Originally Posted by Braniff
You should be kinder to Iceland. They did afterall discover America - and in the words of Oscar Wilde - "being intelligent people, they left immediately!"
What specifically do you mean by "socio-economic opportunities"
Some vikings certainly landed in the Americas before Christopher Colombus, but before them came people who crossed from Asia to the Americas .... and wisely stayed.
I mean a lot of things by socio-economic opportunities, including, but not limited to, count and ease of access into government, academic/educational/research and business leadership opportunities.
Originally Posted by mosburger
I like Scandinavian lifestyle in general, with two major exceptions:
1) I can't think of any other governments on the planet so keen to interfere with their citizens lifes. Especially in Sweden this has been obsessive at times. Living in China feels very relaxed compared to the "Big Brother" mentality in Scandinavia.
2) The religious zealots in the countryside. Those "family planning is Satan's invention" families with 12 kids, "dry" municipalities, telly and other entertainment banned... And they network frighteningly well...
That said, can't wait to taste some pickled herring again the coming weekend.
I run into Mormons in Stockholm more than the people mentioned in item 2 above.
I'm no fan of pickled herring, so feel free to have my share too.