Posted on 11/08/2007 4:59:05 PM PST by WesternCulture
Sweden:
"The Highest Standard of Living Anywhere"
The beautiful nation of Sweden has the highest standard of living in the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at namyth.com ...
God Bless you and I am glad you call yourself an American.
“Nothing beats living in the U.S. Period!!!”
- If you prefer a nice house, a beautiful wife, a sauna and a Volvo V70, then Sweden is better.
- If you prefer a nice house, a beautiful wife, a swimmingpool and a Toyota Camry, then the US would be your natural choice.
The crime rate in Russia and South Africa alone are reason enough to say NO to socialism.
Not if you are born in 1931 like me!!!
I’m not going to remark on the facts of the linked website, sufficed to say a lot of it is wrong, exaggerated or taken out of context. It’s a hit-piece and needs to be aggressive. The sentiment is correct though. I get discouraged every time I read big-government socialists using Sweden as a role-model ‘cause there are a lot of things wrong in Sweden. Multiculturalism, political correctness, mommy-knows-best big-government and tax you for all you’ve got since you obviously can’t be trusted to decide how to spend your own earnings.
As the poster, I too have several business ventures behind me and come from a family of entrepreneurs and my experiences aren’t nearly as rosy as his seems to have been.
I will remark on one fact: Sweden hasn’t been Catholic since Gastav Wasa nixed the catholic arch-bishop in 1531.
As per April 4, 2007 a LEGAL Immigrant becoming a new U.S. Citizen, and I am damn proud of it!!!
So because you like socilism you should take it to task to shove it down our throats ...
Thats not Freedom it’s Facsist !
Let the U.S Citizen marks it’s own time in History weather good or bad it will be our time not another socialist countrys time .
There is a FReeper thread somewhere on my profile page about just how great it is in Sweden.
“Did anybody read this article? I read it and I still have the funny feeling that Socialism sucks and it doesn’t work. The article says that if Sweden were introduced to the US as a new State, she would be the poorest in our Country.”
- Thanks for reading the article!!
My conclusion is this:
Sweden isn’t as rich compared to the US (or any other country for that matter) as some people (read Socialists and Liberals) seem to believe. I live in Gothenburg and I sometimes see people who drive around in wrecks.
Some of my friends here in Sweden think 50% of the US population lives in utter poverty. They refuse to give credibility, not only to my personal impressions of America, but also all sorts of statistics provided by organizations like UN, EU, IMF, OECD etc, etc. Some of them are university educated and work for leading Swedish media.
On the other hand, there are people, especially on the Internet, who seem to believe that the Scandinavian countries constitute a corner of the world which is not a part of the free world, boasting a standard of living somewhere in the ranks of Mississippi.
I’m from Halmstad, my mother moved back about 20 yrs ago. I used to visit my grandparents each summer, spent my whole day on the beaches of Tylosand. Could not have had a better childhood.
Sweden has a socialist label on it, but it is a free market society, free elections. Frankly, I can’t see much difference between the Democrats of America, and the Socialist Democrats in Sweden. They are basically identical. The current conservative govt is essentially like the GOP here, right?
How are things for the new party, or are they getting all soft now that they are in charge? Didn’t that do in the last time the conservatives ran Sweden?
Saj hej til dom dar hemma for mej! (don’t know how to put the dots on the letters with a US keyboard, though I know where they belong)
The reality is America is more socialist than anyone cares to admit. Ridiculously high tax rates, a one payer health system, regulations barring entry of entrepreneurs into business, funding programs of opinion through government extortion, a NATIONAL education association, a media-party complex. Just to name a few. Maybe we don’t think so because we are still more liberal(in the true sense) than Europe.
Internet slang for LOL, WHAT?
- To begin with, I visited Tylösand recently. Per Gessle & Co have turned the whole place into a millionaire’s fantasy resort.
http://www.tylosand.se/in-english
Actually, it isn’t that bad. There’s a pub in the basement of the complex, suited for people like me.
“Frankly, I can’t see much difference between the Democrats of America, and the Socialist Democrats in Sweden. They are basically identical. The current conservative govt is essentially like the GOP here, right?”
- More or less, I’d guess. But even more remarkable is how politicians all over the world are gathering around some sort of standard policy.
In a country like Sweden, all sorts of moron politicians wish to ‘steer’ consumption while they, simultaneously, are forced to keep corporate taxes at a low level because they are such an important and solid part of the establishment. Therefore, Socialism is avoided and people enjoy a high standard of living.
In a country like the US, most politicians are people who don’t fit in the ruling business elite of the nation (because of incompetence?) and therefore have entered politics. People distrust politicians a lot in the US and therefore US politicians, once in power, often decide to suck the blood out of healthy companies, because the people will not have it. The result is wealthy consumers.
Long live Capitalism!
Tens of thousands of venture-financed startup companies in the U.S. would disagree with you.
Swedish people are well off because they tend to be smart, hard working and honest. They thrive, despite attempts by govt to stifle them. And so it is in most W Europe, Asia, and N America.
When you see cultures of stupid, lazy, dishonest people, nothing good comes from it.
An evil govt in either case, can make the former bad, the latter hell on earth.
That is great Brother.
I moved to Sweden for one year, the year that Hotel was made/opened, 1986. The bar was called after beach back then too. Was quite the place on a summer friday/saturday night. My Grandparents house was in Frosakul. 7 houses up from the beach. I’d spend my days there, or the world famous golf course. When I came back to the states, I’d have sand in my scalp for weeks. The year I moved there, worked at Chark, meat packaging place? That was a great year, lots of hot swedish babes...
“The reality is America is more socialist than anyone cares to admit. Ridiculously high tax rates, a one payer health system, regulations barring entry of entrepreneurs into business, funding programs of opinion through government extortion, a NATIONAL education association, a media-party complex. Just to name a few. Maybe we don’t think so because we are still more liberal(in the true sense) than Europe.”
- The US is, generally speaking, a more dynamic economy than the EU, at least economic growth has been higher recently (due to a larger population growth some might argue).
Anyhow, my conclusion is that today the US is very much like Europe. In terms of taxation, the major difference is that the US targets companies, while most European countries impose severe taxes on income or/and consumption (through sales taxes/VAT), but are more lenient on corporate activity.
Nice story!
Tylösand is one of the best beach resorts of (Northern) Europe!
I’m not a golfer and neither do I live in the Halmstad area, but I could see myself (trying to) play some golf there in a near future.
Like Per Gessle himself put it:
“Västkustens tjejer är det bästa som finns”/”(Swedish) West Coast girls is the best thing on Earth”
Besides Capitalism creates millionaires and socialism/communism creates dead people.
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