Found this interesting blog post: http://archive.paoracle.com/SocialismWORKS!/index.php?sw=Sweden

After reading it, I would say that if one wants to support one’s political assertions with "research", it always serves you better to go directly to the source. If you want to make an accurate assessment of Sweden and Swedish style socialism, why not visit Sweden, or at least talk to some Swedes? Using as your only source a right-wing American blog, written by a 25-year-old fitness blogger from Pittsburgh, is disingenuous at best. The blogger is quoting P.J. O'Rourke, a satirist and member of libertarian think tank The Cato Institute. Not exactly a guy known for his lack of political bias.

Let´s set aside that many of the claims in the blog post are just flat-out fiction, or desperately skewed. The more important thing is, the blog post gets the main point wrong from the beginning: I don't think anyone has ever suggested that Sweden has a higher standard of living than the US. It is perfectly true that Americans have more material wealth: bigger houses, more and bigger cars, bigger TVs, more guns, etc.

What is usually compared in Sweden's favor is quality of life: work-life balance, safety, happiness, lower mortality and poverty rates, higher gender and income equality, better social security, better social mobility, etc. Sweden pretty much consistently scores higher than the US on those measurements, and the Swedish economic system is the enabler of this, but the blog post makes no concessions to that effect. Yes, the US has more material wealth, and yes Americans pay less taxes, but what has that brought you exactly?

• Happiness? No. The US ranks 15th in the world, despite all its wealth (Sweden is 8th).

• Liberty? No. Your government is infringing on your civil liberties every day, and your incarceration rate is staggering (#2 in the world, compared to Sweden at #190).

• Health? No. Americans continue to be some of the most unhealthy people in the world, with 35% of adults being obese, compared to 12% in Sweden.

• Safety? Definitely not; you´ve experienced 31% of all the world´s mass shootings, and your foreign policy has made you a target for terrorists.

• Equality? No, the US is a very unegalitarian society – both in terms of gender (the US is 28th, Sweden is 4th), race (blacks are sent to prison for drug offenses at ten times the rate of whites), sexuality (13 states still ban same-sex marriage; it has been legal in Sweden since 1995) and wealth (the US is the 75th most equal, Sweden is 5th).

In looking at taxes specifically, the blog is highlighting only the Swedish tax rate itself, not what you actually get for your tax money, which is sort of the purpose of taxes to begin with. US citizens certainly pay lower taxes (27% of GDP vs. 46%), but in return suffer from:

• A crumbling infrastructure.

• Almost non-existent public transportation.

• Severely inefficient and outdated bureaucracy.

• Very poor regulation and inspection of countless industries whose transgressions continue to pose a grave threat to the population.

• A deeply flawed childcare system, where new mothers are forced to go back to work before their child has even started sleeping through the night, and therefore often have to give up their careers and stay home (unless they can afford the exorbitant costs of daycare).

• A dysfunctional lower-ed system (where quality is dependent on where you live and how much you earn).

• A dysfunctional higher-ed system (where students are forced to borrow money at market rates, many colleges are for-profit, and tuition fees are so high that students go bankrupt).

• A deeply unfair healthcare system (where quality and access depends on your income).

• A failing social security system (which is becoming insolvent because it's been raided to cover local budget deficits, and also to fund warfare).

• A mind-bogglingly wasteful defense that goes to war without due cause, and spends crazy amounts of money on weapon systems that don't work and are unwanted even by its own military.

• A questionably financed and costly political and election system, where corporations and lobbyists are freely buying politicians who in turn are sponsoring think-tank-produced legislation, and spend the majority of their time raising funds to stay in office.

These are all things that Swedish taxpayers avoid, or at least mitigate, simply by paying higher taxes, and/or by spending tax revenue differently. So, the question isn't really if socialism works (it does, and it doesn’t).

The question is how you can claim that capitalism does.

A more accurate, much less biased comparison is the OECD's "Better Life Index", which compares economies across a series of metrics:

• Housing (Sweden: 6.3 vs USA: 8.1)

• Income (5.0 vs.10.0)

• Jobs (7.6 vs. 8.1)

• Community (8.3 vs. 7.4)

• Education (7.9 vs. 7.0)

• Environment (9.6 vs. 7.3)

• Civic Engagement (8.8 vs. 5.4)

• Health (8.7 vs. 8.1)

• Life Satisfaction (9.0 vs. 8.7)

• Safety (8.3 vs. 8.9)

• Work-Life Balance (8.1 vs. 5.3)

Total

• • Sweden: 87.6

  • USA: 84.3

These statistics, while not always in Sweden’s favor, hardly support the assertion that Swedish socialism doesn´t work.

It serves no purpose to look at measurements of wealth alone: the wealth has to give you something, or it’s just a number.

The American political system is not one that favors nuances.

It is not a pluralistic system of ideas that adjusts and zig-zags forward by compromise and negotiation. Rather, it is a linear, dualistic tug-of-war where you gain ground by obstructing the other side and refusing to yield, because decisions don't move in three, or even in two dimensions. They move along a single axis, left to right, and if only one side is willing to compromise, it results in an ideological shift towards the side of those who are pulling the hardest, and yielding the least ground.

Such has been the case in America since Reagan's presidency, when conservatives lauded Tip O'Neill for his willingness to comply with their agenda (even if some believe O’Neill did so for strategic reasons). Since then, as if swayed by the flattery, Liberals have been smug and content in believing themselves to occupy the higher moral ground, trying to work with the opposition, and patting themselves on the back after each "successful" compromise.

Meanwhile, conservatives have gotten increasingly defiant and rigid, and as a result, they have shifted the entire political landscape under our feet, further and further to the right, eliminating conservative centrists as they went along, and incorporating more and more fringe right wing ideas. Liberals, meanwhile, have continued to yield under Obama, thinking they were doing "the right thing", and (possibly) thinking the old O’Neill strategy would work, despite all evidence to the contrary. As a result, Democratic centrists are now, in effect, what used to be moderate Republicans. The entire middle ground has shifted to the right.

Now, post-election, conciliatory modern day Neville Chamberlains are suggesting we should continue to yield, continue to turn the other cheek, and try to seek the middle ground in the pursuit of compromises that they think will somehow magically move us forward, when forward doesn't exist as an option. We move left, or we move right, and every compromise, every sign of compliance and weakness, is ruthlessly and systematically exploited by hardline conservatives, dragging us all further and further into the right wing wasteland of increased callousness and stripped-down humanity.

Meanwhile, the targeted (Russian backed), increasingly authoritarian conservative propaganda machinery continues to obfuscate the truth and slander what few adults remain in the room with lies, misinformation and innuendo, to the point where voters can't even tell the serious, thoughtful, responsible, policy-driven candidate apart from the consummate con man and reality TV narcissist. So, the conservative victory is two-fold: pulling the political tug-of-war further to the right, while deceiving the public to believe it's in their best interests, and that to return to what used to be a more balanced distribution of political power is somehow tantamount to catastrophic defeat.

At this point, we must draw a line in the sand and say: this is it, enough is enough. Germany invaded the Sudetenland, and Europe compromised. Then, Germany moved on Austria, and again Europe compromised. Finally, Germany invaded Poland, and at that point, it became clear to the rest of Europe that they were being played; that their willingness to compromise was being taken advantage of. And it was equally clear that compromise was NOT in everyone’s best interests.

We must not let ourselves be exploited any longer. Those who would step on you, and force you to comply with that which goes against your moral and/or political beliefs, will never thank you for being a doormat. We must recognize that this tug-of-war only goes sideways, and make it clear to the opposition that the time for one-sided ”negotiation” is over. We cannot become complicit in the dismantling of our country. They've moved us as far to the right as our society can sustain.

NO FURTHER.

Conservative voters have swallowed a conspiracy theory that liberal media has somehow colluded to keep the truth about Donald Trump from the people, even though most of the media coverage of Trump´s victorious campaign consisted of clips of Trump himself saying some pretty damning things, in his very own words.

But let´s say for the sake of argument that there exists a wide-spread, far-reaching US conspiracy to edit, distort, forge and lie about just this one specific presidential candidate. We fortunately don´t have to rely on the domestic media to hear what people in general think of Donald Trump. The crowd-sourced open Q&A platform Quora.com, whose mission is “to share and grow the world’s knowledge”, asked individual participants and observers across the world to report in how Donald Trump´s candidacy was viewed in their home countries, both by people in general, and by media.

This is a fairly representative selection of answers, which are preserved exactly as they were written, warts and all:

Denmark: "We laughed and shook our head at ‘those silly Americans’ " "There are a few supporters even here, but if you mention that you support him, you instantly gets brandished as, well, an ignorant idiot. Trump supporters are the butt of any political joke"

Australia: "I doubt that you would find another Aussie in support of this seemingly delusional person" "I have never, ever heard an Australian politician standing at that level say something so openly negative about the leader of an allied nation."

Canada: "We’re concerned for our poor neighbours to the south, while simultaneously amazed at this unbelievable spectacle". "‘I guess they don't know better. That's scary. (...) Maybe we should consider plans for a wall on the Canada-US border - gotta keep out the fleeing Americans if this nut gets elected." "Donald not only has no experience but displays a disregard for most of humanity. This could easily be the turning point that instead of Making America Great Again (it already is great by the way), will mark a massive decline in America’s respect worldwide." "Trump is a danger to the safety of all Americans and the stability of the rest of the world."

United Kingdom: "Donald Trump is universally viewed as an offensive fool who is totally out of his depth and not fit to be President of the USA. This is believed regardless of where you fit on the political spectrum." "Trump is seen as the great American intelligence test. The Republican party has failed the test; will the voters pass?" "Think of any negative American stereotype or joke, and the likelihood is, Trump personifies it." "This man seems to be feeding off people’s fears and doesn't seem to give a damn about what he's saying. He's being openly racist and insulting towards everyone and seems to be getting away with it."

Slovakia: "Multicultural supporters (...) fight against rising nationalism in our country. They’re often more educated (...), liberal and better at critical thinking. They’re afraid of Trump and see them as the next Hitler. Nationalists (at least the most radical) are islamophobic and homophobic Russophiles. So they support Trump."

Spain: "The traditional republican message has been wiped off the map. The magnate lacks electoral progam. There’s only fury. Or, rather, hate." "(...) no matter if you are a left or right winged, we disapprove how he behaves. He behaves like a despot, is disrespectful and naff."

Italy: "53% in favor of Clinton and 13% in favor of Trump." "His race to the White House looks like a funny one when you see it from the outside, and Italian people would finally have the chance to get a revenge for the typical question we’ve been asked for years “Why Berlusconi?”

China: "The vast majority of educated Chinese, among whom many are studying or have already settled down in the US, are inclinded to support Donald Trump in his bid for white house."

Iran: "In the political arena in Tehran, both hardliners and moderates support Trump. (...) Now for the Iranian people, they see Trump as a crazy person, as the rest of the world does." "He's the American version of our previous president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who had no brains.

Donal Trump thinks that politics is a television show. He talks only. Non of what he says is possible. He spreads hatred among the people especially against the minorities."

Mexico: "WTF America. Are you trying to be the next Nazi Germany? Get your shit together and get a hold of your politicians!"

South Africa: "We often find ourselves becoming amused, disgusted and annoyed whenever we hear of him."

Ireland: "If the Brits could vote for Brexit, maybe the Americans could vote for Trump. Real fear starts to take hold."

India: "It would scream to the rest of the world that (...) the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave is now the Temple of the Enslaved and the House of the Scared." "The vast majority of Indians are not following the American elections. It is mostly the well-to-do urban classes who are. And Trump has surprisingly little support among them." "We hope Trump loses very, very badly." "Trump running for PoTUS, shattered my belief that electorates of western democracies are more mature and immune to this bribing / bullying. Now it seems impossible to regain this belief as Trump has emerged into a serious contender even if he doesn't win. If he does win - well, I don’t want to even talk about it."

New Zealand: "(...) when the pack is being led by the Trumpster, the rational folk who also live on this planet are unsure whether to laugh, cry, despair or invest in fallout shelters."

Romania: "I hope that in 4 months the American people will see what all the world sees: Trump is a 10 year old boy trapped in a 70 year old man body. He is not fit to rule a fish tank, never mind the most powerful country on the planet."

Ghana: "I'm yet to come across a single Ghanaian who doesn't think of Donald Trump as an incandescently STUPID individual. I'm not trying to be humorous here; I'm dead serious. We Ghanaians love freedom and justice (the words are emblazoned on our coat of arms). Trump seems to spew the very antithesis: bigotry. Listening to him is enough to drive us insane."

Lebanon: "Trump is not a popular person in Lebanon. He is only a clown, a crazy man, an idiot, and whatever pejorative adjectives one can apply."

Sweden: "From the majority in Sweden we sure hope that Trump won’t win this election. Just imagine him nominating Chris Christie as the Secretary of State. Putin will laugh his way to the Baltic states."

Pakistan: "2016 elctions of USA are not just for next President but also it will also check the common sense of American citizens."

France: "Donald Trump looks increasingly to Jean-Marie Le Pen, the french far right leader. The attitude of the two men is characterized by provocative, offensive language and a refusal to observe political correctness. Both are showmen who pay more attention to the audience’s emotions than to rational argument and debate."

Kenya: "We realise it's none of our business, so we sip tea like Kermit and ask amongst ourselves, 'wassup with the Americans? How did they get here in the first place?' "

Nigeria: "While Hilary Clinton is an old wine which cannot be put into America’s new wine skin, Donald Trump on the other hand happens to be a new wine which Americans cannot put a lid on. If Americans have the chance to vote to prevent both Hilary and Trump from running for presidency, they will not hesitate to do so."

Russia: "Yes, he’s lying, but he’s open about it. Yes, he has some extreme opinions, but he is open about them as well! He may be not a great candidate, but he’s understandable."

Malaysia: "Trump? A mad man who is not at all dumb (like what some people think), but an ambitious man who (although probably does not have the capacity to govern a nation) is capable of stirring hatred and using the media’s attention to his aggressive speech as a free self-advertising/ promotion platform for his campaign."

The Netherlands: "In my country, the average American-image has been pretty bad for a while now; a lot of us have been stereotyping Americans as hamburger-eating, gun-crazy, racist, arrogant, teeth-missing hillbillies who don’t even know what the capital of Europe is. The fact that so many Americans would vote for The Donald does nothing but confirm this stereotype."

Vietnam: "A lot of us think that the US is crazy. Some of us are sitting here with a smug and amusingly watch the comedy show that you guys call a president election, joking about American redneck stereotypes we see on movies. Some of us, including me, are baffled by the racism and hatred and bigotry that we thought the US had left behind. We are baffled that Americans, the people we’ve always looked up to for having chosen Obama, our favorite president, are now putting this guy up for the world to see. "

Scotland: "If he wins, I will seriously start to worry about pretty much everything globally, it would be like giving the school bully a shotgun and licence to use it with impunity - people are going to get hurt."

Singapore: "In summary, Trump is disliked (and Hillary is preferred) in Singapore primarily because he seems to represent chaos, cheap right-wing populism, his anti free trade stance and whimsical policy stances."

Chile: "Personally I’m more worried about Mike Pence who will be the real president. Also is sad but if Trump is elected will mean than his racist and egocentric views represent a vast majority of USA citizens."

Germany: "98% of the population hate him. Pretty much everone in Germany is disgusted that such a racist, sexist and simply stupid man like Donald Trump has a realistic chance to become president."

Nepal: "(...) there are certain values and spirit that every citizen of The USA hold in their heart and they live with that spirit and values. For me, I don’t think Donald Trump holds any of that values and spirit; and He is a danger to the world, especially to The USA itself."

Norway: "What the…Donald…Trump??? They can’t possibly be serious… Oh my gosh, he’s now officially the republican candidate. America, what the hell?"

Tanzania: "(...) generally, I took everything about America so highly. I never thought I could EVER compare Americans with other nationalities. That view changed when I listened to Trumps speeches and arguments. It changed when I realized some Americans are actually supporting him."

Egypt: "It [also] helps a lot of people in the anti-U.S camp, those against the Iraq war, those who have negative views of the U.S because of decreased/blocked military aid, or outright Islamic extremists like the Muslim Brotherhood. I suspect that Trump has been an excellent motivator in those circles."

Bulgaria: "America seemed to be immune against this shit until now. It doesn’t matter if Trump wins or not, the mere fact that the republicans elected a clown means that we are all in big trouble. Clowns aren’t going anywhere, even if you elect Hillary - you can have two Trumps competing next time, if you don’t already have that."

Tunisia: "You little piece of….who do you think you are. You know what you will be doing un s great favor that way all of our scientists and experts will finally come home! Thanks Trump for helping us fight brain drain !"

Japan: "No-one in Japan wants this outcome. So, no-one wants Trump. Japan, along with East Asia in general, traditionally prefers hawkish Republican presidents over Democratic ones. Not this year."

Colombia: "(...) an ex-president called the current president “the Colombian Donald Trump, the candidate of fear” that offended a lot the current president."

Indonesia: "A world with donald trump as POTUS may be more chaotic however exciting the prospect is."

Bangladesh: "Some people are actually happy about trump. Partially because (For people who really, really hate US), it might finally reveal the true face of Americans. And for people who are optimistic about US, if it took a Bush presidency for America to come back to senses (Obama); a Trump presidency might be followed by another sane/pragmatic president with a rather co-operative congress."

Switzerland: "(...) shocked how it can even develop so far that such a person can become a candidate who has a realistic chance to be elected president. We know how dangerous it is if someone promises to underprivileged, even humiliated people to make them feel great again without having the abilities to do that. Even worse, while asking for selection and social exclusion, humiliating others, misusing them as scapegoats. Making social degradation a means of politic speech."

Israel: "The press here hates Trump with a fiery passion."

Thailand: "Trump is a clear and present danger to the nation”