I was able to buy Coke and Mars back in 1994 despite the economy being probably in its worst state ever and most people probably could until the start of this year.

lol wtf is this how you measure prosperity? Mexico drinks 7 times more Coke than the rest of the world, would you call them prosperous? I think I remember something about Coke being more readily available than baby formula there?

I guess my parents, me, my friends and most people I know just happen to live in some magical bubble where we’re the 1 in 10? I know not everyone is well off, but it’s not like everyone in the Nordic countries are well off either. It’s definitely not 1 in 10 who have benefited.

Only 1 in 10 saw improvement from before, and specifically in ways unrelated to technological development.

Is your water cleaner? Are you healthier? Do you have more free time? Maybe! Not most people, though.

And this is where you go off the deep end. At no point was western militarism even a point of discussion. The discussion was the welfare state of Nordic countries and western militarism has nothing to do with that.

It has a lot to do with it! It's easier to spend money on welfare when you don't have to spend it on defense.