The Nordic countries have a high standard of living because they have large states that do a big redistribution of wealth. It redistributes so much money that the ones who were supposed to be super rich, become middle class citizens because they give away the majority of their income. That income is being spent on a social security net, education, health etc., which enables the lower class to enter the middle class because the tools they need to do that, are given to them for free (aka paid for, by the ones who pay a lot in taxes). This leads to a large and super healthy middle class with a small gap between the poor and rich - which ultimately benefits everyone. There's a proverb that describes the system: "The broadest shoulders are carrying the heaviest load".
I remember reading an article about welfare in homogenous societies. The point that it had, was that the kind of welfare/wealth redistribution isn't nearly as possible in multicultural countries. The way it works, is that for a population to adopt a large welfare system, its people need to have a sense of relation, trust and sympathy towards one another. It turns out, that that's more likely to happen in a homogenous society and less likely in a multicultural society. The kind of samaritan idea in the general population, which is required for political system to work in a welfare-like direction, is less likely to become a norm if a population leads different cultural lives. People seem less alike to one another. As a citizen you're going to be very aware of that and you're going to be very dissatisfied if you think that money is being spent on someone you think is a stranger.
As with the rest of Europe, Nordic countries face a challenge in integrating immigrants and refugees from the Middle East. Those people are immediately different. They differ in religion, cultural values, food, clothing, humor, "unwritten rules"/norms, ideals, looks- they don't even share history and I'm sure there are more differences. Here's what they have in common: They are homo sapiens. If the article is right, this poses an enormous challenge for Nordic welfare to keep itself from being "downvoted" by the population. Truth be told, I think the article is right. Ask any Nordic and they'll all say they love welfare - would never give it up. Well that certainly contradicts the article. BUT, if you take a look at entertainment and the news, the ones in hardship are becoming the laughing stock, governments are making cuts in social services (Affected services: The elderly, students, the jobless), the rich are getting cuts in taxes and the gap between rich and poor is increasing. So yeah, not only is the opinion of those in need changing, legislation is changing to reflect that and it has a real effect in society. It is not groundbreaking for the 'welfare' part of 'welfare society', but it's still change. Oh, here's a statement: The majority of immigrants and refugees from the middle east end up on social services and you'll have to wait a generation or two for their kids to get through school to actually make a contribution to society. I don't actually know whether that's true, so I can't agree or disagree with it. But I know that the of the population is very polarized about it. It is naive to think that it's not having an effect in the polling stations. Recent election campaigns in Denmark and Sweden have also been centered around political values in contrast to actual problem solving.
So that's the state of affairs.
Of all the Nordic countries I think Sweden faces the biggest challenge because of the sheer amount of people they take in combined with the fact that they want to do actual integration, not assimilation. It's high risk, what's the reward again? No doubt it's the moral thing to do. 1/5th of the population are "non-natives". In the U.S. it's around 1/3rd, i think. PLUS it has immigrants from way more cultures than just one, like Sweden has. A multi-cultural America actually goes well with the liberal, American dream. I just don't think a real, Nordic-like welfare state is possible in America. The people over there are too different to think that way.
Does it mean the U.S. should do it? Hell yeah. Welfare is awesome.