A Hollywood Republican

This blog is for an open discussion on politics. My views will be to the right as will be most of the posters. But, we are willing to post alternative viewpoints as lons as they are well thought out. I started this in response to the Obama election and will continue it as long as it feeds a need.

Oct 13, 2009

My Swedish Summer by Anonymous

Here is another column by a reader. This reader wishes to remain anonymous. I hope you like it as it shows, again, a different perspective. I will try to get another column out before the end of the week. There will be a column by Ira Schwartz tomorrow about the Nobel Peace Prize.

My Swedish Summer
Many years ago, I left Sweden answering an ad for an Au Pair in Chappaqua, New York. I’m still here. Now married with a teenage child, and U.S. citizenship. I admit I didn’t pursue American citizenship until assured that I did not have to relinquish my beloved Swedish passport. The last three decades I’ve made Los Angeles my home (the west side and beyond). I’ve managed to return to Svenljunga, my birth village, each year for six weeks on average every year. The locals fondly refer to Svenljunga as “Texas.” Don’t ask! I’m just back with tales from the homeland:

Understand, I love Sweden and always will, but the societal difference is not so subtle now since I schooled for, and passed, my citizenship test in the United States. Except for specific dates, it wasn’t very difficult. I am told that only a small percentage of U.S. high school graduates could pass it. I commend our forefathers for the U.S. Constitution. It’s an incredible document which has withstood the test of time.

While raised in Sweden I wasn’t really aware that we were socialists. I knew that we would be taken care of from cradle to grave. “Doesn’t get any better than that,” my American born husband teases. It was a wonderful place to grow up, and still is. But socialism was not something I had any selective choice over and not something I would choose after living in the United States for more than twenty years. Following are some summer stories from family and friends over a Schnapps:

The Swedish government lists certain endangered wild animals (Lynx, wolves and eagles) to be ‘protected’ and therefore government property. My brother raises, trains, and shows champion hunting dogs, and was recently at a trials competition. He sent his dog out following a Fox scent (he tracks his dog on a special GPS), and noticed his dog had stopped moving. He went to the spot and found his champion dog covered in blood with an exposed bone protruding from his leg. He took the dog to a vet, where it was determined that the dog had been attacked by a Lynx and was lucky to have survived. Here's the silly Swedish socialist part: The government sent someone to verify the wounds were from a Lynx. They were. As the government takes responsibility for the Lynx' actions, they will reimburse thousands of dollars worth of vet bills plus the dogs lost stud fees until he is recovered enough to return to breeding. My brother submitted an estimated monetary loss for future show wins. Or why my husband calls us “Marshmallow Vikings.”

Stockholm authorities have decided to allow wolves to repopulate the country at the same rate as about a century ago. Farmers, of course, are less than thrilled to have wolves roaming the country. The comparison of Stockholmers to farmers reminds me of the radio ad knocking a picante sauce for being made in “New York City!” A local farmer recently lost 27 lambs, killed by what was determined to be a lone wolf. The government reimbursed the farmer at about $2500 per lamb.

The state supplies ‘personal assistants’ for the permanently disabled. A friend knew of a disabled person allowed a multi week vacation in Spain. Sweden allowed two personal assistants (travel, room, and pay) to accompany him on his vacation so his wife could enjoy her vacation as well.

A friend was put on paid "stress relief" leave (paid by employer) for eighteen months. His wife was then hired by the government to be his caretaker for the first three months.

And now the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to President Obama by a group of five Scandinavians, not Swedes, nine months and virtually no accomplishments into his White House stay. I’m not knocking the president, rather the award for “best intentions.” My husband keeps trying to educate me on baseball – not known in Sweden – and all the statistics that are cherished by fans. I wonder if baseball will add an “Intended-to-hit-a-homer” statistic now?

As Italians and Spaniards are generally considered Catholics, Swedes are Lutherans. When I was growing up, all birth, death, and marriage records were kept by the Lutheran church. Things have changed. I’m told the government now archives these records, and taxes citizens still considering themselves a member of the Lutheran Church. Dating to the 1700’s, everybody that happened to die in Svenljunga is buried at the village church cemetery.

I’m saddened to say that Swedes are constantly voicing discontentment over how poorly the state now treats them. It seems that being taken care of from birth to death is not enough anymore. The current ‘Moderat’ government is trying to trim some services that Sweden can no longer afford. As borders have been removed with the E.U. membership, so has the reality of job and industry loss.

Jealousness seems a common disease here, with a “Don’t you think you’re better than me” attitude being pervasive. Pleasing socialists seems a never-ending job. I hope to retire in the U.S. and visit my beloved Sweden each year. I continue to hope that President Obama does not change the current government here to the point where it cannot be fixed and socialism becomes its core. Remember, Margaret Thatcher said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” And, that just might be what is happening in my homeland right now.

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