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Why do people relate well organization with "Norths"? When I worked in Germany it was the most messy and bad organized job I ever had lol.
There are about 43m jobs in Germany. Many of them are badly organized, many of them are well organized. Encounter a poor American doesn't mean that all Americans are poor.
I guess that most people would say that "Nordic" countries are better organized than "Mediterranean" countries. And in my experience that is often true for many fields. The Netherlands seems overall better organized than Belgium. And Germany seems overall better organized than Italy. Why is that this way? Not sure, maybe the views are more reasonable? Or maybe "Nordic" countries are just better organized because they are richer? It's maybe a chicken-and-egg problem?
More affluent people are normally better organized than less affluent people. Is the better organization the reason why they are more affluent? Or are they more organized because beeing more affluent makes it easier to be better organized?
I would say one important reason is that most Northern European countries have been liberal democracies for the last 100 years or more. Every Southern European country has a history of dictatorships and oppressive governments. Some countries, like Greece, has a long history of corruption and evading taxes. It was even considered patriotic to steal from the military Junta.
Those countries in Scandinavia were so poor that most of the population left.
Quite the contrary. Scandinavians were from the start quite liberal, as due to the low population everyone was needed, both men and women. For example serfdom was never issued in Scandinavia, and the Vikings were hugely successful implementing personal willpower and an independent strong warrior culture. The sickly god-abiding sheep of England and Northern France were an easy target, but when encountering organised armies of the kings and dukes, the Vikings almost always lost. Finland, Norway and Denmark were the first countries in Europe in order to implement universal suffrage.
Scandinavia was dirt-poor long into the 17th century, but slowly started to catch up with Central Europe. Most did definitely not leave, the percentage was much higher in Ireland, Southern Italy, Russia and others who left for America. Most emigrants from Scandinavia were simply surplus non-landed poor peasants and craftmen.
As an Italian, I quite agree that Italy, even northern Italy, is not "nordic" in any way.
For a simple reason: the efficiency of some public services is way too low. Simply put, some public services, like civil justice or employment agency are outright dysfunctional.
Of course, not all public services are of poor quality. The national health service, for example, is decent.
Yet there is no uniform standard of quality and the citizen is helpless when dealing with arrogant public employees and terrible bureaucracy.
1) The Italian healthcare system is rated as the 2nd most cost-effective in the world. Sweden is 23rd.
2) The GDP created per working hour is the same in Spain as it is in Finland.
3) After France, Spain has the longest high-speed rail network (+200 kph) in Europe. Denmark and Ireland have 0 km of high-speed rail.
4) On average, In Italy the trains run on time at the same percentage as in Scandinavia (around 98% assurance).
5) The northerners criticise and envy southern cultures as much as southerners criticise and envy northern cultures. (Not a fact, but this is my impression).
I believe that in Norway most of the population left for the US due to famine.
Famine? The last Norwegian famine happened before 1814. The emigration peaked in 1885 and then again in 1905. The majority left due to social and economic reasons. I believe the Homestead Act was of great importance. Most Norwegian emigrants settled in the Upper Midwest.
4) On average, In Italy the trains run on time at the same percentage as in Scandinavia (around 98% assurance).
I also find Italian and Spanish railway systems heads and shoulders above the German one, the latter is simply god awful punctuality wise.
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