Sweden isn't Socialist

[Vern Humphrey]

https://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2019/01/01/sweden-isnt-socialist-n2538301?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=01/01/2019&bcid=1f21fff0a9ed5690038e825f81af0566&recip=21119542

For years, I've heard American leftists say Sweden is proof that socialism works, that it doesn't have to turn out as badly as the Soviet Union or Cuba or Venezuela did.
But that's not what Swedish historian Johan Norberg says in a new documentary and Stossel TV video.

"Sweden is not socialist -- because the government doesn't own the means of production. To see that, you have to go to Venezuela or Cuba or North Korea," says Norberg.
"We did have a period in the 1970s and 1980s when we had something that resembled socialism: a big government that taxed and spent heavily. And that's the period in Swedish history when our economy was going south."

Per capita GDP fell. Sweden's growth fell behind other countries. Inflation increased.

Even socialistic Swedes complained about the high taxes.

Astrid Lindgren, author of the popular Pippi Longstocking children's books, discovered that she was losing money by being popular. She had to pay a tax of 102 percent on any new book she sold.

"She wrote this angry essay about a witch who was mean and vicious -- but not as vicious as the Swedish tax authorities," says Norberg.
Yet even those high taxes did not bring in enough money to fund Sweden's big welfare state.

"People couldn't get the pension that they thought they depended on for the future," recounts Norberg. "At that point the Swedish population just said, enough, we can't do this."
Sweden then reduced government's role.

They cut public spending, privatized the national rail network, abolished certain government monopolies, eliminated inheritance taxes and sold state-owned businesses like the maker of Absolut vodka.

[S.A. Boggs]

"Our National Socialists" will have something negative to say about Vern's posting, how will "they" turn this to the NSDWP way of thinking?
36643301_948726448663629_1301498867350503424_n.jpg
Sam

[dogtag]

Sweden isn't socialist and Elephants aren't heavy.
Two indisputable truths.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and Hitler designed cars - or a car anyway.

[RED]

Unfortunately the MSN and the owners of the social media Now have redefined much of our language. Google "Socialist Countries," for example, and you come up with places like Canada, Denmark Sweden, Norway, Ireland, etc. No mention of Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, or No. Korea.

FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) are owned by multi-multi billionaires and have so much money they can spend $250 - $400 millions (2% of the total) on a whim. They orchestrate their socialist ambitions to further their political ambitions... get rid of Trump, destroy America so they can rebuild it into their utopian Socialist dream. It doesn't matter that people with equal to or better intelligence have been seeking utopia for thousands of years and have yet to achieve their goal. They can each sell a $100 million in stocks to drive down the Dow and then buy their stock back... a huge loss followed by a sharp recovery. Does that ring any bells?

[RED]

Sweden isn't socialist and Elephants aren't heavy.
Two indisputable truths.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and Hitler designed cars - or a car anyway.

Please explain. In a Socialist country, "corporations," are owned by the government. In Sweden corporations are heavily regulated and heavily taxed but are owned by public stockholders... not the government. There are 2 kinds of companies in Sweden: 1. Public Limited Companies that have stock holders, and 2. Private Limited Companies that have civilian ownership. Neither case meets the definition of "Governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods."

[Vern Humphrey]

Sweden isn't socialist and Elephants aren't heavy.
Two indisputable truths.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and Hitler designed cars - or a car anyway.

The point of the article is that Sweden turned away from Socialism -- not as far as they should have, but enough to improve their economy. The Regressive mantra is "Sweden is Socialist and they're prosperous." No, they aren't -- and the less socialism they have the more prosperity they have.

[togor]

The point of the article is that Sweden turned away from Socialism -- not as far as they should have, but enough to improve their economy. The Regressive mantra is "Sweden is Socialist and they're prosperous." No, they aren't -- and the less socialism they have the more prosperity they have.

https://sweden.se/society/10-things-that-make-sweden-family-friendly/

Sweden, like other Nordic cultures, has an egalitarian streak to it, a native tendency to limit the spread between the richest and poorest in society in the interest of social cohesion, and they don't have a problem doing it through the offices of government. In other words, they care about the distribution of wealth, not just the per capital numbers. The US by contrast has seen per capita wealth go up in the last few decades, but with the increases disproportionately flowing to the top. This effect is believed by some to have contributed to the rise of Trump, with his messaging that the game is rigged.

[blackhawknj]

"Socialists" explain away the failures of socialism by saying:
1. They didn't do it right.
2. It was the fault of wreckers, hostile foreign powers, etc.
Yes, you could argue that Sweden wasn't "Socialist" because when the people decided it was "Time for a Change" the people got rid of the government and replaced it with a new one.
In a Socialist country the government gets rid of the people and replaces them with a new one.

[barretcreek]

All these 'successful' social welfare states, whether Sweden, Japan or Saudi, have one thing in common. They are monocultures, not multi cultural. My mother had a friend from Sweden, who had married an American. She explained that when she saw a Swede standing in line at a social benefits office, her thought was they resembled cousin/friend/neighbor/co-worker Sven or Berit. But she didn't see that here. And not anymore in Sweden. And that's where Utopia fades away, in 'diversity'.

[dogtag]

Please explain. In a Socialist country, "corporations," are owned by the government. In Sweden corporations are heavily regulated and heavily taxed but are owned by public stockholders... not the government. There are 2 kinds of companies in Sweden: 1. Public Limited Companies that have stock holders, and 2. Private Limited Companies that have civilian ownership. Neither case meets the definition of "Governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods."

Did you miss the "Elephants aren't heavy" bit ?
Sarcasm ? mmm?

[Jiminvirginia]

Sweden is not a socialist country. Neither is Norway, Iceland, et al. They do not meet the definition. What they do seem to accomplish is taking care of their citizens via incredibly high taxes. They also have income equality to a greater degree than a capitalist country. I suspect at some point we will see something similiar in the US. People are getting tired of huge amounts of money being retained by a select few.

[RED]

Did you miss the "Elephants aren't heavy" bit ?
Sarcasm ? mmm?

I guess so... I really do fook up now and then and that's one for you.

[dogtag]

I guess so... I really do fook up now and then and that's one for you.

You owe me a beer.

[lyman]

sweden,,,,,

this little ditty pops in my head everytime I hear the word

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6XyOVRHGFk

Let me tell you about Sweden
Only country
Where the clouds are interesting.
Big Brother says it's the place to go. Too much time to think
Too little to do!
Cos it's all quiet on the eastern front!

Fluctuations at a minimum
Hypochondriac tombstone
Sense of humour's gone astray somewhere.
Too much time to think
Too little to do!
Cos it's all quiet on the eastern front!

Cumulo-nimbus floats by
Fluctuations at a minimum
Hypochondriac tombstone
Big Brother says it's the place to go
It's all quiet on the eastern front
It's all quiet!

kinda like every time I hear Montana I think Dental Floss,,

[togor]

This is the song that comes to my head. I think WCCO did it, can't say when.

https://youtu.be/OEtOETXkj1k

The Hut Sut song!