,
11 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
Sooo I just got back from a two-week work trip/vacation/Twitter exile to Sweden, and let me tell you, what you've heard is all true: the Swedes we met enjoy a quality of life that is demonstrably higher than any non-wealthy person in the US. It's not even close
I met an accomplished engineer at a high profile consultancy firm who had, in total, taken over a year off of paternity leave. He said it made him a better dad, and had a bond with his kids that was immediately discernible.
Jaws would drop whenever health care came up—many folks we met simply could not comprehend the fact that we had to pay insurance, out of pocket costs for care, *in addition" to taxes. Their (very good) health care is free to all, and covered by taxes.
One highly educated twenty-something I met who simply could not comprehend that we had to pay out of pocket to see a doctor, and that practices were run as private, for-profit businesses. I had to break it down step by step, and she was literally aghast.
Access was also amazing—wheelchair & stroller access was *everywhere*. My family of four was able to get from the airport way outside the city, to a hotel near downtown, to a suburb, an island resort—all on public transit. We took 0 cabs, and didn't even bring car seats.
Every bathroom I can recall entering was wheelchair accessible, and many, many, entrances to shops, offices, institutions had ramps and optional automated doors for entry.
One day, we were going to visit a centuries-old cathedral and my 3-yr-old son, who is obsessed with automatic doors, asked if the cathedral would have them. We joked and said 'we'll seeee' to keep him excited and behaving in the stroller. But guess what? Automatic goddam doors.
I met an advisor to a progressive opposition candidate & the wedge issues they were running on were housing & programs to encourage more people to go to college. Tuition is free & open to all but they were looking for ways to motivate more people to go & assist w nontuition costs
ANYWAY. It Sweden not a utopia. Things break down—notably escalators, which a friend says is a rampant issue. Segregation in the cities came up a few times as a major problem. Etc etc. But the baseline economic policies this rich, technologically advanced nation has embraced WORK
I was impressed, needless to say & the whole trip demonstrated to me how decidedly non-radical these ideas—universal health care, good child care, equitable income distribution & taxation, well-funded public infrastructure—look like in practice. We could do all that if we wanted.
POSTSCRIPT: The driving force behind much of those gains? Strong unions! Sweden is very very unionized, and those unions have helped secure very comfortable lives for the middle class.
