Socialism in Sweden and America

by Albert Burns (Utah)

We were comparing what is happening in education in the USA today with what was done in Sweden in the 70s and 80s. What our education "experts" are foisting on American parents today is virtually identical to what the Swedes did a long time ago. It is significant that the results we are seeing in this country today, in education and other fields, are ALSO following the same trends. Not too surprising, when you think about it!

Back in the 70s we were told by OUR bureaucrats that the rapidly growing welfare state in this country, which was already draining the pockets of American workers, would work MUCH better if only the number and size of the programs were increased. The socialists told us that Sweden was without slums and without poverty. Sweden had government health care and government education for all. The government took care of everything. Wouldn't it be great if WE could be like Sweden? BUT they forgot one important factor -incorrigible, unmanageable, unchanging human nature!

Wherever and whenever socialism has been tried it has FAILED! The ONLY successes which can be credited to socialism have been as the doorway to a police state. What appeared to be the successes of socialism in Sweden were being paid for by the productivity and momentum of the NON-socialized part of the economy. In Sweden, and as everywhere else, sooner or later the weight of the welfare state crushes the producing part of an economy. By the mid 1970s the sad results were already beginning to appear.

In August, 1972 American newspapers carried reports that Swedish socialism was failing. They were having to import laborers even as unemployment figures rose. Patients were having to wait long periods to get treatment in the government hospitals. Factory production was falling rapidly and industries were leaving the country at an accelerating rate. Taxation for the average wage earner was up to at least 41% of direct income and on top of that they had to pay a 17% value added sales tax on every thing they bought. (Remember, this is Sweden in 1972, NOT the U.S. in 2001!)

In 1973, the Swedish Department of Social Affairs commissioned a study on the mental health of Swedes. This official Swedish government report revealed that 25% of the entire population was in need of PSYCHIATRIC treatment! The report indicated that 30% of all medical expenses were for mental disorders. At that point, they reported that there had been a rise of over 400% of alcoholism in one decade. There had been an astronomical rise in teenage drug abuse. The frequency of suicide among teens and young adults had doubled. The official report offered NO proposed cures for the problems but did suggest that: excessive welfare in itself may promote mental illness by weakening the personality and sapping the sense of personal responsibility.

Friends, does ANY of the above sound familiar? Does it ring any bells at all? Alarm claxons should be going off in the mind of anyone reading this column. These things are what you see all around you in the United States TODAY - and for precisely the SAME reasons! It is ironic that the Swedes have in the last decade or so begun to recognize the tragic error of their ways and are beginning to take corrective measures - while the socialists in this country plow relentlessly on in their misguided efforts to create Utopia. Whether they call themselves Republicans or Democrats, the big majority of those in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate ARE socialists - their voting records proclaim that to anyone who will take the time to examine what they are doing. The results of those votes are becoming, every day, more evident in our society.

Must America go as far down the slippery slope into socialism and failure as other countries have gone or will enough citizens wake up to what is happening before their eyes. We MUST convince our elected representatives to obey the U.S. Constitution, as they are SWORN to do - OR find and elect NEW representatives who WILL adhere to their oath of office. If we fail to do one or the other, Americans will have no one to blame but themselves for the tragic results!