For most of my adult life I have heard how great it would be to live in countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand. They have outstanding free public health care, pension plans, community support, low cost higher education, employment benefits, social safety nets, and more.
Now that I’m finally in a place where I could, theoretically, live anywhere, I’ve considered immigrating to one of these places. I cannot. I don’t have the money, the specialized workplace skills or the familial connections I would need to become a permanent resident. I’ve accepted that I’ve aged out of immigration as an option.
But, I still am interested in how these countries are able to provide so much for their citizens vs. the USA. One thing that stands out is that, with the exception of Australia, all of these countries have populations that are roughly the same as midsized US state. Often, they are roughly the same geographic size as a US state too.
So instead of comparing Norway to the US, perhaps I should be comparing it to North Carolina. Or Pennsylvania.
The US population is roughly 331 Million. The populations of the countries I listed above range between 5-10 Million. So we’re are 30 to 60 times larger in terms of population than they are.
No wonder we can’t do some of the things they do. Managing a country of 5 million people is orders of magnitude less complex.
Obviously there are many more factors like capitalism, history, monarchies, government structures, cultural norms, free enterprise, and much more that I’m not even considering in this post.
Is the US the best “country in the world” to live in? I have no idea. What I know is that I’ve lived in Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina. Each, in many ways, was like living in a different country.
Even more, just living in different towns or neighborhoods within the state was vastly different. In many ways, it was like moving to a different country. I had to learn new customs, meet different people, adapt to new norms, fall under different state laws, etc.
It’s no wonder the US can seem to be so disjointed on politics, lifestyles and values. We are. How could we not be, given our geographic dispersion and our immense population?
Looking at these numbers helps me make sense of things.