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Input from a Swede

First of all, Swedish conservatives and leftie-scum alike have been laughing their butts off over this study. Torie mentioned that, in some ways, it was an apples and oranges study. And so it is, unfortunately. We conservatives - a truely rare breed in Sweden - would however love to use figures like these for arguments. If they had done a study of price-adjusted disposable income (after tax, insurance, etc), the figures could at least have been interesting.

Someone mentioned productivity. It is true that Americans have a higher productivity per capita, and it's also true that Swedes have a higher productivity per capita per working hour. That's not because we want to get poorer (as this study would suggest ;), but because of a chosen trade-off made possible by a good standard of living. I have to admit that in this issue I'm, too, very Swedish. As long as I can afford my cars, computers and other need-to-have-junk, I'm happily trading off extra income for free time.

Crime rates have been discussed on this thread, and some very strange figures have been floating around. Tapping official statistics (from the FBI, and BRÅ [Swedish authority responsible for collecting crime stats]) I've found these numbers for the USA and Sweden (2000):

USA - 5.5/100,000
Sweden - 1.9/100,000
Stockholm - 3/100,000 (1999 BBC article)
Washington DC - 69.3/100,000 (1999 BBC article)

USA - 323.6/100,000 (only aggravated assault)
Sweden - 663/100,000 (all assaults)

USA - 32/100,000
Sweden - 23/100,000

USA - 144.9/100,000
Sweden - 101/100,000

And yes, parents here, like in Denmark and Norway, tend to leave kids in strollers on sidewalks (as long as they can see the stroller and hear if the kid starts to cry anyway). Might be because snatching kids sleeping in the fresh air is unheard of here. As a sidenote I read about a Danish celebrety who got some problems with the NYPD when thinking things were the same no matter what side of the Atlantic you were on.

If someone wants to know about Sweden, I might just be the one to ask. Judgning by some posts on this thread, there seems to be a lot of blanks anyway.

/ a FR donating, royalist, atheist, conservative Swede.

If someone wants to know about Sweden, I might just be the one to ask. I have kind of a goofy general question for you. My father's mother was from Smaland, a small town called Ryd. She emigrated to the US in the 1890s. Part of her family remained behind and apparently their descendants are still living there -- at least there are Dahlboms still living in Ryd, and as that's an unusual surname I assume they're related to me. I've always wanted to go for a visit and meet up with my cousins. Here's my question: if an American showed up on a Swede's doorstep one fine morning claiming to be a long lost relative, what sort of reception would he get? I realize that different individuals react differently, of course, and there may not be a general rule in this situation, but I'm interested in your opinion.

>/ a FR donating, royalist, atheist, conservative Swede.

What is it about some Scandinavians that they must "share" their atheisim with strangers? It's like queers who must "share" their affliction with the world. Who cares? Do you want special handicapped status?