, and ample natural light would match my style and furniture better and would be better for entertaining, and I absolutely LOVE that balcony" isn't going to be a thing. You may get lucky enough to be assigned to one of those, but there's more quite old buildings than new ones, so there's a very real chance that after that 2 year wait, you get assigned to one that was built in the 1940s that's extremely drab, with only 2 small exterior facing windows, a tiny awkwardly shaped living room, and wallpaper and bathrooms that look like they haven't been updated since the 1970s.
You meet that special girl or guy who you think you'd like to have move in with you? Well, they have to go through all that application stuff now too before they can become a permanent resident, at which point, they reevaluate the household income. Or worse, you and a BF/GF moved into one together from the start, and now want to break up... one party now has to get back on a waiting list if want to get another place in the city to be able to move out (since the majority of housing is social housing), and the other could be stuck with the original rent amount that was decided based upon the 25% rule of both combined incomes.
Per Austria's own data, for the city of Vienna (2022)
1,598 registered partnerships were established and 138 were dissolved. (1 separation for every 10 new registered partnerships... compared to the US where for the same year, there was 1 separation for every 2 new new partnerships)
Either they've found the secret to happy home lives, or, it's a very real possibility that people may be kind of trapped in some less-than-stellar relationships due to the reasons I mentioned and how the social housing program can lock a person in.
So in the case of both models, there's some great public services people are getting, but there's a lot of freedoms/flexibilities they're giving up that they're not fully considering when being so eager to embrace these models.
