Sweden - a lot more than Vikings and meatballs!

This article is not about the U.S.A. per se, but it is pertinent at the beginning to say why we left America for Sweden.

I grew up in Canada, then I moved to the U.S. to jump-start a career where I lived for over three decades. When I first got to the States, I loved it - and in many ways, I still do. At that time, there was a dynamic about the U.S. that was absolutely tangible - a vibe that was contagious and exciting; however, after 9/11 that drastically changed.

The “welcome to our country where you can accomplish anything vibe” in America, fell under the shadow of its new mantra - “national security”.

America always felt safe to me, but after 9/11, it changed, because according to the White House, “America” was under attack. If you know anything about 9/11, and most people keep their heads buried in the sand about the truth of what really happened and who was behind it, you know it was not what President Bush and his cronies claimed. You can find the truth about it if you search and if you dismiss the notion that the White House was telling the truth. Under the Bush administration, we were constantly living with “National Yellow Alerts” that another attack was imminent somewhere - which never came of course. Homeland Security came into existence. The NSA (National Security Agency) was given blanket approval to surveil American citizens, looking for the internal threats - like who used the word terrorist in their emails or phones, etc. People were disappearing to Camp Gitmo in Cuba, and on a very personal level, one of our closest friends at the time, was driving down the street talking to someone on her phone, when the police chased her down ands stopped her. They told her she was speaking on her phone which is illegal while driving. She denied it, at which point they informed her that they had been listening to her call - so they knew. Go figure!

This was the new America, and it was not welcoming, it was a bit freaky, bordering on a police state. Moreover, at border crossings, which we often crossed between Canada and U.S.A. it was not unusual for me to be detained for an hour or more, as U.S. border guards verified my status, whereas when crossing into Canada, the border guard smiled, asked for my passport, checked and then waved me in with a welcome to Canada. Massive difference.

The welcoming matt that America had put out to the world, which really made it a place people wanted to go, was being systematically pulled back - and of course, today, some fifteen years after leaving, it is far worse, and people are being gathered up like cattle by ICE, put in cages and deported. This was not the America I knew and supported before 9/11.

So, we left, and headed to Sweden, and to be very honest, I really had no idea what to expect. I grew up in Canada with this image of Sweden as a land filled with beautiful blue-eyed blonds - and that image was not wrong, but certainly quite marginalized.

Here are a few things you might not know about Sweden.

Sweden is a SOCIAL DEMOCRACY:

Contrary to what Donald Trump and his Republican goons spout and propagandize, that Sweden and other European countries are “socialist” - that only betrays their utter ignorance and corrupt agenda - an attempt to clearly undermine nations with a better infrastructure than the U.S.A.

In a social democracy, which is prevalent in all the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland) the emphasis is on providing an infrastructure that serves the people, first and foremost, and not corporate greed or money or profit - and certainly NOT the government.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines social as: of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society. The word social comes from Old English, secg man, companion.

Sweden offers Universal Health Care to its citizens:

Sweden offers universal health care to all its citizens - something which the Republican party in the U.S. violently opposes because they want health care to be monetized and privatized, because insurance companies and the medical establishment make TRILLIONS - all of which would change if universal health care were introduced.

You can live on one wage in Sweden:

In Sweden, whether you flip hamburgers, work as a clerk in a store, drive a fork lift or whatever, the system is designed so that you can make sufficient money to pay for the basics; rent, food, transportation (bus etc.), a mobile phone and still have some left over. Minimum wage in the U.S. in comparison, is still under $8 per hour in most States, which is not enough to cover the basics of living, forcing many people to get two jobs to make ends meet or they live in poverty.

It is safe in Sweden:

While Sweden has seen a rise in gang violence in the last decade, this is primarily isolated to certain areas and certain demographics, and does not reflect the general state of the country, which is one of the safest countries anywhere. I lived in Hollywood for years, where police helicopters, car chases, shootings, violence, muggings, gangs, etc. was the norm. Here in Sweden, it happens here and there, but not with the frequency I have experienced elsewhere.

Swedish people are incredibly tolerant of other ethnicities:

Sweden is not a religious country per se. There is a Swedish church, but overall, Swedes do not identify themselves as religious in the sense of adherence to some faith. If anything, the real “religion” in Sweden is their love of nature. Swedes are outdoor people. They love walking, hiking, doing outside activities and they have great respect for the nature around them. It is one of the cleanest countries I have ever visited or lived in.

More importantly, this lack of conviction to one or another theological ideologies, makes Swedes very open and very tolerant of other people. I have rarely witnessed racism or objectification because of skin color, race, religious beliefs, whatever.

Sweden is a Non-aggression culture:

This is not a culture based on aggression. Swedes do not like confrontation or violence - and to that end, most people do not own guns and do not feel the necessity to own them.

Sweden has not been engaged in a war since, roughly speaking, 1812, and only recently joined NATO because Russia is literally a stone’s throw from its borders and Vladimir “Puka” was making his usual threats which put Sweden on the alert.

Swedes have a large global perspective:

For a small country of some 10 million people, Sweden remains, per capita, one of the great supporters of other nations who have less. Swedes give to help others.

Swedes often travel outsides of Sweden, to Europe, Asia and elsewhere. And by the way, Swedes get 4 weeks vacation EVERY year, and often even five weeks.

Swedes follow international news and are, by my observation, quite informed about what is going on in the world. It is a small country surrounded by many other nations, cultures and languages - so by necessity its people need to be informed and want to be.

Child care:

This is not only limited to Sweden, but here, when you have a baby, the mother gets a year or more from work to take care of her child, and is paid something like 80% of her normal wages during that time. Similarly, the father has the right to take time from work to take care of his newborn and also gets paid during this time.

An amazing Coffee Culture

If you love a coffee culture, Sweden delivers. In most cities and small towns, you will find small charming cafes or the like, often times with outside seating areas, where you can take coffee, and what they call “fika” - which is a coffee with a Swedish pastry. A fika break is very common and popular. Most importantly, Swedish coffee is really good, and it is STRONG.

Is there a downside?

There are some signs that its culture is being watered down and compromised. What makes Sweden really great, besides its culture, Swedish meatballs and all, is the fact that it’s social democracy really does take care of its people.

The system however, has recently been heavily taxed by the fact that during and after the Syrian Crisis, where Sweden admitted more refugees than almost any other country in the world, they failed to plan for the burden this would put on its system - so of course this is causing problems internally and has become a political discussion and focus.

The incursion of fast-food joints, particularly from America, such as McDonalds, Burger King, etc., believe it or not, has, since 2004 or so, started to transform a very healthy country, to one with a growing obesity problem. In the last twenty years obesity has become an issue for roughly 50% of its adult population.

The infrastructure, that is health care, education, transportation etc., has slowly been privatized in some areas - more private schools, etc. While this takes a load off the government, it still requires that Swedes pay the same taxes, which are going into privatized institutions, and one could extrapolate that if such a trend continued, it would eventually erode the very essence of social democracy, the backbone of the nation - where the emphasis has been on SERVING THE PEOPLE - to becoming more about PROFIT for privateers.

Sweden does not have a big poverty class, nor does it have a significant homeless class - unlike the U.S.A. where I lived for over 30 years, where you could walk the streets of major cities, and encounter blocks of homeless people, living in tents and shanties, such as Los Angeles, where I lived, where there were and remain over 70,000 homeless people. In the U.S.A. today, nearly 10% of all families are living under the poverty level, which amounts to around 35 million people (nearly 4 times the population of Sweden). You will not see that in Sweden because the infrastructure provides a safety net for the people.

These are just a few things I wanted to mention, because sometimes, if you listen to the “news” coming out on the airwaves or social media, particularly out of mouths of Trump and his Republican goons, you could get the wrong idea about Europe. After living here and traveling Europe for the last 15 years, I can say without any doubt, that the claims that America is the best country in the world, are not founded on fact - because in many ways, the lifestyle in Europe is far better, and I say this with the greatest of respect for the people in the U.S.A. because they deserve better and are being lulled into passive acceptance of their existing system which is not the best system at all and certainly needs an upgrade.

Réal Laplaine

Author and human rights activist

www.reallaplaine.com