quikstrike98 on February 1, 2013 at 2:36 PM

That is cool about armed Swedes. But the other are loafers, man, the others!

I’ve seen the future. And it doesn’t work.

Sweden is also one of a handful of nations which places restrictions on baby names:

Next thing you know, they will be telling you what kind of light bulb you can put in your house. But that’s just crazy. Even the worst Socialist country wouldn’t do that……….Wait a minute!

Most people I know are gaming the system to one degree or another, with little to no shame, and I could rattle off a hundred examples of complete and utter wastage of taxpayers’ money – but it would fall on deaf ears over here. Like everywhere else in the Western world, the ‘me, me, me’ generation have an incredible, insatiable sense of entitlement and I fear it isn’t going to end well.

The anti-immigrant political party (always prefixed in media reports as ‘far right’) now commands almost 10% of the vote and is the third largest party in the country. I believe the number of refugees allowed into the country last year was around 50,000 (Sweden pop. about 9 million). I don’t see that political party’s market share dropping any time soon.

Far from being all meatballs and spaghetti, there are a lot of cracks under the surface here that are just waiting to rupture. I think the horse is looking back at that closed barn door with great amusement.

A virtually free national defense provided by other people tends to help too. The bottom line is if we took our ball home these welfare states would collapse in on themselves before you could say “missile defense”. Welfare statists are living in a fantasy land funded by us.

stout77 on February 1, 2013 at 12:56 PM

Exqueeze me? Baking powder? During the Cold War, (in which period Sweden enjoyed great economic prosperity), Sweden adopted the heavily-armed porcupine model of neutrality. They had universal conscription, and an extremely well-equipped military, with state of the art jets, tanks, and navy. Now, I’m very happy to read of their increasing economic freedoms, and their reduction of the welfare state, but Sweden never “free-loaded” on others for their defense. Sure, they’ve slashed their military spending since the fall of the USSR, but so has every other country in Europe.

Sweden is also one of a handful of nations which places restrictions on baby names

…we are just waiting for the coming Executive Order…. here!

KOOLAID2 on February 1, 2013 at 1:42 PM

I was surprised that Germany and New Zealand restrict names too. Some of this started out because countries like Sweden still had royal aristocracy who didn’t want the confusion of errant names when it came to inheritances. Others were considered copyrighted names..businesses, performers, etc. I can kind of understand those issues in a legal sense. But now it’s all about PC.

Sweden is also one of a handful of nations which places restrictions on baby names:

“First names shall not be approved if they can cause offense or can be supposed to cause discomfort for the one using it, or names which for some obvious reason are not suitable as a first name.”

So yeah, Sweden may be moving slightly in the right direction but the fact that your kid’s name has to be approved by the government isn’t exactly an indication of freedom.

Bishop on February 1, 2013 at 12:40 PM

Unless of course you’re muslim, then it’s completely out the window. Besides, rest assured, regardless of what laws the PC swedish politicians put on the books, Mohammed and Fatima will never name their newborn son Sven.

Sweden is also one of a handful of nations which places restrictions on baby names

…we are just waiting for the coming Executive Order…. here!

Shrinking the state in…Sweden?

…WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE!…JugEars wants to be Greece!

Bmore on February 1, 2013 at 1:30 PM”

I don’t think that’s Bishop. He’s much more handsome than that!

Sweden is also one of a handful of nations which places restrictions on baby names:

They are probably to PC and dumb to ban names like Muhammed, Ahmed, Ali, Abdu,…

“Whenever I give a lecture, anywhere in Europe, about economic reform, I always get the following response: ‘But you come from Sweden, which is socialist and successful—why should we launch free-market policies ?’ The simple truth is that Sweden is not Socialist.”

- Johnny Munkhammar, a Moderate Party member of the Swedish Parliament and the author of “The Guide to Reform”

“There is a general change in Swedish society. Social-democratic ideas are losing their grip on Sweden, and we are getting more and more individualistic.”

- Jenny Madestam, a political scientist at Stockholm University, New York Times, 9 September 2010

“By the late 1980s, though, Sweden had started de-regulating its markets once again, decreased its marginal tax rates, and opted for a sound-money, low-inflation policy. In the early 1990s, the pace quickened, and most markets except for labor and housing were liberalized. The state sold its shares in a number of companies, granted independence to its central bank, and introduced school vouchers that improved choice and competition in education. Stockholm slashed public pensions and introduced private retirement schemes, keeping the system demographically sustainable.

These decisive economic liberalizations, and not socialism, are what laid the foundations for Sweden’s success over the last 15 years. After the reforms of the early 1990s, Swedes’ real wages increased by roughly 35% in a decade. And, as businesses have become more productive and people’s incomes have risen, living standards improved. More people eat at restaurants now, more people travel abroad, more people buy DVDs and new cars. More people get more.”

The Non-Existent Stairway To Socialist Heaven In Sweden

Bishop on February 1, 2013 at 1:23 PM

Had no idea what you looked like until now. Great catch!

You’re doing it wrong. You have to be outrageous in the comment and then land someone who goes at least partially ballistic.

This might help: http://www.musky-lures.com/pictures.html

Bishop on February 1, 2013 at 1:23 PM

A different technique, but I got ya. Now back into the pond you go…

How’s that hook taste? ;)

DarkCurrent on February 1, 2013 at 1:16 PM

You’re doing it wrong. You have to be outrageous in the comment and then land someone who goes at least partially ballistic.

This might help: http://www.musky-lures.com/pictures.html