If you're referring to Nordic Social Democracies, they fund their safety nets via Imperialism, they can't exist without impoverishing and exploiting the Global South. It's the epitome of the Labor Aristocracy.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

No, sorry,I was being us-centric - it seemed like that’s where the thread was.

As one very specific example, when COViD funding for school lunches ended, some us states decided to no longer provide free school lunches. Massachusetts passed a “millionaire tax” and funded free school lunches out of that

As a slightly older example, Massachusetts passed effectively universal healthcare coverage, signed into law by governor Mitt Romney, and later served as the model for the Affordable Care Act

Looking at school system ratings by us state, I see what looks like a strong correlation between excellent schools and a stronger economy.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

It's the same issue as the Nordics, the US is a de-industrialized nation that makes the bulk of its profits off of Imperialism.