Paradise Lost: Sweden, Europe Struggle for Economic Survival

CBN News ^ | 12/6/04 | Dale Hurd

[Clemenza]

I've become convinced that 95% of the good Europeans emigrated here, leaving mostly slackers behind.

[Grampa Dave]

If the Austrians, Italians, Swedes and even the PIA Belgiums can get it right re their behavior towards business and capitalism. That will put big pressure on the rest of Europe to get it right.

[mondonico]

Agreed. I neglected to mention that I liked your post.

[B4Ranch]

I have pretty decent hopes that we won't see the President signing it.

[mondonico]

"I have pretty decent hopes that we won't see the President signing it."

One of the annoying things about the Kyoto treaty kerfuffle is that anti-US idiots in Canada and elsewhere cite Bush's unsigning of it as a reason to hate Bush. IIRC, a supermajority of senators had already voted for a resolution stating that they wouldn't ratify it in its current, deeply flawed, anti-US form. Same for the International Criminal "Court" treaty. Bush gets the blame for doing what not only is right but what is supported by large, bipartisan majorities in the Senate.

/rant.

[Penner]

“Homelessness, wide income distribution, and things like that many Swedes are afraid of."

[x]

It was a village society where people stuck together because of the long winters. Going one's own way was frowned upon as likely to lead to disaster. Socialism built on that fear. Now socialist ideology has begun to recede, but the village mentality remains. If that's an accurate analysis, it means the terms of the debate have changed, that it's not so much socialist envy or power-lust, but simple, understandable human fear of uncertainty and the uncontrollable forces of nature that's behind Swedish behavior.

Roland Huntford's The New Totalitarians written in the 1970s when socialist coercive utopianism was at high tide, is a classic critical study of Swedish socialist ideology. But today it looks like the "Swedish model" is on the defensive, and Swedes more concerned with navigating between undesirable options, and the old arrogance and cockiness is gone.

[Antoninus]

Gersemanna says these days, German politicians refer to "the American way" with a sneer. But compared to Europe, the American way looks pretty good.

I agree. One of the reason so many of our fore-fathers came to this country is because the Eurepean way stinks. They can keep it!

[good_fight]

Silicon Valley veterans might remember this little maxim from the old days, used to explain the difference between the two materials.

Silicone is seductive, silicon is conductive.

[mgist]

You can find examples of it in the films of Frank Capra, the illustrations of Norman Rockwell, among many others.

Those are great examples of a particular culture that was imported here from a once great Western Civilization. I hate to inform you that that those great influences have long since been erroded by liberal American hippies who chose to rebel against those values. An entire generation has lost that precious value system and many immigrants still embrace them more than you and I. Don't feel sorry for me, I have a great respect for the value system of which you speak. I simply recognize that my parents generation lost that spirit and it is not the fault of immigrants.

[Netizen]

What is sad is that this is a prime example of failure, yet there are people that want this crap in the US. As if our economy hasn't tanked enough already.

[Luddite Patent Counsel]

Sorry, not buying it. You can see more recent examples in films from John Hughes and Chris Columbus, among others. I know plenty of Gen X'ers, and they are much more attuned to, and enamored of, traditional American culture than their parents are or were. In Canada, they speak of their diversity-based "mosaic". This differs greatly from our "melting pot" model, in that each piece of a mosaic remains distinct and untouched by adjacent pieces. Their failure is self-evident. The fight for OUR very real culture, however, is far from over.

[Oatka]

"The Soviet Union decided to show it to their people, with the intention of convincing them how bad things were in the land of the capitalist enemy."

Early in the Cold War, the Communists showed the Poles a movie titled "Everyday Life in America". It was actually "The Grapes of Wrath".

After the show they asked the Poles what they now thought of America. One guy said, "Well, despite everything, they still ended up with a car. That's more than I have." Everybody else agreed. The Communists quit showing the movie.

[Lee'sGhost]

"I don't understand it."

It's simple, really. It's the same thing with some people. Some people try to "elevate" themselves by putting others down, rather than by improving themselves. For your Italian friend to admit that he is wrong would be admitting that we (or our system) are better, and conversely, they are not as good.

Which relates to our current status of foreign relations throughout the world. We will NEVER have good relations with some countries as long as we are considered the most powerful nation. And if we fall from such status our relations will improve to the extent that the will smile when they spit on us rather than spit behind our backs.

[cherry]

....when the economy is down, and when people don't have much time for leisure and pleasure activities, the society will return to much more Conservative morals...

that's when its most important to have stable marriages and therefore, stable families...

when most people are forced to work extra hard and long hours just to survive, its very important to stay married if for nothing else, FINANCIAL reasons...

so, maybe this economic disaster will be a boon to religious and family values in Sweden....

maybe Sweden will become known as the family friendly country...instead of the country where anything goes...

[B4Ranch]

Did you ask you neighbor which brand and model car to buy? No? You should here the rumors gong around your neighborhood about you!

[doc11355]

A truckload of breast implants isn't going to help you make any computers.

It sure seemed to help some members of the Swedish Team in post #9!