It’s endearing from an external perspective because of how the narrative sounds to outsiders (“the government is protecting the citizens from themselves”). The inside truth is much less romantic: Nordic governments are authoritative and jump at any opportunity to tax the hell out of their citizens. Nordics don’t drink even remotely as much as for example Germans and I don’t see Germany in trouble for that. They get away with it because Nordic people live in a golden cage and as long as you conform and lower your head, everything kind of moves forward comfortably.
