Socialism and “Free Stuff”

Social democracies are nations in which the tax base provides everyone with healthcare and education, and where the richest and most powerful people are not free to ruin the environment.

I run into someone from one of these counties a couple of times a month, and I like to ask why their people are consistently at the top of the World Happiness Rankings. The normal response is always some variant of the following:

It’s hard to be happy living in a society that is indifferent to the suffering of others.  It’s part of the very nature of human beings to care about one another.

Something else I notice about these places is that very few people are religious.  Sweden, e.g., is about 80% atheist.

That means no childish tribalism, no ridiculous dogmas, no worries about eternal damnation, etc.