Partanen expands the idea of freedom to include a freedom from employers -- she advocates that the state should be responsible to ensure that every child has equal access to quality education and healthcare, despite the resources of their parents.

She makes intriguing rebuttals against the argument that this makes "Nordic" countries into socialist nanny states that will inevitably lead to a Soviet-style regime. Finland, as a neighbor of Russia, has a long history of fighting them as invaders and rejecting their totalitarian policies. She says it's the "Nordic theory of love" that desires to make each individual self-sufficient that drives the Finnish policies of state-provided healthcare and education. Her comparison of the amount of taxation and common financial health metrics like debt as % of GDP to US analogues show that in many cases, Finland spends less than and is less intrusive into individuals' lives than the US, while helping ensure better outcomes by leveling the starting point in life for each individual.

This would be a great book for a discussion group to pair with John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty," or similar. Good food for thought about what "freedom," "security," "pursuit of happiness," and "quality of life" mean.