The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life

by Anu Partanen

She ought to have her own purpose, her own will, her own career, including her own salary—as the British actress Helen Mirren once said, “The greatest gift every girl can have is economic independence.”

I wanted to be a strong, intelligent, creative woman, not that girl who surrenders everything just for a guy.

American parents who felt they needed to direct all of their young children’s playtime toward activities that were productive, educational, and goal-oriented. This, I realized, was related to the race to steer even toddlers toward a good school, as early as possible. At what cost, I wondered, to a child’s creativity?

Gradually it dawned on me how much people in America depended on their employers for all sorts of things that were unimaginable to me: medical care, health savings accounts, and pension contributions, to name the most obvious. The result was that employers ended up having far more power in the relationship than the employee. In America jeopardizing your relationship with your employer carried personal risks that extend far beyond the workplace, to a degree unthinkable where I came from.

The core idea is that authentic love and friendship are possible only between individuals who are independent and equal.