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* High youth/young adult unemployment rate
* Very high taxes (Sales tax 25%, and high income tax)
* Weather wise generally cool year-round (Summers only low 70s/low 20s C in southern/central part of the country if lucky, and winters cold, snowy and very dark)
* Bad location... far away from mainland Europe
* High crime rate in many suburban cities with high number of immigrants.
* Ethnic Swedes are very racist towards immigrants/second generation immigrants.
* Jantelagen! (Jante law)!
* Small population... Stockholm does not have "big city" feel.
However, it is very socialized and great place to live for low-income people.
Great place to live off with welfare!
* High youth/young adult unemployment rate
* Very high taxes (Sales tax 25%, and high income tax)
* Weather wise generally cool year-round (Summers only low 70s/low 20s C in southern/central part of the country if lucky, and winters cold, snowy and very dark)
* Bad location... far away from mainland Europe
* High crime rate in many suburban cities with high number of immigrants.
* Ethnic Swedes are very racist towards immigrants/second generation immigrants.
* Jantelagen! (Jante law)!
* Small population... Stockholm does not have "big city" feel.
However, it is very socialized and great place to live for low-income people.
Great place to live off with welfare!
There there is the Swedish band dissection who's founder was convicted of murdering a gay man for looking at him funny. What a paradise of tolerance over there.
Did you really think there were any country who has 100 % perfect citizens. There are crazy people everywhere, Sweden included. If you are looking for a paradise Earth is not the place.
Did you really think there were any country who has 100 % perfect citizens. There are crazy people everywhere, Sweden included. If you are looking for a paradise Earth is not the place.
I like Swedish cinema (well, Scandinavian films in general) and I wish I was blonde. I am of Swedish (and Scottish with a dash of French for fun) descent, so maybe that makes me partial to the culture. However, I think the US is great for being able to pick and choose your culture and/or climate.
Clearly, this thread was supposed to be a javelin throw at "liberals", but it seems to have backfired a bit. When anyone uses the example of another country to suggest we could do things a bit better, it's not saying we suck and they're better than we are, etc. It's like when I see the super fit guy running faster than me on my morning 5k. I watch him, check out his fitness level and his technique and think "what could I do to be more like that"? Doesn't mean I want to move into his skin and take everything that's part of his life as my own.
I hope you realize that and the ridiculous hyperbole and sweeping generalizations are just for entertainment purposes only.
Liberals always talk about how great Sweden is, and how America should be more like Sweden. Do you believe Sweden is the greatest nation on earth?
Apparently some conservatives wish that Sweden didn't exist.
Whenever the subject of socialism comes up, they want to accuse liberals of pining for the USA to turn into another North Korea, Stalinist USSR, or China under Mao. While no liberal I have ever met pines for any such thing, many look to countries like Sweden, Norway, Germany et al, to see how they've implemented elements of socialism into their free societies, improving the quality of life for their citizens. How inconvenient for you then, that every discussion about socialism can't be steered into irrational comparisons replete with gulags, and death panels, no private ownership, and complete redistribution of property, amirite?
Or do you have some fairy tales to tell us about the gulags in Sweden? Are you going to tell me that no one owns property there? Have they suspended elections and implemented a dictatorial regime there? Are the Swedes now forced to labor as slaves for the state? No? Okay...
So, if I say that I think Sweden is doing some things right, and doing them better than we are, am I saying they're the "Greatest Nation On Earth"? No, only to an imbecile would think that. But then again, only an imbecile would refuse to look at the things they're doing better and not ask "Why aren't we doing things more like that?"
I am not sure. I have lived in Sweden, and the place is damned impressive. Clean, well-run, people are smart, informed, healthy, and good looking, the environment is clean and beautiful. Norway is just as good, and even more scenic. I would rather live there.
I think the greatness of Sweden has to do with the old Protestant work ethic (though most Swedes are now agnostic), high average intelligence, and an ability to see the big picture and create a society where public welfare and environmental conditions are considered along with economic growth.
I don't find the Swedes all that much fun though. A rather serious and introverted lot. For conversation, I much prefer the Irish, who are a lot like us. Loud, fun, and more prone to shenanigans. They are also opinionated and often loud and ignorant, just like us. And they don't have the Scandinavian gift for organization. Again, maybe Norway is intermediate, with Scandinavian order and a bit of Celtic flair.
We could learn a great deal from the Scandinavians, but I like the USA better. It is still the greatest country on Earth. But Sweden, Canada, and Norway would be close contenders.
Really? The statistics quoted in this clip are true. The US is no longer the greatest country in the world.
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