"For Us Democracy is a Question of Human Dignity" - Olof Palme

    Sweden has an advanced welfare society, perhaps more so than any country in history. It reflects a longstanding and widely shared understanding and national commitment among Swedes to support a humane and caring society. We grew to appreciate this during our trip. We even began to feel some of the positive vibes and security that permeate daily life for Swedes. And are often so lacking in the U.S.

·      We never throughout our travels saw a property that appeared run down

·      There was no obvious homeless population, and only a few people on the street seeking charity.

·      The weather was beautiful (Ok, that’s not a result of any social policy, but it contributed to the vibes)

·      No one seemed negative or critical of their situations, though there was some grumbling about taxes

·      No tipping of servers is needed (though of course welcome) because the Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union negotiates decent wages on an industry wide basis for these workers. This also includes fast food workers. The McDonalds worker in Sweden is in a very different situation than their U.S. counterpart.

·      Seeing lots of dads taking care of their kids, a daycare center at one Goteborg museum, and learning of the emphasis Carol’s cousin (a Christian Democrat in Parliament) puts on progressive family policy were indicators pointing to Swedish priorities and how this cuts across party lines.

Bronze relief monument featuring Social Democrat leader Hjalmar Branting located in a small part at Norra Bantorget, the traditional center for social democracy and unions in Stockholm.  Branting is addressing a group of workers on a May Day demonstration. The banners flying over them are supposed to be red.

   Yes, our experience of these things was limited in our short time (32 days) there.  And, indeed, we learned that Sweden may not be all that unique; all the Nordic countries, for example, have extensive social policies and norms, strong democratic traditions, low inequality and unions that negotiate wage rates for most workers. And we also became aware of a strong anti-immigrant sentiment, a response in part to the fact that the foreign-born Swedish population went from 9% in 1990 to around 20% today, with Sweden having welcomed, per capita, more refugees and asylum seekers than almost any other country.

Imposing LO building, also in Norra Bantorget.  Founded in 1898, LO is the largest of 3 labor federations, with 13 affiliated unions and 1.4 million members (out of a total population in Sweden of 10 million), primarily representing blue and white collar workers. 

   Sweden’s social democracy owes a lot to how its politics developed in the late 19^th-early 20^th century, and to the pragmatism that came to dominate the left. While avowedly socialist, the dominant tendency on the left rejected revolutionary politics, focusing instead on electoral democracy and reform in seeking to improve conditions for the masses in the face of a powerful capitalist opposition. This was best articulated by Hjalmar Branting. Under Branting’s leadership, the nascent Social Democratic Labor Party sought to advocate not only for the industrial proletariat, but also for the small farmers and middle-class. The power of his party grew from only four Social Democrats in Parliament in 1902, to thirteen in 1903; thirty-four in 1908; seventy-two in 1914; and 110 in 1921 (when it had become the largest vote getter). Branting served as Prime Minister three times in the 1920s.

   In the 1930s the Social Democrats popularized the “people’s home” concept, in which Sweden as a whole would be like a home in which “class differences must be banished, social care must be developed, there must be an economic levelling out, the workers must be accorded a share on economic administration, democracy must be introduced and applied to social and economic life.” It wasn’t until the 1970s, however, after the Social Dems had governed continuously for over 40 years, that a lot of this came to fruition. At this time numerous social reform measures – all financed and run by the state - were introduced or expanded especially during the era identified with radical social-democratic Prime Minister Olof Palme.