The Middle Way

     Miles Seeley thinks the facts of life have caught up with Sweden. He says "Didn't I read that the "true socialism" they had before was giving way to a modified version that lessened state cradle-to-grave support for all? As for universal health care, ask Canadians about it. They have tried mightily but simply could not afford the costs, so have cut services drastically. All I am saying is that these concerns are not susceptible to easy and quick solutions."


     My comment: know that Sweden is thinking of revising its system, but I don't know how far it has actually gone. As for Canada, I believe that, as in England, general medical care has wide public support, despite its flaws. We must get the facts before committing ourselves.
     Elena Danielson takes a historical perspective: "We have a lot to learn from the Scandinavians, but it is best not to get the analysis stuck in a capitalism vs. socialism argument. Some of the Nordic legal protections for the disadvantaged that we see as socialism actually go back to the feudal period. Capitalism is flourishing there now because of a cultural affinity for information age technology. Some of the old Social Democratic constraints on competition seem to me from this distance to be softening in the process. What is far more important than the economic system of the moment is a set of shared values that is an interesting mix of individualism and social responsibility. Maybe it is the result of surviving for centuries in a hostile, cold climate. The clearest test was during the Holocaust when the occupied Danish population worked in a cohesive, spontaneous and very secretive way to rescue the Jews, who were slated for extermination in October 1943. In the course of three weeks Danes rescued over seven thousand Jews by taking them on small fishing boats to neutral Sweden, which cooperated in the rescue. As elsewhere there were some collaborators, but I cannot think of any other occupied population in World War II that mobilized with such a clear sense of purpose. What I find most interesting is that Danes do not like to brag about the rescue and neither do they like demonizing German people for the Holocaust. I was gently chided once in Denmark for some offhand negative comments about Germans."


     My comment: As Larry Harrison would say: Culture matters.

Ronald Hilton - 3/23/00