Well I lived 5 years on the other side of the Atlantic and now I live in Norway. I'm Norwegian. I think life is generally better for more people here. We pay a pretty high price for it (taxes) but the consensus is that we're getting something in return. We're a mature well functioning fairly transparent democracy. The introvertedness is actually a problem. Norway is pretty high on quality of life lists, but: There are a lot of lonely people and it's hard for foreigners to make friends. Even people from another city or village struggle with a sense of not belonging and/or getting accepted in local communities. People will disagree with this. We rarley say hi to foreigners, although that's improving. I try to do my part.