The Middle Way

     Eleanor Roosevelt used to promote Sweden as "the middle way". Elena Nyquist revives the idea. She says:
     "I hope that WAISers will think not of cheap Mexican labor, but of exploited Mexican laborers. The fact that salaries for field work are more on this side of the border than on the Mexican side does not make them less exploitive. In fact, I believe that it is almost worse. Today I have thought very much of a WAISer's comment about the person worst off under capitalism is better off than under any other system. Could someone please explain this to me? I sent it to a Swedish cousin and his reply was "Lindy, how do you LIVE in that country?" They forget that I am an American. My Swedish cousins are rather shocked by our lack of universal health care, and lack of protection for workers.
     My relatives in Sweden live very, very well, lack for nothing, pay their taxes, and have NO interest whatsoever in emigrating. Of course, some citizens of any country choose to leave. Extremely wealthy Swedes sometimes leave to shelter their riches from the tax authorities, but enough remain that it is a pretty civilized place to live."


     My comment: There are many varieties of capitalism, of which the Swedish is one. Castro's communism is one form the many forms of communism, but it is not like Sweden. It was the Scandinavians who invited FARC rebels, who are promoting a Cuban-type regime to Colombia, to tour Europe in the hope that they would see that they did no have to chose between the U.S. system and the Cuban one.

Ronald Hilton - 3/23/00