Knut Robert Knutsen a Norwegian, posts on Facebook:
Equal wealth really isn’t a part of Democratic Socialism (or Social Democrats in the Nordic Model) either, that’s the cartoon version of communism carried over.
A basic safety net and equal opportunity is key and a lot of “welfare” programs are aimed at even bringing the partially disabled and the mentally challenged into the workforce to prevent them from landing on the “outside” of society. .
However, Social Democracy isn’t just one thing, but many and can be quite different depending on what is emphasized.
The main directions are:
1. A democratic change model of socialism based on Marx’ economic (but not political) theories, rejecting totalitarian aspects and promoting pragmatism.
2. Christian Socialism, which emphaises dignity and charity in relation to the poor, unemployed or sick-
3. Labour movement socialism, which emphasises solidarity and a strong work ethic (meaning welfare for those who cannot work, but contempt for anyone who abuse the system) and the idea of” the class journey ” (meaning that every generation invests in giving their children the opportunity to do better than they did, which means more education and better paying, professional jobs) . Much like the ideas of Booker T Washington.
4. Bismarck socialism, which is a actually a conservative policy devised by the mid 19th century german leader Otto von Bismarck as a way to stifle socialist unrest by addressing basic needs like health insurance and unemployment insurance.
Social democracy is actually a pragmatic, chaotic compromise between all of these sometimes aligned and sometimes conflicting views, coupled with some select bits of capitalism and social liberalism.
It’s not as confusing when you grow up with it.