They're also not socialist, in the sense that the parent comment was (I think) hinting at. There's plenty of capitalism at work in both Sweden and Norway.
you are mixing up communism and socialism. socialism and capitalism are not mutually exclusive. the scandinavian systems are called "nordic socialism" for a reason.
Socialism doesn't have an agreed-upon definition. For example, the World Socialist Movement will tell you that it entails an end to private property and to trades using money[1].
Whether the Nordic model is really socialist is a subject of intense debate among the Left (as usual).
Not even Lenin's USSR was considered Socialist by everyone (see the State Capitalism critiques, particularly by the anarchists), let alone the USSR under Perestroika!
