Sweden In trouble!

Started by Analog Worms, Oct 17, 2003, 05:16 AM

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Analog Worms

Trouble in the Swedish paradise

The Week
17/10/2003

EXCERPT:

The recent murder of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh shocked the consensus-loving Swedes to the core. Has Sweden's long pursuit of the model society finally reached its end?

What makes Sweden unique?
Swedes have spent a century trying to create a society based on consensus, not conflict, incorporating the best of both capitalism and socialism. Sweden started the 20th century as a poor peasant society with no big cities, but by embracing free-market capitalism it became the fourth wealthiest nation on earth by 1970. At the same time, Sweden built a fabulously generous welfare system. The success of the "Swedish model" was a source of national pride, and leaders from other nations streamed in to see how the Swedes had done it. "It was absurd," said newspaper columnist Arne Ruth, "but we thought of ourselves as a kind of superpower."

How extensive is the welfare system?
It provides Sweden's 9 million citizens with proverbial cradle-to-grave support. Schoolchildren get a free education--and free books and lunches, as well. Everyone has medical coverage under a national health plan. Parents are guaranteed a year off after the birth of a child, at 80 percent of their full salary. At age 65, workers get a generous pension that rises with inflation. Many credit the massive government safety net for giving Sweden the lowest infant-mortality rate in the European Union, and the longest male life expectancy (78 years). The role of government is so great that more than 50 percent of Swedes now either work for the state or depend on it for welfare benefits.

<snip>

What happened?
As global markets became more competitive, Swedish companies began to stumble, hobbled by high taxes and stringent labor regulations. Sweden fell from fourth to 17th on the list of the world's wealthiest nations. In the early 1990s, dissatisfaction with the economy prompted Swedes to turn to a more conservative government, but tinkering with the welfare state led to a record 15 percent unemployment rate, and the Social Democrats regained power. But with immigrants flocking to Sweden to take advantage of its liberal social policies, and with its population aging, social tensions have continued to grow. Younger Swedes say they feel unmotivated to work because of the high tax rate, and teenage alcoholism, violence, and drug abuse are rising. Half of all Swedish children are born out of wedlock. Today, Sweden's per capita murder rate is the highest in Europe.

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url=http://theafa.tk]Anti-Feminist Army[/url]

They call him the wanderer. Moving from one message board to the next. Just looking for a place to call home.

neoteny

Quote from: "Analog Worms"
Trouble in the Swedish paradise

The Week
17/10/2003

EXCERPT:

[...] Sweden started the 20th century as a poor peasant society with no big cities, but by embracing free-market capitalism it became the fourth wealthiest nation on earth by 1970. [...]


Yeah, well, that's a rather nice way of saying that by selling Bofors 88mm AA guns (and iron ore and much else) to both sides in WWII while staying 'neutral', they made a tidy sum and ramped up their industry - while the rest of Europe was bombed out pretty thoroughly.
The spreading of information about the [quantum] system through the [classical] environment is ultimately responsible for the emergence of "objective reality." 

Wojciech Hubert Zurek: Decoherence, einselection, and the quantum origins of the classical

dr e

Exactly Neoteny.
Contact dr e  Lifeboats for the ladies and children, icy waters for the men.  Women have rights and men have responsibilties.

Bilbo

Quote from: "Analog Worms"
Swedish companies began to stumble, hobbled by high taxes and stringent labor regulations.



I'm sure that the new push(which will probably be enacted) to require that corporate boards be at least 40% women isn't going to help them become more competitive, either.
It is impossible to reason a man out of something he was never reasoned into in the first place- Swift

"The cardinal principle of judicial restraint--if it is not necessary to decide more, it is necessary not to decide more."

Johnny

Sweden is typical of European countries. Pat Buchanan described it as a leisure world. Low birthrates and the high immigration to provide a tax base for all of the welfare programs. I really don't know where we are going with all of this...
Openly Straight.

neoteny

Quote from: "Johnny"
Sweden is typical of European countries. Pat Buchanan described it as a leisure world. Low birthrates and the high immigration to provide a tax base for all of the welfare programs. I really don't know where we are going with all of this...


I'm not sure if we're going anywhere "with all of this"...

Low birthrates are a feature of highly industrialized nations, I guess; partly there's no need for (free) farmhands, as was the case in feudal/agricultural societies, partly the survival of one or two children into adulthood is much more likely than in the past, where up to half of children failed to reach puberty.

As far as "high immigration to provide a tax base for all of the welfare programs": IME young male immigrants (I was one of 'em a decade and half ago) tend to try to enter the work force ASAP - it isn't necessarily true for other immigrants. Immigration isn't necessarily a boon for a country; they can be a drain on the welfare system, especially in case of a highly developed one like in Sweden.
Canadian provinces used to have a fairly generous welfare system; that changed a lot since the middle of the '90s - I know my experience with them was entitely different in 1992 and 1999.
The spreading of information about the [quantum] system through the [classical] environment is ultimately responsible for the emergence of "objective reality." 

Wojciech Hubert Zurek: Decoherence, einselection, and the quantum origins of the classical

Johnny

That is true, neoteny, however the West can't cover the low birthrates and expect a lavish lifestyle without a high immigration level. I am from Caleeforneeia and I know all about it more than you will ever know. A welfare state needs a tax base. And I am a Conservative Republican.

That is all
Openly Straight.

neoteny

Quote from: "Johnny"
That is true, neoteny, however the West can't cover the low birthrates and expect a lavish lifestyle without a high immigration level.


Maybe you misunderstood me; I'm not against immigration (as I mentioned, I was an immigrant), but clear immigration policies which are enforced is a necessary aspect of 'successful' immigration, IMO.

Quote
I am from Caleeforneeia and I know all about it more than you will ever know.


Hey, infallibility is 8) :lol:

Quote
A welfare state needs a tax base.


So true; the practical upshot of that is that it needs middle-class employees (as they're the ones who aren't able to wiggle out of income tax, which I suspect is the major component of tax revenues. I'm open to correction on this, though). Accordingly, immigrants who fail to reach that state/stage within a reasonable time frame (usually 5 years in the case of immigrants in Canada, according to the last info I have) can constitute a net expense for the system, as opposed to being the "tax base" behind it.

Quote
And I am a Conservative Republican.


OK, so what does that supposed to mean? I don't assume that people who self-identify similarly from a political viewpoint necessarily have the same view of every societal issue.

Quote
That is all


I see; you'll excuse me if I post on this subject, though, will you?  :D
The spreading of information about the [quantum] system through the [classical] environment is ultimately responsible for the emergence of "objective reality." 

Wojciech Hubert Zurek: Decoherence, einselection, and the quantum origins of the classical

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