Also keep in mind that you Swedes have been on a privatization/deregulation streak over the past decade and a half that has allowed you to “jump ahead” of many others in terms of economic growth. Nevertheless, I’ve seen how Swedes live (small houses and apartments, little conspicuous consumption) and would not trade what I have here for that. I also don’t like getting scolded when I honk my horn, something that your cousins who settled in the upper Midwest of our country tend to do to me as well.
- Personally, I believe it’s possible to educate more or less any healthy child into a decent, well functioning citizen. But in order to achieve this, competent teachers are needed and things like drugs and crime must not interfere with the process.
Guess most people would agree. The problem is, of course, how to achieve this. I certainly do NOT believe in Liberal nonsense about making pupils “feel good about themselves” instead of acquiring real knowledge. Would you say the Bush administration has achieved a lot of improvements in this area or do you think little has been done since the Clinton years?
“small houses and apartments, little conspicuous consumption”
- An average American house is today around 2,500 square feet, that would not be considered big in Sweden of today (but 25 years ago it would - just like in the US, houses are getting bigger in my country).
However, 2,500 square feet might be somewhat bigger than an average Swedish house. On the other hand, a lot of Swedes, even those who live in apartments/condos own a “summer house” while most Americans don’t. Swedes probably have somewhat more of total living space than Americans. Some Swedes live in apartments/condos, yes, but so do a lot of Americans. For instance, look at a city like NYC or Chicago. Every US American doesn’t own a 2,500 sq feet house.
Secondly, what is it that you believe Americans afford to consume so much more of than Swedes? Prices on a lot of consumer goods are lower in the US, but so are wages.