Finnish journalist Anu Partanen compares and contrasts life in the United States with life in the Nordic region, focusing on four key relationships — parents and children, men and women, employees and employers, and government and citizens. She debunks criticism that Nordic countries are socialist “nanny states,” revealing instead that it is we Americans who are far more enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies than we realize. Partanen wants to open Americans’ eyes to how much better things can be and provide the opportunity to live a healthy, safe, economically secure, upwardly mobile life for everyone.