The Middle Way

     There is sharp disagreement among WAISers about the real Sweden. Dwight Peterson writes:
     "I agree with Linda Nyquist's remarks about the Swedes not wanting to give up their health care plan. However, I disagree with some of her other comments. Swedes constantly gripe and complain about the high taxes that are imposed upon them and are always looking for tax havens. They do not enjoy paying taxes to help people who are less fortunate. A conservative Swede is just that. He, or she, is not a liberal by U.S. standards. There is a growing Conservative Party in Sweden that has swelled in numbers in recent years. Sweden has always been known for its compassionate citizens throughout the years. However, in the last 20 years or so Swedes have persecuted and risen up against their guest workers in the factory towns when the economy has soured. The Romanians, Turks, Greeks, and other immigrant workers have suffered tremendous abuse and they are the brunt of ethnic and racial jokes and comments. Factory towns like Sodertalje outside of Stockholm have terrible racially related incidents all the time. So, I like to think of the Swedes as compassionate, because they mostly are, but they are not all lily white, blond and blue eyed."


     My comment: There are certain constants: workers in all countries resent immigrants willing to work for less who thereby take jobs. Austria is one example. There are variables: Everyone wants something for nothing, but nowhere as much as in the United States. Every day we receive advertisements shouting "free!". "Freebie," "There's no such thing as a free lunch" are Americanisms. A chart in The Economist (3/18/00) shows that Britain is the only country where taxpayers are willing to pay more for better public services. The worst complainers are the Americans and the French. It is in those two countries that the correlation between higher taxes and better .public services is least understood. In France, many public service unions, like teachers, are demonstrating for an increase in their already generous slice of the budget. You can't have it both ways. After Britain and, surprisingly, Spain and Brazil, comes Sweden, indicating that Swedes are not very complaining about the high taxes.

Ronald Hilton - 3/26/00