Sweden and Swedes - Printable Version
+- InsaneTrain Forums (https://insanetrain.com)
+-- Forum: General (https://insanetrain.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: General Forum (https://insanetrain.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=8)
+--- Thread: Sweden and Swedes (/showthread.php?tid=12531)
+- InsaneTrain Forums (https://insanetrain.com)
+-- Forum: General (https://insanetrain.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: General Forum (https://insanetrain.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=8)
+--- Thread: Sweden and Swedes (/showthread.php?tid=12531)
Sweden and Swedes - insanetrainchic - 10-19-2004
Brief Facts about Sweden
- Official name: The Kingdom of Sweden
- Political system: Parliamentary democracy
- Area: 450,000 km2 (174,000 sq. miles; similar to Spain or California)
- Population: 9 million (just over 10% aged 16-24)
- Capital: Stockholm
- Language: Swedish
- Religion: 82% belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden
- Average life expectancy: women 82 years, men 77 years
- Currency: 1 krona=100 öre
The following is for anyone who wants to find out what the typical Swede is like, or what life is like in Sweden.
The notion that Swedes are shy, taciturn, stiff, cold, boring and reserved people, who don't know how to have fun is a common one. But, to paint Swedes as cold is absolutely unfair they are very warm, but it takes time to get to know them."
Ask someone from the US, for instance, what they know about Sweden, Volvo and Ikea would certainly rate a mention, alongside the pop group Abba; Bjorn Borg, the 1970s tennis star; Sven-Goran Eriksson, the England football manager; and Ulrika Jonsson, a TV personality. Press them further, and they will say in Sweden the sun never shines, the girls are beautiful, the suicide rate high and pornography and promiscuity widespread. However, there is little real evidence that suicide rates are higher in Sweden than elsewhere. And it's certainly not clear that young Swedes are any more promiscuous than young people elsewhere. Anglo-Saxon culture sometimes confuses nakedness with sex: Swedes are simply less prudish.
Swedish social behaviour often operates according to the so-called Jante Law (derived from a fictitious Danish town called Jante, which had its own set of laws acting as a moral code. One was: "Thou shalt not believe thou art something."). "You shouldn't appear to be or pretend to be better than you are. On the contrary, you should minimise your qualities.
That's why there are so few Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, etc.. to be found in Sweden - they are too conspicuous a sign of success - and why even the country's richest people don't show a flamboyant lifestyles. To be average is to be safe.
Underpinning the Jante Law is Sweden's strong egalitarian culture. It's the most egalitarian society in the world, with the possible exception of Norway, high tax rates and a strong welfare state are at the centre of a vast redistributive scheme orchestrated by successive Social Democratic governments since the 1930s. It's a world away from, say, Singapore, which has low taxes and limited welfare.
Redistribution traditionally meant no big differences in Swedish after-tax incomes. That is slowly changing, thanks to the influence of Anglo-Saxon business and pay practices. This in turn has brought envy and resentment. In fact, in Sweden you are far more likely to come across a money scandal than a sex scandal.
Swedes try to avoid conflict in their dealings with others. Blazing rows are rare. The rational takes precedence over the emotional. The word "lagom", which means "not too much, just enough", is often used to describe Swedish moderation. Everyday life is based around consensus and compromise. Foreign businesspeople say the result is often slow decision-making and it frustrates them.
It is easy to forget there are just 9 million Swedes. Yet its list of universally recognised multinationals, including Volvo, Ericsson, Ikea, Tetra Pak, Electrolux and Hennes & Mauritz, is one that would stir the pride of a nation with a population many times that. Swedes are 10 years ahead in some respects and 10 years behind in others They may be progressive in sexual matters, but are very conservative when it comes to alcohol and drugs (alcohol abuse was widespread in the 19th century). Alcohol is still only sold through state-run outlets; pharmacies are also part of a state monopoly. Many people who live in the big cities did not grow up there - and they still have relatives or country cottages in the middle of nowhere.
Swedish pleasures are the same as they have been for centuries: walking in
the forest, sailing their boats, hunting. It's a very conservative country. Once outside Stockholm, it feels like you are stepping back in time...
SANDWICH IN SWEDEN
An American soldier was on duty in Sweden. He took a Swedish gal out to the movies. They settled in, started some light petting, and the American says, "Now in America we call this hamburger."
The gal says, "Yah, yah vee call dis hamburger in Svedin, too."
The movie continues and they go a little further.
The American says, "Now in America, we call this pastrami."
The gal says, "Yah, yah vee call dis pastrami in Svedin too."
They decide to leave the movie and go park. They get in the back seat and really go at it.
Afterwards, the American says, "Now in America we call this a sandwich."
The gal says, "Yah yah, vee call dis a sandvich in Svedin too. Only we put a little more meat in it." :llma:
Sweden and Swedes - 7 - 10-19-2004
Pepsi's replacement. Great.
Sweden and Swedes - Beaucephus - 10-19-2004
LMAO :>