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Spot the "democratic socialist" countries.


You mean social democracy?

Those are basically all in yellow on that map.


The countries with strong social-democratic parties are not the ones you think they are.


The country I'm from and the country I'm living in right now are both "democratic socialist", has been called "socialist hellhole" by more people than I can count, and they both sit at +4.0 and +4.4.

So I guess the positive ones are the "democratic socialist" countries?


Switzerland appears to have the highest of them all, and certainly isn’t socialist, although it’s definitely democratic.


How is its safety net? My Swiss colleagues say there’s decent support re: housing, etc


San Marino has a +6.4


Ah I didn’t see that. It also looks like Andorra is above Switzerland.

That said, those are two micro states, so I’m not sure how applicable they are to larger countries. Switzerland isn’t huge but it also isn’t tiny.


The one near Switzerland is Liechtenstein

Microstates seem to do great, I also missed Monaco with a +7.1, Andorra is between France and Spain with a +4.7


Sure it isn't a socialist country, but many Swiss policies would be considered socialist in US politics, eg: if you are sick/ill you receive 80% of your salary for 720 days.


Courtesy of AI:

> Social democracy and democratic socialism are related but distinct political ideologies. Social democracy, often associated with the Nordic model, focuses on regulating capitalism to create a strong welfare state and reduce inequality through social programs, while generally supporting a mixed economy with private ownership. Democratic socialism, on the other hand, envisions a more fundamental transformation of the economic system, often including greater public or worker ownership and economic democracy, while also emphasizing democratic principles.

All countries in West Europe implement social democracies. They greatly outperform the US.

Countries in Eastern Europe are still enduring their legacy of communism/democratic socialism, but 30 years ago they experienced a radical swing towards the blend of neoliberalismo professed by the US.

Lastly, you look at data showing how the US greatly underperforms in key quality of life metrics, and the conclusion you opt to extract is cherry-pick those to look down on? That's tragic.




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