Question about Sweden

[BayCityProgressive]

I was wondering how Swedes felt about their economy? I know the Social Democrats are in power and that many consider it a mixed or socialist economy.I guess it all depends on your definition of socialism. If anyone knows about their system...what are the strengths and weaknesses of their social democracy and what things are similar and different between the Swedish social dems and the US democrats?

[xray s]

1. I don't think it qualifies as socialist

I think most, if not all, production is privately owned in Sweden. Hell, SAAB and Volvo are owned by GM and Ford!

Government social programs does not equal socialism. It just doesn't.

[oscar111]

2. shift in nineties to RW? Union rate 95%

here is what i have heard:
a sad shift in the nineties to the RW. But still far left of the usa.

they have homelessness, tho small.

unemploy rate four percent last i looked

a link to 'statistics sweden" site is somewhere on the site of JOBS FOR ALL.. link my sig. At jfa, try resources and links pages, button at left their homepage.

union rate twenty yrs ago ninety five percent in heafvy indus. ... ninety percent overall. Nice.

Kept jobless rate below one percent for decades.. so "four percent is full employment" myth here , is bunk. Total baloney.

Joblessness in europe today is much less harrowing than in usa, because most europe has generous cash pay to the jobless. And it lasts .. germans get it up to ten years IIRC.

some swedes are ignorant.. a chat room swede claimed zero homeless there, when truth is otherwise.

co-ops were very prominent in the econ. at one time, unsure of today.

swedish prison cells were once/now? better than my college dorm room. "solid door for privacy, single person cell, common areas have cozy nooks with books, cookies and refreshments"

Still has a royal family. hmmmmmm. that's backward.

UN rates quality of life for Norway as world's top. Sweden usually close in rankings.

All scandia was once a single nation... 18OO? correct me if that is wrong.. not sure of the source.
They all do some things together even now.. IIRC, one airline.

finns are a large minority in sweden.
Swedish steel contradicts critics of their economy.

The swedes have been the most successful society overall, on the globe, in my opinion. They are the elders of humanity in most ways. For a sane prosperous rational society, look to the Scandanavians.

The International Institute for Peace Research is in Stockholm. {might have the name off a bit}. Their Journal of Peace Research is laying scholarly facts out, and providing a firm basis for shifting opinion to finally end the scourge that is war. eg, most humans, contrary to the general impression from history courses.. most have lived in a time of peace, not war. War is an abberation.

Arguably the most important Institute on the planet.

big news was a bridge , denmark to Goteburg sweden.. really long.

Wife of economics nobelist Gunnar Myrdal was the real archetect of the Welfare State of the sixties and thereafter. Her name Jan?

[MisterP]

3. they can have a royal family if they want

who else would the neo-jacobins blame whenever something happened?

[carpetbagger]

5. Certainly if they look like this...

Princess Madeleine and Crown Princess Victoria...

[oscar111]

7. Not blond? What is going on?

must have married Italians LOL.

[katinmn]

10. The Royal Family is "kept" much like the Royal family in England

People are curious about their social activities. Many of the royal men have been good athletes. They don't seem to have much impact.

[oscar111]

4. Swedish Model of economy is mix

if i got it right, the term that was front and center for the world for decades, but unheard here, was

THE SWEDISH MODEL.

again, if i got it right, it was a combo of private and state business-ownership.

can someone expand on just what it was? i know little of this. Just that it was quite famous and copied, or rather that many wanted to copy it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. Gunnar Myrdal's wife was named Alva

"Jan" is a male name in most Continental European countries.

[katinmn]

9. I've been to Sweden four times but not since 2003

It has a fairly high unemployment rate, some of which is attributed to a large immigrant population. When I was last there it was around 12 percent.

Sweden has "experimented" with privatized health care which horrifies much of the population. They have kind of a hybrid now, it all depends on where you live and work.

Because of global mergers and acquisitions, work rules (the work week, vacation and benefits) are starting to look more like that of the U.S.

Some of their rules seem very complex but I imagine that's just part of being a foreigner.

Almost everyone under age 50 speaks very good English. I think they have the highest literacy rate in the world, they read more books per capita than other countries.

They take care of their environment. Even garbage cans are hidden in pretty wooden containers. You don't see garbage lying about. All power lines are underground. Very few billboards.

The cities are clean, the people are friendly and you don't see much obesity.

What's not to like? I want to go back now and stay there!

[Cleita]

8. As I was saying goodby to my Swedish neighbor, once

upon a time, after she divorced her American husband, I asked her where she was going. Back to Sweden of course she said. We lived on a street with homeless visibly present in the area. As we watched a disheveled woman with a shopping car walk on the sidewalk across the street she said to me.

"At least in Sweden, you are taken care of if you are down and out. No one is left to die on the streets, like here."

So that has always defined the Swedish socialist attiude to me.

[oscar111]

11. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

that is the name i was not sure of.

[oscar111]

12. LOngest post with most details, up the thread, my first re

just so it doesnt get lost in the shuffle, this pointer for you

[Cats Against Frist]

13. I lived in Sweden, for a very short period

It's been a few years now, but it was very interesting. When I was there, it was the Spring of 2000. I was a guest of one of the administrators of LO (trade union), and a SAP (Social Democrat) member. I mostly hung out with these people -- very simple, plain dress, apartment-dwellers -- but they liked good food and good beer. They all had cell phones and computers paid for by the government, and it didn't seem like any of them had real jobs, so much. We hung out in the pub, a lot. It was AWESOME.

On the flip side, I had a date with a boy who hung out in Sergels Torg at the hip clubs, and drove a VW and had custom-made glasses from Hungary. He was the equivalent of a US "Young Republican," and didn't like the SAP, much. Even over there, it seemed like an affluence thing. Most of the Swedish people are fairly humble, and don't aspire to be affluent. They have a word: "lagom" -- that means "just enough, but not too much," and it is part of their culture and their hearts.

The weaknesses, I guess, are two fold. If you desire to be ultra-rich, you'll be taxed at 90 percent. They have about a 10 percent unemployment rate -- typical of Social Democratic countries. Of course, they have a cradle-to-grave welfare system -- though that may have changed, some.

In the early 90s, the Conservatives got into power, and the country hated them so much, they re-elected the SAP in a huge victory. As far as I know, SAP is very strong, right now. Another consideration, though, is how they're doing as part of the EU.

The biggest drawback is that, if I'm not mistaken, there is some kind of fuzzy social stratification -- for instance, my ex-boyfriend was somehow "destined" to not go to University, and, by the skin of his teeth ended up not being a factory worker. He is, of course, now one of the mayors of Stockholm -- because he worked his way up, through the party. I have no idea -- but I've heard the same thing in Italy. I don't know if it's sort of caste or family-based, or an arbitrary decision on the part of the government. Maybe someone else can clear that up.

That's about all I can really help you with.

[oscar111]

14. we had 90 % too, with Truman, and prosperity then

the money kept the middle, producing class educated and housed.

fund the producers and you get prosperity.

but reaganomics funds the idle top, so we have a flat economy with 12 million hungry and a million living on a piece of sidewalk

reaganomics is the key barrier we must talk about.

MOre on sweden.. they have bikers gangs and skinheads, tho i suppose percentwise, fewer than here.

the post right above me... i think their free time is not typical. An administrator tho should work a fair amount... The member of Parliament i can understand having a lot of free time. Free phones are just due to being an MP, and not typical, right?

When was the RW tossed out exactly? what year? why hasnt the LW lowered the jobless rate? is the RW still able to block good laws?

[oscar111]

15. nominate for GREATEST PAGE, button bottom of orig post

llll

[Cats Against Frist]

17. The cellphones were like $10 a month from Telia

and that was for everyone -- the computers weren't free, but subsidized by the government.

I don't know about the free time -- they all seemed pretty lax to me -- taking long vacations -- four-hour lunches. In the middle of the day, tons of people eating ice cream cones, pushing prams around. They were ALWAYS doing something though -- I just mean they weren't working. Not a lot of laying around. Walking from here to there, dinner parties, speeches, lunches, political things, classes, soccer games, party functions. If I had the Tunnelbana in my city, though, I suppose I'd be out and about, more.

And my ex wasn't a high-level administrator. And I don't know, per your PM, how many mayors Stockholm has. I think, maybe, eight -- and they're more like a city council, or a council of mayors.

Toward the end of this page, it talks about modern Swedish political history. Carl Bildt was the head of the wingnuts (hee), and I guess the SAP didn't win by a landslide -- they've been a minority government -- but they've been in charge for some time.

[Selatius]

16. Sweden's economy is a mixed economy

It's not a true socialist economy. Property law is essential for the survival of capitalism, and Sweden has them. If I cannot get the government to recognize my ownership of several homes so that I can charge the occupants in them rent, then the scheme I want in this case fails.

Sweden's economy has generally better social services than in the US. They've got better health care (universal health care), better public education systems (better educated and better INFORMED about their world), and a damn fine standard of living that would put living conditions in parts of the US to shame.

Socialist thought is far more prevalent in Sweden than in the US. They're more "awake" in that aspect, while Americans are still asleep, no thanks to the corporate news media.

[oscar111]

18. kick

sssseeeeeee