European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 22, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Sweden a boring1 society of equals by Mort Rosenblum associated Pressa recent West German immigrant exhausted Iram studying swedish at slalom expense begged More from welfare authorities. They sent him or a week s rest on the Spanish Riviera. This comfortable nation of Volvo Drivers has devised tie world s most exhaustive and imaginative welfare system combining energetic tree Enterprise Wilh socialist ideals. They Don t just hire the handicapped in Sweden in addition me stale buys them up to s1bo.ooo a year in cab Lares maids housing and special care. Almost anyone con Imd a Job and by working the angles slay Home with pay most of the year. Maler Nily leave shared by both patents is soon to be doubled from nine months to 13. Wilh subsidized Day care and government child support swedish mothers can pursue careers pensions go up to 90 percent of their Best average wage aver 15 years. A doctor s Visil is $8, Lor a Hangnail or brain surgery. School is free up 10 a pm o. Theis arc no slums and Stockholm s Lluc bag ladies Are local figures. Swedes spend savings on ear phones which they invented and holidays. In a nation of 6 5 million people there Are 500.000 pleasure boats cruising in Crystal Waters under blood Rod sunsets. And Many people grumble constantly about in All. I be got to admit we have it pretty Good compared to everyone else says Frank Murray a world travelling swedish . But the system Slinks. I is an elephant with Clay one catch is lanes people Are Rico to Chase the almighty Kroner so Long As they Don t keep it. A Stockholm couple earning $90,000 a year could pay As much As s70.000 to the slate counting income lax and ind Secl laces factory workers pay Boboul Hall of Inci income in various taxes. Employers Shell out an extra 40 percent on top of wages for social charges. Even Alimony is paid via the stale so nobody cheats. Worse crities say is the system s effect on people. It brings Learned says Virgilla Swedenborg a leading economist who warns of hidden monetary and spiritual costs. It is dehumanizing " steelmaker Lars col Pehrsson detailed How the society resolved life s Lille worries employment housing education health care retirement. Then to grimaced Aren t we Boring creativity is nol an honorable word for the he says. They make a Foli Gion out of preserving the system Quality Al All costs. We need people who can go a i talc the system is vastly Complex bul ils principle is simple everyone gels the same Deal Rich or poor. That Way no stigma is attached Quality is maintained people share a Community spirit even those who vote Tor Roe ruling social democratic party often spurn the Label of socialist and hate it when uninformed foreigners Call them communists. Industry is 90 percent privately owned and swedes thrive in Small business. As a Lotimer finance minister put in the slate does not want to own the cow just the milk. Corporate taxes Are flexible allowing industries to expand. Invest in new equipment and Oiler Ringe benefits to Spur along successful executives. Bul two thirds of All expenditures in Sweden Are by the slalom. Mostly Lor benefits and attendant bureaucracy. In most categories. The per capita level is More than double thai of the United Stales. Proponents Call in a safely net for All swedes and 800,000 foreign residents. Critics however say the net works the of her Way ii ensnares initiative and hair. Social programming loaves hardly any spice beyond the Dill used to marinate Sweden s superlative Salmon. Even the cats eel in they Are not spayed bul Given birth control pills instead for solely. Car headlights Burn in Daylight giving traffic the air of a funeral cortege. Art lacks passion or like Ingmar Bergman s films muses on the human condition. Even subway Gra Lili is derivative a tepid version of new York the Haid Rock Cale. The opera and a new other places Stockholm is dead Al night. Prices Don t help. Bar drinks Slart above $7. A middling dinner or two can cast $150. This la a fool s Paradise Pehrsson says arguing thai a Blind desire Lor Security wastes Money stifles initiative and limits Sweden s horizons. We Mako some of the finest products but what do we do with them a adds. Can you imagine has Oblad Wilh some japanese marketing it should be the most popular camera in the Wetton t Royal calmly band performing in Pandt null ont during he said a lutheran work Al hic explains Why the welfare slate is so prosperous but adds two thirds of Tho people word their tails Oil. The rest squeeze every last drop irom the in parliament dissent comes irom Gullen Lindblad of the conservative parly known As the Mode alas in temperate Sweden. The moderates support welfare but Wilh lower taxes and less waste. People Don t Lake Home enough to control their own lives Lindblad says. It is cuckoo crazy. Parents must be Able to raise their children without asking for ii92 percent of swedish mothers work she says it s because Many have no Choice i Don t i Hank we Are bolter Oil than a lot of countries. We could a Many things Tai room Letl to in Stockholm. Pago 14 the stars and stripes Friday
