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“The most important thing to me is to open up the welfare system to more people… Those of us who are well off must stop complaining about taxes.” Can you imagine an American politician saying that, even if that was what he was thinking? Probably not, but Lars Engqvist, Sweden’s Minister for Health and Social Affairs, says it loud and proud on the Swedish Government’s website, and most Swedes probably wouldn’t want it any other way.
Sweden is a constitutional monarchy. Technically, the King (or Queen) is head of state, but his only duties are ceremonial and he has no control over public policy. Sweden has a Prime Minister and 19 other Ministers. Its parliament is called the Riksdag. In the United States, there was furious debate over government funding of the National Endowment for the Arts, but in Sweden, there is a Ministry of Culture that promotes cultural heritage, radio and television, press and periodicals, and even ecclesiastical matters.
As it did in many other countries, the labor movement became very powerful in Sweden in the late1800s. The first social democrats were elected in 1917, and after World War II, a purely Social Democratic government was introduced under the leadership of Per Albin Hanson. Other influential socialist prime ministers over the years have included Tage Erlander and Olof Palme, who was assasinated in 1986. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, industrial production fell, unemployment skyrocketed, and the national debt grew at an alarming rate. Many economists blamed a bloated welfare system that seemed out of control.
It is hard to argue that Sweden’s all-encompassing health care hasn’t benefited the average Swede in some ways: infant mortality is low (3.9 deaths per 1,000 live births) and life expectancy high (79.08 years). Paid parental leave is available to all Swedes, female and male. Yet many Swedes complain that their health care system is a bureaucratic nightmare, with long waits for doctors’ appointments and even surgeries, and little choice for patients when it comes to things like choice of doctor. Every time Swedes have voted in a nonsocialist prime minister, they seem regret it, and in only a few years revert to the socialist system that most have been raised in.
It doesn’t seem that Sweden’s politicians or people will have a change of heart any time soon. In his Statement of Government Policy, addressed to the Riksdag on September 14, 1999, Prime Minister Goran Persson vowed to spur economic growth by cutting corporate taxes, but then said, “Our policy of universal welfare is unrivaled in its ability to share the fruits of prosperity.” He stated emphatically that, “Swedish hospitals should not be run for private gain,” and proposed that every mentally disabled person in Sweden should be provided with a personal representative. “The right to retain a personal assistant upon reaching the age of 65 will also be introduced,” Persson vowed. Not a possible benefit, a right.
As Sweden’s government keeps growing, and Sweden’s citizens continue to expect it to do more and more, the rest of the world will be watching to see if it means a Utopia or an economic disaster.
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