The quality of life category is a survey that includes many of the items you list.

@t1nick What I mean by my list is to specify details under those categories listed that would have the end effect of producing those statistics given a chaotic system.

In other words: Step 1-steal underpants. Step 2-? Step 3- profit.
Or: Step 1- Democratic Socialism Step 2-? Step 3- High standard of living

Its a common fallacy used to misrepresent statistics known as the fallacy of causality.

@Happy_Killbot
Have you looked at the quality of life survey? I read it 3 or 4 years back. I get your point about fallacy of causality, but do not know if I agree or not in this instance. Not sure.

@t1nick You would have to find a link to which specific study you mean for accuracies sake, especially if it was several years ago because there could be many different ones by now.

I think I can prove the fallacy with shockingly little effort. There are countless different forms of democratic socialism, of which the Nordic model is only one. North Korea is democratic socialist but they have little in common politically, economically, socially, or policy wise to Norway. Therefore we can conclude that either the term democratic socialism isn't specific enough to mean anything or luck is a major factor.

Proving that the Nordic model specifically is what results in these results is more challenging, but still doable. For example I could point out that a lot of the Nordic countries have a lot in common before we factor in dominant political ideologies. They all have low population densities for example. So to rule this out as a potential factor, the Nordic model would have to be implemented in a country with a much higher population density before we can say it isn't a factor.

@ToolGuy What you should compare is Venezuela under socialism with Norway under State Capitalism. Which is better off, Norway with massive government assets or Venezuela with massive government debt?

Yes, debt is important and necessary to the economy. Debt is not necessary for government. Government is not the economy—government is a drag on the economy—a parasite. Some government functions are necessary, such as reasonable regulations, justice, defense, etc., but government does not run the economy.

@ToolGuy “A 2019 survey of leading economists by the University of Chicago Booth's Initiative on Global Markets showed a unanimous rejection of assertions attributed to modern monetary theory in the survey:”
(Wikipedia) Further on Wikipedia learn that in that study 97% of economists polled reject MMT theories and 0% endorsed those theories.

@ToolGuy The US did not cause the problems of Venezuela. The problems were caused by wasteful spending on social programs. Venezuela has the world’s largest petroleum reserves. If they had saved and invested as did Norway they would be in fine fiddle. Here’s a thorough analysis, and there’s not a word about US interference.

[aljazeera.com]

@WilliamFleming

Not true William.

US did not like the policy regarding oil exports by Madero's predecessor. Greater than 80% of Venezuela's economy is based on hydrocarbon export. When the US reacted to Hugo ,Chavez' policies, the US issued sanctions and embargoes on the export of their oil and gas. This essentially destroyed Venezuela's economy and lead to the hyperinflation seen today.

@ToolGuy The sanctions began under the Obama administration sir. And it’s not just the US doing the sanctioning—the EU and Canada are on board.

And here’s this from Wikipedia: “In 2018, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented that "information gathered indicates that the socioeconomic crisis had been unfolding for several years" before international sanctions,[16]”

I am not opposed to well-managed social programs, but as a realist I think it is important to understand how those programs are to be financed, and to understand true wealth and how it is created.