This article was
originally published by the Libertarian Republic on 08/18/15.by Alexandra
Ivanov
Presidential candidate Bernie
Sanders (D) has said that socialist policies characteristic of countries like
Sweden should be implemented in the U.S. As a Swede, I would strongly advise
against this.
The worldwide socialist movement
praises the Scandinavian countries for their high living standards and welfare.
Easy to do for someone who has never lived in Sweden or read a book on Swedish
history.
First off: The success of Sweden
predates the welfare state. In reality, the economy began to fall behind in the
1960s when the state rapidly expanded. Moreover, Sweden enjoyed the highest
growth in the industrialized world between 1870 and 1936 – between 1936 and
2008 the rate dropped down to number 13 out of 28 industrialized nations.
The Swedish-Kurdish scholar Dr. Nima
Sanandaji has written all about this in his book Scandinavian Unexceptionalism, published by the Institute of Economic Affairs. Not only
did it hurt our economy, the growth of our welfare state has also made our
social capital deteriorate.
A study by the OECD, mentioned
in Scandinavian Unexceptionalism,
calculated the share of GDP spent on disability and sickness programmes and it
showed, with the exception of the Netherlands, that the five Nordic countries
spend more than all other OECD-countries.
The grand welfare state – built on
the idea that someone else picks up the bill – has also influenced the way
people view society and morality.
The grand welfare state – built on
the idea that someone else picks up the bill – has also influenced the way
people view society and morality. The change is noted by the World Values
Survey: 82 percent of Swedes agreed in the 1981-84 survey with the statement
“claiming government benefits to which you are not entitled is never
justifiable’”. Thirty years later only 55 percent of Swedes believed that it
was never right to claim benefits to which they were not entitled (Sanandaji,
IEA, 2015).
A thriving economy, morality and a
good business climate is incompatible with socialism. Only two of the 38 most
successful privately owned Swedish companies were established after 1970. Today
Sweden slowly moves away from the old ways, but someone who makes 2,500 USD a
month will still pay 1,000 USD out of that in taxes, and on top of that 25
percent VAT.
Third-way socialism (market
socialism) might look good on paper, but when people lack ownership over the
wealth they create, productive people will either leave or do something else.
However, living in a socialist
country has other side-effects other than just hurting prosperity and growth.
By giving away the money one creates, the power to make decisions over
one’s life is also abandoned.
Imagine living in a country where it
is illegal to homeschool your child? We’re also high on other government
monopolies: you can only buy beer and wine in the state-owned stores. They are
closed Saturday 3 pm until Monday 10 am and have a worse selection than your
local Kroger. Horse racing? A state-controlled monopoly. To sum it up: Even our
pharmacies were nationalized in the 1970s, and when we deregulated the market
in 2008, only Sweden, North Korea and Cuba had a government monopoly for
pharmaceutical retailing.
“The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along
without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions.” – Karl Marx
A strong government system which
expands at the expense of personal liberty will influence human psychology. One
of the most terrible consequences of Swedish socialism is how individualism has
been replaced by state-individualism.
Relying on individual help and
support has been replaced by reliance on the state. They don’t ever just take
your money. Sweden strives to be the most equal country on earth, and the
politicians won’t let anything stand in the way. An important part is the
almost free (a Swedish word in Swedish for “someone else pays”) daycare for
children. Since it’s all distributed by the government, politicians decides the
curriculum as well as the values taught. There’s even been discussions about
making daycare mandatory.
In all Scandinavian countries we
have the Law of Jante: the idea that individual success and achievement is
unworthy and inappropriate.
What is the core of living in the
country of equals? Never believe that you are better than anyone else. In all
Scandinavian countries we have the Law of Jante: the idea that individual
success and achievement is unworthy and inappropriate.
As a young girl growing up in
Sweden, I always looked towards the United States for hope and inspiration. A
country founded on the principles of freedom and self-ownership. A country
where the people were not supposed to serve the government, but the other way
around.
When I hear Bernie Sanders speaking
about socialism, I am reminded of the words of Thomas Jefferson: “The natural
progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground”. I
advise you to protect your rights and run as far away as possible from
candidates who advocate socialism.
Bio:
Alexandra Ivanov is a Swedish opinion leader and chairwoman of The
Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Students. She has previously
worked at the Swedish think tank Timbro and the Swedish Taxpayers association.
Comments
This is a
lesson for the US as we pull back from the brink.
The US
Constitution (as written) needs to be restored and the federal government moved
to full compliance to reduce the functions of government to the original
“enumerated powers”.
Healthcare
must be returned to the free market to establish true market prices.
All
government subsidies need to be removed.
Education
K-12 must be returned to cities and counties with no funding, indoctrination or
regulations from the federal or state governments. Students should assume primary
responsibility for their own education with the support of their Parents,
Teachers and Tutors, using internet, homeschool and part-time instruction.
Campaign
finance must be restricted to exclude all but registered voters who can only
give to those candidates who appear on their ballots
We must
reassume that we are a Meritocracy and repeal the Civil Rights Act and all
federal and state subsidies to remove protective classes.
Social
Security must be converted to individual owned accounts to allow investment
growth.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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