Quote: (05-25-2012 06:12 AM)Hawk Wrote:
Southern European countries were also very homogeneous and they have weak welfare systems. It seems more to have with historical causes.
I disagree. Sweden is basically one big family, despite the fact that the Sami in Lappland are Uralic instead of Nordic. Until a few decades ago (before the massive wave of immigration), most Swedes in major Swedish cities were "pure" Nordic.
By contrast, Spain is much more diverse. For starters, Spain has many nations and many official languages. Galicians are different from the Valencians, for example. Ethnically speaking, Spain is a melting pot of Celtic, Germanic (mostly Visigothic), Jewish, Arabic, Berber, Caucasian (via the Alani from what is now Georgia), Greek and Phoenician DNA.
In Sweden, the family is weak and the society is strong. In Spain, the family is strong and the society is weak. Swedes are more into universalist and collectivist baloney than the Spaniards.
"The great secret of happiness in love is to be glad that the other fellow married her." – H.L. Mencken