For many years, progressives and self-avowed socialists have touted a small group of countries as models for the cushy welfare state they hope to create in the US: the Nordic states.

Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland offer extensive welfare benefits to their citizens, and many on the American left have taken this as evidence that socialism works. Bernie Sanders’s repetitive invocation of “Denmark” during his 2016 presidential campaign led the Danish prime minister at the time to publicly dispel the notion that Denmark is some sort of socialist paradise.

The conservative response to this Scandinavia mania has mostly been to emphasize the downsides of lavish welfare states, particularly the exorbitant taxes that fund them. These rejoinders are quite right; few Americans want to see over half their income confiscated by the government.

Despite being modern in many ways, the Nordic countries have retained much of their traditional cultures, elements of which are repugnant to the worldview of American progressives.

However, there is a reality that has received less attention in this debate: despite being modern in many ways, the Nordic countries have retained much of their traditional cultures, elements of which are repugnant to the worldview of American progressives. These nations have also been willing to preserve, protect, and defend their cultures in ways that would shock and offend the exquisite sensibilities of globalists.

Too homogeneous, too Protestant

The Nordic countries are far from paragons of diversity or inclusion. Until recently, they received little immigration and they remain largely monocultural. In his book “The Almost Nearly Perfect People,” author Michael Booth writes that Scandinavians themselves admit they are very similar to each other and tend to be boring, quiet, buttoned-up, well-behaved people.

Though Nordic people have, sadly, become rather secular in terms of personal beliefs, Christian habits of mind and conduct continue to undergird their way of life. Scandinavian people are characterized by the same diligence, orderliness, cleanliness, honesty, and punctuality that animate many cultures influenced by centuries of Protestantism. It would be news to a Dane to hear from a “diversity and inclusion” consultant that it is racist to expect an employee to be on time.

Scandinavian people are characterized by the same diligence, orderliness, cleanliness, honesty, and punctuality that animate many cultures influenced by centuries of Protestantism.

Despite their robust safety nets, the Nordics have some of the highest labor force participation rates in the world. Progressives have tried to attribute this diligence to the safety net purportedly making it easier for people to work, but the likelier cause is something more deeply rooted in Nordic culture and history: the same Protestant work ethic that progressives might deride elsewhere as a facet of white supremacy.

The Sexual Revolution did not spare the Nordic states, and Scandinavians do sow wild oats in their youth and pay lip service to the libertinism cherished by progressives. However, they have lower rates of multiple-partner childbearing and form fewer of the single-parent families in which the US leads the world. Given the greater tendency of single-parent families to raise children in poverty who become disproportionately involved in crime and social dysfunction, Nordic welfare systems have comparatively less heavy lifting to attempt.

Too exclusive

Like several countries in Europe, the Nordic countries restrict immigration in ways unthinkable to American Democrats. Applicants for Danish citizenship are required to have lived in Denmark for at least nine years. At the time of application, they are also required to have been employed full-time for three and half of the previous four years. Denmark bans anyone who has been sentenced for a crime from ever earning Danish citizenship and requires people who have been fined for minor crimes to wait six years before applying for citizenship. Even after becoming eligible for citizenship in all those ways, applicants must prove they can speak decent Danish, pass a rigorous citizenship test, and have their applications for citizenship sorted by nationality of origin and approved by the Danish Parliament.

Economist Milton Friedman was right when he said that a country can maintain either a generous welfare state or a lot of immigration, but not both.

Iceland and Norway also require applicants for citizenship to pass tests of their official languages and cultural customs, and Sweden will begin doing the same in 2025. Swedish and Finnish citizenship regulations are looser for immigrants coming from other Nordic countries, demonstrating a preference for cultural similarity. To some Americans, these policies are peak xenophobia and ethnocentrism.

Economist Milton Friedman was right when he said that a country can maintain either a generous welfare state or a lot of immigration, but not both. The Vikings, it seems, have taken their pick. It remains to be seen whether America will uphold its traditional preference of welcoming newcomers who want to come make an honest living, or instead careen down a jagged path of trying to do both, swerving under the influence of a progressive utopian rescue fantasy.

Too moderate

The Nordic lands have lax gun laws compared to much of the world, and this is not a controversial issue for them. Though outgunned by the American citizenry, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland still have some of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world. They nevertheless have low homicide rates. These two data points, taken together, should confound the belief commonly held by gun control junkies that gun ownership leads to violent crime.

Like gun control, abortion on demand is sacrosanct to many on the American left. While some US states allow elective abortion up to birth, Norway and Finland restrict abortion to the first 12 weeks of gestation, and permit it only in rare circumstances thereafter. Sweden prohibits abortion at 18 weeks, and Iceland at 22 weeks.

The key to Nordic success

Social scientists often use the concept of social trust as a yardstick when comparing countries. Social trust refers to how much confidence people have that their neighbors, police, politicians, and media will not lie, cheat, steal, or otherwise do harm. Trust makes transactions easier, and generally, more trusting countries are wealthier, safer, and more stable.

It's no accident that Protestant-majority countries tend to have some of the highest levels of social trust. Trusting is easier when others are trustworthy, so it is no surprise that trust abounds wherever the values of personal accountability, honesty, integrity, and civility cluster together. Thus, it makes sense that the smaller, more closely-knit Nordic nations who retain culturally Christian habits in lockstep would have higher levels of trust than the US, where values, beliefs, lifestyles, and behaviors have diverged widely since the 1960s.

Ultimately, the Nordic countries prove more than their fanboys want them to; they vindicate the primacy of Christian values in creating some of the freest, most prosperous, most sought-after nations. Though it sometimes fails to live up to them, the United States has the advantage of having been self-consciously built on these values. Progressives should take note, and conservatives should soldier on defending the beliefs, culture, and traditions that crafted the wealthiest, most powerful republic the world has ever seen.