More liberal does not mean being further to the left. In European politics liberal parties are commonly in the middle or leaning right of center. Social democrats and socialists are on the left side of politics here.
This is why I find american politics so strange and surreal from a european perspective. Liberalism is traditionally a right leaning political ideology in Europe. The entire political spectrum in the US is shifted so far to the right, even the democratic party would be a right wing conversative party in Europe.
@@user-pf2lv8mf5o That is the main takeaway from this. The US has shifted so far to the right that there is no leftwing there anymore. What some Americans would call a communist would be on the rightwing side of swedish politics.
That is because what they call "liberalism" in the US has shifted away from the original meaning. Classical liberalism has been re-branded "libertarianism".
Håller med, detstamma när det gäller "progressiv", här i sverige är man progressiv om man har positiv inställning till invandrare/migration medan i USA är man progressiv om man är för öka statens inflytande.
Right, there is not much liberalism in Swedish mainstream politics. The entire left wing want basically authoritarian government, which is basically the opposite of liberalism. They are only liberal when it comes to marriage and family issues, that’s about it.
As someone who lives in Europe, the use of liberal in this video is quite confusing. I always catch myself thinking "Does he mean US liberal or European liberal?.
Thank you for your video. It's brave of you to enter this subject :) Here's a few thoughts. You can't say liberal and mean the left side of the spectrum in many places outside the US. In Sweden Liberalerna (the liberal party) is a right wing party. The last 3 years they were part of a cooperation in the middle but they're not part of it anymore and has since moved back to the right. The other liberal party Centerpartiet is currently in the middle because they don't want to cooperate with the far right Sverigedemokraterna, otherwise they've usually been a right wing party too. So considering this and compared to a lot of other countries too the US has a far right party (the Republicans) and a center/right party (the Democrats). The US has no left whatsoever! Part of it is since they are so afraid of the word socialism which is a seriously negative word in the US. The only thing I've seen to the left side of the spectrum is Bernie Sanders who has many social democratic values and despite his good skills explaining things, his speeches, and the movement around him he has to deal with being called crazy, socialist or communist despite nothing of it being even remotely close to the truth. He may have managed to move the narrative slightly to the left but Biden is a quite different president compared to what Sanders would've been despite representing the same party. My point is the whole left right scale is far to the right in the US. In the choice between Trump and Clinton I believe the support for Clinton was around 90% in Sweden during that election while not winning the popular vote in the US, Trump still won the election in the US. I think you have to use other words than liberal or progressive when you talk about the left side of the spectrum outside the US since that is very confusing if you're not used to the narrative used in the US where right is far right and left is centre/right.
The problem in comparing the left/right spectrum between Sweden and the USA is that the entire US political spectrum from the hardest rightwing to the most progressive leftwing still lands by comparison, in the Swedish spectrum slightly to the right of the Swedish "Moderaterna".
@@hussein.abass. Hahaha it is because of the media in the us. Republicans actually used to be the most left wing party back in time and democrats used to be the conservative.
@@frederikjrgensen252 It is because of the media, but not like you say. They way they color left and right is fairly new and started at 2000 election because of media started to use unified colors for graphical maps on TV. They selected Red for Republicans because they both start with R. US used to use the international standard for a long time, but the standard used on TV got so much penetration on general public that they switched colors. But republican and democrats has also switch political position in the past, but it was much earlier. Like 100 years ago.
@@Fogel70 JJ mccolough has made a really good video on this topic. In my country Denmark we also have some odd party names like the venstre party (left party) and Det radikale venstre (the radical left party) both parties are center parties. The radical left being center left and the venstre party being center right.
@@frederikjrgensen252 Sure, but my point was that US switched the use of colors during 2000 election, when they earlier used the conventional standrard used for a long time. Blue for right and red for left. But starting at the 2000 election they switched over to Red for right and blue for left.
3:45 Jag tror det har att göra med inkomst och jobb i Sverige. I storstäder speciellt Stockholm där inkomsten är högre och många företagare bor röstar man höger eftersom man vill ha sänkt skatt och gynna företagande. Medan på landsbygden bor fler "arbertare" eller vad man ska säga, därför röstar många på socialdemokraterna eftersom dom vill gynna arbetarklassen och höja deras villkor och standard.
@@StefanThyron I don't think that the US is wierd on that point. The political parties are very different in terms of ideology and "sakpolitik". Here in sweden almost all the parties are around the middle line in the "Autharitarian/Liberterian" axis on the political compass and on the "righ-left" axis their very spread, but in the US both parties are close on the right-left axis and the bigger diferences between the parties are on the "Autharitarian/Liberterian" axis
@@isacfridlund That's very true. Even though our parties aren't very far from each other if we put them on a global political scale. I mean, Marcus Oscarsson doesn't even put Bernie Sanders left of SD, KD, M.
Using the Word ”liberal” and ”conservative” in an American way as a synonym to left and right is a bit weird in a Swedish context. E.g. the Social Democrats are fairly conservative. That’s why they are pretty popular in the countryside. Remember, conservatism has nothing to do with left vs right or taxes. It has to do with preserving the status quo, and the social democrats have governed for almost 100 years and are the definition of the status quo in Sweden. When they govern, very little changes. Equally, liberalism is an ideology about freedom and not synonymous with leftism. The liberal parties are the greens, center and the, well, liberals. Low taxes, personal freedom etc. These parties are basically the same as the democrats, as you noticed. They are not conservative because they want to fundamentally change Swedish society away from social democracy into liberalism and often look at the US as a model. The Conservative right wing parties (M, KD) are to the economic right like the liberals, but more aligned with the social democrats on many conservative issues and try to out do them there. So basically, you have conservatives on both the left and the right in Sweden, and “woke” progressives as well.
@@johnneiberger7311 As a dane I would like to know why most swedes don't like the SD and why the swedish politicians don't want to work together with them. In Denmark it is very normal to work together with the Sweden democrats sister party the DPP.
3 года назад+7
@@frederikjrgensen252 why work with a party you don’t share values with?
@@kermoots9261 He´s a Swedish citizen? I think I´ve missed the video where he said that? When did that happen? He´s only lived here for four years, not five.
@@kermoots9261 Well I think it was more a comment of what he feels he belongs to. If I move to Canada and get a Canadian citizenship, I'm suspecting that it'll still take a while before I consider myself "Canadian". So I think the comment was meant as "you feel like you're beginning to fit in and belong here? Glad to hear :)"
@@sbyco well it is different because you have a winer takes all system and very negative to government coalitions. Wen we have those tensions they just move to the left party or start their own party as there is no spoiler effect, and we can’t chose the PM anyway.
Expressens ledarsida gav alldeles nyligen upp kravet på kungahusets avgång och införandet av republik. Man motiverar detta med att man kommit fram till att kungahuset är mest till nytta för Sverige, och inte just alls skadligt.
Yeah, I've never heard anyone here in Sweden complain about their salary in regards to taxes. I'm a teacher and I make loads of money after taxes, so it's not like I'm MISSING the money I'm not getting paid out... it would cost me SO much more to have to pay for medical care and so on... and it goes to my retirement money, and when I'm sick I can just stay home from work, no problem... and people who have kids would struggle having to pay for school meals, dental care and so on. I don't even have to think about saving money for those kinds of things...
They might complain more if all the taxes were listed when they get their salary... The are plenty of other countries with way less taxes than Sweden that still have better social services. The fact is that the taxes are so high in Sweden that they dampen the economy so much that the taxes generated are less than they could have been. Example: After the 2006 election the Alliance government lowered the overall tax burden, and this resulted in HIGHER tax income for the state. This effect is best explained by the Laffer curve. And the scary thing is that the left wing parties in Sweden know this, but still insist on trying to increase taxes even more...
@@Merecir lol, right wing person detected, then I guess. I write about my own experience as a swede. I want for nothing, healthy, sick, employed or unemployed, I've been all those things, and I've always had a great, safe and stable life, due to living here.
@@wynja77 Regardless of your political stance. If you are a proponent of taxes, would you not want the state to maximize the amount of taxes it can extract from the system? And as we have now proven that taxes in Sweden are so high that the system generates less taxes than the maximum, would it not then be the logical conclusion that lowering the taxes would in fact increase the amount of tax income for the state?
@@Merecir You're just a random person on the internet, I don't think what you write "proves" anything. It's probably a case of that the reality isn't that easy.
As an American, I wouldn't mind paying a bit more in taxes for more benefits, it's just our government is horrible at spending money, so the extra taxes would probably just go into military spending our something like that unfortunately
One thing that I think adds to your confusion is the typical American misconception that "liberal" means left-wing, when in actuality it's a center-right ideology (which is accurate for the US Democrats). There's also the misconception that right-wing = conservative and left-wing = progressive, when they're actually completely separate (right/left is economics, while conservative/progressive is social). As an example with Swedish parties, the Liberals are right-wing/progressive, while the Christian Democrats are right-wing/conservative (all of our big left-wing parties happen to also lean towards progressivism, but it doesn't have to always be that way).
Maybe one of your best videos. As a Swede, I really only have one ‘problem’ with it and this is the use of the term ‘liberal’. I do know that liberal has a different meaning in the US than in Europe and for most of us - certainly for myself- to be liberal is the very opposite of being a socialist. And most certainly on the ‘blue’ side here in Sweden.
So I think people get the word liberal mixed up with the word freedom. It doesn't necessarily mean that freedom of choice Is freedom for all. Why are people leening more towards socialism here I Sweden? Well its because we have a strong sense of justice and we are brought up with the word solidarity, which is just another way of saying that instead of me getting a few 100 kronor (tens of dollars) we can pay those kronor In tax and help someone in more need. So freedom for me is to know that if shits hits the fan, I'll be taken care of. That's why I at least wouldn't vote red (or blue)
This is just my experience and my thoughts, so no stone hard facts. But when you were talking about how the rural areas of Sweden are so far left while in the US they're right I just felt like sharing this! Me and my family are from the far north (mostly Gällivare), and socialism has been very important in order for the cities to even survive. A lot of people were poor, and my family was no exception, they were so poor that they couldn't afford a funeral when my great grandfather died. And if I remember correctly my grandparents families used to get milk delivered for free so that the kids in the families wouldn't get malnourished, I don't remember if this was something that the mine financed or if it was the state, but none the less helping each other has always been very important in the poor and harsh parts of the country. I am no expert when it comes to economy and politics (nor history), but I would say that leaning towards socialism is to be conservative in those places, because socialism is what built them.
Det är precis varför Socialdemokraterna har mycket stöd. Det handlar om tacksamhet till systemet men idag när du kollar på de yngre generationerna, det är inte så vanligt att man är för S.
@@seyed7380 Nää, sen tror jag att en stor anledning till det helt enkelt är att unga personer inte har upplevt dessa tider, därför vet de inte vad Socialdemokraterna gjort. Sen är det även svårt att jämföra den tiden med dagens tid. Nuförtiden behöver inte lika många personer hjälp av staten längre. Tycker även inte att man ska rösta på ett parti för att "tacka" de för vad som hände för många år sedan, utan istället borde man kolla på vilket parti som kommer dela ens åsikter mest de nästkommande fyra åren.
Are you aware of that about 30% of the tax your employer pays on top of your wage (arbetsgivaravgift eg. statlig skatt) goes to fund your retirement plan?
18.5% of gross salary, of which 7% comes from your personal income taxes (so that the basic rate of income tax is really about 25%) and the rest from the employer goes to your government pensions account, and employers typically add another 4.5% (goes up to 30% at higher levels of income) to your workplace pension. Quite generous, and in light of that Swedish taxes aren’t as high as they might first appear. The trouble is a lack of transparency as it’s all bundled together into a ‘tax” line item, whereas in countries such as Denmark the different charges are all separate.
@@RobertClaeson Thank you Robert! I think it is only in part due to Lack of transparency but mostly disinterest from employees whom sees every deduction from what we get our hand on money wise every month as an evil tax😁 It is a pity that Stefan does not pay much interest to these comments he could really learn a lot😎
@@Goophern What are you talking about? He said that the money goes to fund my retirement plan. As in, ALL the money goes there. They sure as hell do not. Approx 10% of the money does that. What's absurd is that 11% goes to "Allmän löneavgift", dafuq is that even. I'll tell you. It's more tax.
Great points! As for me the weirdest things in US are the death penalty, the many anti-abortionists, the fact that you can go bankrupt if you get sick and the liberal gun laws.
Your best video yet, so on point, it's all true! Amazed that you have found such a clear view of how it works here (many people, even Swedes do not understand this). Most good, some strange, some bad, but still good (compared to many countries). Ok I am biased. High taxes, sure, but no expensive school or insursnce making us more equal. A kid that has really poor parents but is really smart has (mostly) the same opporunities as a rich kid. I think some basic stuff should be run by the government, the infrastucture enabeling more money and wellfare (transportation, healthcare, school, etc). Cheers from Gothenburg.
Jag älskar kunga familjen, de verkar så snälla. Dessutom gör de ett bra jobb med att "marknadsföra" Sverige och underhåller många gamla byggnader som annars antagligen skulle förfalla.
@Stefan Thyron You often talk about how much of your money disappears into taxes. But have you done an actual comparison between what you get for your salary in sweden vs USA? As in not measuring your salary in dollars or crowns, but measuring it in goods and services you get when using your salary. Because I am quite sure the standard of living is high in sweden. Which means swedes get a lot for their salary.
@@KurtGAndersen This is the case. In the US, you pay for everything for yourself. In Sweden, the average annual wage is lower than in the US, but after your paycheck comes you have already sort of "paid" for your services like health-care and education. This might seem like a bad situation for the high-paid businessman, but then again, when I think about it, I'd rather live in a safe and stable society than in a place where I earn a lot, but then I would have to use heaps of money to secure myself and my property. The Nordic model isn't perfect, of course, but it's a lot more equal.
We have a monarchy because of historical tradition. The same as our neighboring countries Denmark and Norway. UK, Netherlands and Spain also have a monarchy. The French monarchy ended with Napoleon in power. Many other countries monarchies ended with occupation, dictatorship or they are newly sovereign states like Finland and Estonia etc. Or other reasons and so on. :)
I love the fact that we can vote on the party we like the most without the fear of losing our vote. I have heard so many americans saying they like the libertarian party but cant vote on it because it is a "lost vote".
thats because they have been conditioned to think that way if more people knew there was a 3 party option and if they voted in enough mass they could win numbers are up to 20% in some areas
No. You are keeping about 70% of everything you make. The hidden tax you talk about does not come out of your pay. It is wrong to add them together. However, the "hidden" tax pays for sick leave, pensions, and alot of other stuff. If that tax rate is lowered you would NOT get more in payment for your work.
It does come out of your pay. If you look up the history. It was taken off your pay to create a pension system. So that 20% goes to your pension and you pay about 30% when getting it back. Plus you have to pay 25% tax/moms when you spend your taxed money on something. So you actually pay closer to 70% in tax on your income. Not keeping it.
Yet they didn’t lockdown and pay people to prevent the virus which surprised me. In nz we pay slightly lower tax but the government paid everyone during the lockdown due to this.
Yes, the point of having high taxes is to make it better for EVERYONE not just the one who makes the big money. And if the population is better off then the country is better off in general and we reduce class differences etc. I think the strong social democratic systems are what made Scandinavia so successful when you look at the happiest and "best" countries in the world. Not saying any country is super good in my opinion, there are still tons of problems, but taxes is not one of them. Only when it comes to these rich people who are trying to avoid paying taxes. Around 130 billion got lost i 2018 according to Aftonbladet. Just imagine what we could do with that kind of money to make it better for the general population instead of them just buying another yacht.
I think the way you see the employer's tax is weird. The employer pays a tax, and you pay a tax. If there wasn't an employer's tax that money wouldn't go to you. So I don't think it is fair to say that you only get HALF of what you earn. Because you aren't earning those other 20%. Maybe you can think of it as the business sector paying society back for providing your worker with the competence. The tax payers did invest in every person's education after all, and that money has to come from somewhere. We all pay for each other's professional skills and education, and the business sector contributes.
Tror inte det är arbetsgivaravgiften han talar om, utan företagsskatten. Företag (beroende på tföretagstyp) betalar strax över 20 % i vinstskatt, och då han förefaller ha ett eget företag så måste han först betala den skatten, för att sedan betala ca 30 % i kommunelskatt på sin lön.
You have made some great observations. There are explanations to some of these issues that don't necceraly correlate to ideology but to history. For example, in Sweden the government didn't have the mandate to issue a complete lockdown because the constitution protects freedom of speech/the right to organise and demonstrate very high. Issuing a lockdown would prohibit it completely and is not in the government's right. Instead, the government made a temporary law that has the support of the whole parliament- all the parties - that mandates some restrictions on industries, public sector, right to protest etc. This is good because it means that Sweden doesn't take democracy for granted and the constitution protects the people from totalitarian rulers. With far less restrictions the government is relying on people taking own responsibility and in a country with high trust in its public institutions this strategy has worked in some ways well. I can understand that from an American perspective this sounds more like a conservative standpoint, perhaps correlating more to economic growth, but in Sweden freedom of speech and the right to organize protests is valued highly do to the working class fight for their rights in the beginning of the 20th century. I think it's great that you make these videos and reflect on the similarities and differences. If you wanna learn more on politics in Sweden vs US I'm sure we are a few nerds that can elaborate on it with you 😄
3 года назад+6
Considering what is happening in the states now and for the last four and some years I think the "wierdness" of our politics pale in comparison.
Great video as always 👍 but one thing I would like to add is that the word "communism" isn't really as acceptable as you portray it and the people who use it the most are from the youth parties especially "ung vänster". Many of the older generations are still very anti-communist and still dislike Vänsterpartiet due to their history as Communists.
Agreed there has been some controversies surrounding the fact the some party leaders (Lars Ohly, Noshi dadgostar, etc) still referred them self as Communists or didn't take a strong enough stance agianst communism.
No i relly don't agree, alot of swedish poleticans fore example want to deport the chines ambasador and HM have closed and reelocated some factorys in China do to rumors of child laibor and let's not forget that Sweden togheter with the UN are condemming the reeducation camps they put ther muslim population in.
@@wilhelmmoller960 China is a Communist super power with a very dark history. I really admire Donald Trump. He was the first to really stand up against China.
@@kobrapelle i don't know IF you can really call China a proper cummunist state, but yes they need to be criticized and there status as a superpower needs ro be chalanged. Trump did indeed chalanges China but i don't know if it was all fore the right reasson but it did atleast Bring chinas dominance up for debate
About taxes; if you make under 33000 sek per month, you pay about 25 percent in taxes. The tax that your employer pay is money that is for you. Paid sick leave for example and parental leave.
The employer tax is still a tax. Then you also pay VAT/moms, 20% on many things you buy, and then also special taxes on gas, electricity and other things.
@@RobertKallstrom true. But without the employers tag, we wouldn't have money during sickleave and other benefits. Tax on things you buy; yes but that is also the case in the States
@@lazycat64 Jag tror faktiskt inte att alla stater i USA har moms, "sales tax", och om de har det så är den betydligt lägre än i Sverige. Jag håller med dig men ville bara lägga till det.
@@nebelung1 så kan det vara. Jag vet bara att jag läst att svenskar som handlar i USA blir förvånade när det inte är priset på etiketten som gäller utan att det skall läggas på moms också.
I fail to comprehend how one can live in Sweden, see all the benefits of social democracy (everyone being able to afford healthcare, nobody starving to death, efficient public transportation, free and excellent education...), and yet support the American Libertarian Party? Families are in constant debt simply because they want their children to have a decent education, or because they get hurt, or are born with crippling conditions. But yeah, complete privatisation of all sectors seems like a great idea. Maybe let's charge people to breathe too.
Libertarians are historically socialist. There is a small section who espouse the writings of Murray Rothbard-he’s the one who advocated for complete privatization/free market BUT he also took that so far as to advocate for parents to sell their kids in the marketplace, too ... insisting that requiring parents to feed their children was an infringement of the rights of the parents. Most people don’t read enough into what he said, see “free market” and privatization, and just stop reading. Rothbard also advocated for the age of consent to be 3 years old (yes, you read that correctly-he claimed consent needed to be based on when physical relations could happen without physical harm to either party and tried to claim this begins at age 3). The folks who usually talk about Rothbard’s talking points (just so far as they’ve read) are people who’ve become disgruntled with the Republican Party, and then need to be brought up to speed on why they can’t make the Libertarian party over in their idea of a Republican image. Libertarians aren’t conservatives, generally (conservationists, yes)--but they want to make sure proposals are fiscally responsible (needs are actually being adequately met, not just throwing money to the wind). They’re also an actual political party. Anyone can participate at no cost, and if you volunteer throughout the year, you get a voucher for attending the state convention. Republicans are a private club. You have to pay yearly dues to attend meetings, fees for other events, fees for the county convention, fees for the state convention. Democrats don’t charge; they are an actual political party and not a private club. I hope that helps? Feel free to ask questions (might take a few days to get to it, just FYI).
Honestly, I think people here in America look to the libertarian party more hopefully (without really looking at their policies) because with our 2 party system I think there's a lot of corruption and split views... the idea of a third party just sounds more appealing I think
Lol, what a straw man. No libertarian I have ever met says that we have no moral obligation to help the disadvantaged and with libertarianism there will be a huge civil society. Plus, things like 'enormous' debt for education in the US exists because the free market has been distorted by the state. Also, the 'enormous debt' thing is, actually, kind of a myth, actually student debts are higher in Sweden (where we don't even pay for the actual studies xD): The debt-to-income ratio is 60% in the US but 80% in Sweden. www.collegefinancinggroup.com/student-loan-repayment/free-college-in-sweden-high-student-debt/. Btw, please stop attributing things like that no one is starving to death to social democracy. No one starved in Sweden long before social democracy. Also in Venezuela, which is a socialist (~social democratic) country, people actually are starving. In Japan, the train system is the best in the world and it's completely privatized, so your point about efficient public transportation due to social democracy is also false. Also, we don't have 'excellent' education in Sweden: Look at the PISA results and how our universities are ranked internationally (most of the top universities are private and are located in the US).
Hey Stefan, i'm kinda a new here in your channel but it's really nice to see your videos because i'm too i'm trying to move to Sweden, but one thing i don't know that you know about the political compass (that is a one way of measuring ideology) is that the US major political parties can be divided in "left" or "right" but that's not true if you see ideology in the world, so if you see what is considered left or right in a wide sense probably the US major parties would be on the right alignment and the differences would exactly the more conservative and liberal. So if you are more aligned with a Libertarian Ideology it's really not a surprised that you are more right-forward, it's just how the spectrum works! There's a lot of ways of "measuring" ideology, there's no quite right or wrong here because it's a little abstract in some kind of way on what you're looking at and what you're looking for.
Liberalerna (tror jag de heter numera, tidigare Folkpartiet Liberalerna) betraktas i Sverige som ett högerparti. Socialisterna är inte glada för saker alls med Liberal- i namnet. Liberal är inte Social.
@@MathiasHeinel Yeah that's what i kinda tried to say overrall, because of the political compass is sometimes weird to label things. Using an example of my life, here in Brasil for along time there were A LOT of center parties that just were "government parties" they are not moved by ideology, but by true politics and money. And there is the Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party, but since 2010'ish there was a great movement to the right and the rise of the now president Bolsonaro that is not a normal right-wing, but it's in fact a lunatic. And it's really normal here to relate "liberal" here in Brasil with right-wing because they relate with economics and not social democracy, and because the left-wing is more aligned with social equality part of the job, not really the economics.
Red was the colour of the international workers rights movement in the late 19th/early 20th century and became the symbolic colour of both socialism and communism. It's a complete mind**** for us Europeans to hear Americans talk about an area "going red" and remembering that to you that means conservative. It's like Denmark (I think?) who've decided to call the conservative end of the scale "left" and the socialist end of the scale "right" in complete disregard of the rest of the world ... 😂
Norway also has a party called venstre which is right leaning. The name venstre is from when venstre was the most left leaning party in parliament. The republican and democrat use those color because of media.
We don't really "support the monarchy financially". Yes, sure, there are tax money paying for it but we need to have a head-of-state function and the monarchy gives us that for a bargain, really with a profit if you count goodwill. We can compare to Finland, whose head-of-state function is a LOT more expensive, I think it was something like double the cost last time I checked the Finnish state budget.
Bra video! Apropå Demokraterna och Republikanerna i USA och deras ideologier och partifärger, så har jag för mig att de har bytt sida under tidens gång. På 1800-talet var Demokraterna de konservativa och tvärt om!
Ja, de skiftade på sextiotalet, som en del i republikanernas "Southern strategy" som inleddes i början av sextiotalet. Ännu roligare är att de en gång i tiden var samma parti, de är båda splittringar ur The Democratic-republican party (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic-Republican_Party). Det nuvarande partisystemet i USA är ett av många. De har splittrats och nya partier har ersatt varandra ett antal gånger där.
Most democratic countries have more than two parties to vote for, only the United States (what I know) has only two political wings/parties to vote for (red or blue). It becomes very polarized and static and one thinks of historical events happen back in the United States.
Visst är skatten högre, men då är det mesta redan betald om du blir sjuk eller vill studera på universitet eller liknande. I USA får du lägga undan pengarna till detta istället, lite generellt....
@@vardekpetrovic9716 Insane ??? You can't even read the text. I compare sweden vs USA, Polen isn.t mentioned. And I didn't say it was totaly free. Read first........
Yes, it's really only the US that use the opposite color scheme. The rest of the world, at least the Western world, uses red for left-wing politics and blue for right-wing politics. AFAIK, the US color scheme was made up on a whim by a TV network in the 70s or something. Quite recent.
I believe it has something to do with the history of the labour movement, left leaning european political parties chose the red color as a sign of solidarity and and as a symbol to previous communist ideologies.
J.J. McCullough made a video on political colors pretty recently. Definitely worth a watch if you're interested in how the different party colors came to be around the world.
We have basically no property tax, though, which you do have in most American states. That's just one of the _many_ reasons Swedish real estate prices are so insane, but it is a reason no less.
@@paulallen579 vi har redan nog höga skatter behövs inte fler. Låga räntor under högkonjunktur plus massinvandring på det så svenskar nu har dem högsta privatlånen för man vill bo med andra svenskar har bidragit till dessa
@@dwaynethewokjohnson7773 Det hade gått att sänka inkomstskatterna och andra skatter ifall man höjt fastighetskatterna till exempel. När vi avskaffade fastighetsskatten så sjönk hushållens beskattning från 13 miljarder till 10 miljarder, jag hade hellre sänkt inkomstskatterna för de 3 miljarderna eftersom fastighetsskatten har så bra effekter på ekonomin.
The red/blue thing in the US is as far as I know relatively new, and a result of the introduction of colour tv. It just happened that some large network started using the colours that have become standard now. There is no real reason for it.
One thing many fail to understand is that if you have a child (for example) in Sweden you'll get a subsidy, while in the US you'll get a tax reduction. This makes the tax seem higher than what they really are, in practice
I live in Kansas. Try taking away farm subsidies, rural subsidies for road maintenance, etc - and you will find how socialistic they really are. They get subsidies if their crops fail, and if they don't. They are given subsidies for not planting anything.
You seem to think that "left" means liberal, but that is not really the case. In the US there are only 2 parties and that may be the reason you think that, but when you have more parties you need more variables to understand the political landscape. Socialism does not have to be liberal, in fact many times it's more authoritarian. The "Left" and "Right" scale in Sweden has more to do with economical politics like taxes and parties can be more or less liberal no matter where they're placed on that scale. I would for example say that the most liberal parties in Sweden are "Centerpartiet" and "Liberalerna" despite being closer to the center or even to "Right" side of the Swedish political map.
Very interesting! I find I'm very similar to you with my politics abroad. In the US I'd vote Green, and I'd be considered super liberal, but in the UK I'm fairly moderate. It's not that my views have changed much, but that a lot of "crazy liberal" stuff in the US is just normal here. Like even most conservatives here agree we should have free, accessible health care and legal abortions. But economically I'm more conservative, so I end up leaning more right. Still would never vote Tory though (Conservative party, handled the pandemic shockingly), I have a soul.
Comparing the two societies you need to consider what meaning you put into the labels "liberal", "socialist" and "conservative". There are both a financial dimension and a social dimension - that won't necessarily follow each other - to every one of those labels. Swedish liberals, for instance, tend to be more on the liberal side both in the financial dimension and the social whereas the US Democrats are only liberal on social issues - not financial ones. US Conservatives tend to be very liberal on financial issues but not on social. Swedish Socialists are more liberal on social issues but very much not on financial ones.
The royal family is absolutely a good investment economically for Sweden to keep. The millions we spend are probably multiplied several times in terms of income from tourism. AND if someone thinks we wouldn´t spend that kind of money if we got rid of the royal family they are wrong. All the castles and mansions have such a high cultural and historic value that taxpayers money would have to pay for the maintainance anyways... Not to speak of the headlines they create globally, putting Sweden on the map. Thank you Carl Gustaf with family for advertising at a low cost.
It's around 140 million crowns, but the family gets just 35-40 million crowns. Most of it goes to f. e. to pay salary to the stuff and maintenance in the castles, but not the real estastes.
I'm curious if having a king is costing money or earning more due to tourism. I'm not sure, but I would not be surprised if it was slightly net positive.
The monarchy actually makes money it's profitable and out of the five most democratic countries in the world 4 are monarchies it goes hand in hand with swedish values
A very sensitive subject to talk about, that was brave! In general I agree with all your points, drug policy is weird and taxes are too high. Legalisera mera!
In Europe the monarchies are the most liberal and progressive countries. European monarchies are chart topping in various liberty rankings and in my opinion having a non-partisan monarch is far better than a partisan president.
Just wanted to point out that liberal and conservative aren't opposites, the opposite of liberal is authoritarian and the opposite of conservative is progressive, the moderate party for example call themselves Liberal-Conservative
Of course, I can understand that the political colors can be confusing for an American. However, it is the United States that is different in the rest of the world is red = left and blue = right. Strange that you have become more right-wing in Sweden, probably thought it would be the other way around. The Libertians' let go of politics is hm...well irresponsible.
I started checking out your videos when you were based in Norrköping, but I still love your videos even though you abandoned this pretty city! But really, it's interesting to see how you view Sweden compared to the US
Ontario Canada also has a govt owned liquor store (LCBO), very little alcohol is sold in private stores (only a few that sell Ontario wines). Beer is sold in beer stores owned by a consortium of the beer producers.
The whole point of not having harsh restrictions was to leave responsibility of following guidelines to the citizens themselves. That way we make life easier by not setting down strict rules which messes with our daily lives while also adapting to the reality of the virus in a way which works for the individual. It is a great responsibility for every person and some care for it poorly but I myself am a believer of the rational human and that people only follow forced rules when someone is looking.
I can tell you as a lawyer there's a strong lobbyism about legalizing some drugs. At first marijuana. And there's an error in the clip, it's not corporate income tax that's the hidden tax. It's arbetsgivaravgifter, the fee an employer has to pay on the salary for an employee. You can say what you want about taxes. But on average many Americans have to pay more to enjoy what we have in the Nordic countries. But it's more of personal freedom in the states rather than here. But if you want the exact same things, health care, dental care, college. USA is more expensive.
I'm in Denmark and I would argue that all our parties are "socialist" at a base level, and where they tend to differ are within immigration and taxes/legislation in the private sector. I don't think you could compare the Danish conservatives to the US Republicans on a one-to-one-ratio, because on some issues they'd be considered socialist/liberal by American standards. I'd argue that there are more nuances in Nordic/European politics than there is in the US, where it's more "either/or". My point is just that being Nordic/European conservative is not the same as US Republican and should not be compared on a one-to-one-ratio.
I’m the same. As a born and raised Swede I’m def more conservative (blue) but if I was American I would without a doubt be a Democrat. It’s because even our most Conservative party is still so much more liberal and socialistic than the American Democratic Party is...
Dont belief that BS. In the Netherlands they say the same but the right wing liberal parties such as VVD and populist right are decentralizing everything. Moderaterna is not far away from the dutch VVD.
The premise that the people would be angry if there were a more strict corona policy is completely wrong, if daddy government would say “stay inside” almost everyone would follow. We have had a very restrictive drug policy for a long time and if they would chance that it would require them to admit that they have been wrong, and politicians usually don’t wanna do that.
The red vs. blue political color thing in the US is actually fairly recent. It's due to the color coded maps on TV election coverage. I don't recall the terms being used at all prior to 2000. Bush/Gore was a very close race, so there was much discussion of which way each state was voting- would it be colored in on the map in blue or in red, particularly Florida which wasn't decided until sometime in December. In the end, Florida went to Bush and the map was colored in in red, hence Florida becoming a 'red' state. The colors have no meaning or connection to international politics.
You do teach me so much. You are a natural teacher. I've always thought; if we could all live in another country when we're young it would be so helpful to understand other people, etc. I was a little surprised to learn you're Libertarian. They oppose any gun control. I was tremendously influenced by my Liberal father and firmly ensconced that camp my whole life...and I recognize the power of our early indoctrination. However, my younger brother, 8 years difference, is a devout Libertarian. We couldn't be more different politically. My brother seriously disappointed my father in the end; his cruel judgment and dismissive attitudes towards Liberalism wounded my father in his late 80s. I feel it's the coldness of many Libertarians of "survial of the fittest'... "You made your bed; lie in it." "You're disadvantaged; get over it." Sweden is more complicated than I imagined.
I wouldn't say I'm a through and through Libertarian. And let's be honest the party itself in the US is a disaster. But I really like to have a high level of personal freedom and I don't like having an authority telling me what I can and can't do, taking a high percentage of what I earn, etc. I definitely understand the benefits and Sweden has a great system! But it does go against my natural tendencies in some ways.
@@StefanThyron we should also. remember that "Libertarians" are no longer a politically homogenous group of people. I ran into this Dutch fellow the other day who described himself as "leftist libertarian". I think you, Stefan, would fit right in in the Netherlands. Prob the most libertarian country in Europe.
Many libertarians aren't about "survival of the fittest". They just believe in actually following the US constitution and that small, local governments, like a county, should be more at the front of governing their citizens and distributing resources to those who need it. In the USA we have many liberal and socialistic policies that are costing trillions and continue to fail because of the huge federal bureaucracy. I think socialism works better in Sweden because it is much smaller and has a far more culturally homogeneous people.
Hello! I'm not going to pretend that I know what to expect when making friends in Sweden. But from my personal experience as a Swede living in Sweden with doctors/psychologists suspecting that I have some type of "rare" combination of Aspergers and Schizophrenia (still not 100% diagnosed yet). My personal tip for making friends in Sweden (or any country really) would be to meet people within an activity you are already interested in. For example gaming (based solely on your name) or anything that you are interested in really. Just join a local group or whatever you can find and talk to people and don't be afraid to mention that you have autism if you are comfortable with it. In my experience most people will be understanding of me missing social cues and being a bit strange, even if they don't fully understand what my experience of reality is. Just be yourself and be as honest about yourself as you are comfortable with, and eventually you will meet people who will accept you for who you are and are more than willing to be your friend. I would also suggest talking to a local psychologist wherever you live and see if they can help you to find places to meet people. This is just what I would personally recommend from my own experience, but professional help is always better. I hope this helps you in some way and good luck!
Btw, you used the old logo for Moderaterna. They have went back to just moderaterna and a style more common with their old design. This is a nod to that they are going back to being a conservative party rather than their experimentation with liberalism under the Borg-Reinfeldt administration.
Crown Princess Victoria is lovely, but I hope it won´t happen in 20-25 years or so, I don´t want the king to die soon and her and her siblings losing their father.
As an American, I agree completely. I would like to live in a country where we look out for one another and share burdens more. Paying taxes so others can benefit, especially health care. But American culture is TOO individualistic.
The reason cities tend to be more conservative in Sweden and the opposite is true in America (and other places too) is immigration and racial or ethnic composition.
You are one brave soul for talking about politics . . . ha ha. It was interesting to hear about some of Swede's politics, especially as an American, who would love to visit Sweden to get back to my ancestral roots, and I am finding out, there are WAY more people with my personality in Sweden than in the US. HOWEVER, like you, I am a Libertarian, except I lean towards Conservative/Republican, a Libertarian kind of has to lean toward either Democratic or Republican if they want their vote to count (I am sorry, but I CAN NOT get on board with the Democrats' view of abortion (sad, sad, sad!), Socialism, lack of economic sustainability, and the lack of religious freedom (sorry, Dems, you're liberalism doesn't seem so liberal anymore . . . ) So even though Sweden does entice me in a lot of ways, I think I would be too frustrated with the politics to live there. I am glad you shared your views to help this far-away gal learn perspectives from another culture. Very interesting! Thank you.
You’ve got eight parties in the parliament here, so surely you would likely find a party that would fit your views to a broad extent. But, regarding your views on abortion; you’ll have to go really far right to find those in Sweden. Even our conservative block is mostly for it, except for perhaps the Christian Democrats (duh) and the Sweden Democrats. I personally don’t know a single person who is ’against’ abortion in any way whatsoever, and neither am I. Most of us consider it to be an individual freedom, and the right for women to decide over their own bodies and lives // Born and raised Swede of 21 years.
@@StefanThyron I believe the rural areas in sweden are more left-wing because historically, the poor people started the left-wing and more liberal party (socialdemokraterna). The thought that people who make less money and workers are more liberal has lived on to today, so naturally the rural areas vote for the socialistic party. You also can’t forget that the map is misleading because it only shows the biggest party in the region (I don’t know what ”kommun” is in english), even if the second biggest party is very close. Great video by the way, very interesting
@@StefanThyron Could it have to do with land ownership? The Swedish forests are mostly owned by big forest companies or the government, not the people who live near them.
The reason for the somewhat strange policies with regard to alcohol and drugs etc is the simple fact that health care is tax funded. This means that there is a strong desire to restrict anything that will cost the government money (except for a few things that are done for entirely political reasons).
Then it should be the same in essentially every European country, but it is not. There was a big drinking problem in Sweden in the 19th century. That in its turn fueled a strong temperance movement, and many of the Swedish politicians, especially in the first half of the 20th century, came from this movement.
De pengar som kommer in via turismen går ju till kungahusets omkostnader. Av apanaget Kungen får ungefär 140 miljoner/år går det mesta till omkostnader som löner till de anställda, underhåll av olika karaktär (inte fastigheterna i sig) inne på slotten m m. Kungens del är ca 1/4 (mellan 35-40 miljoner). De pengarna ska användas till bl a representation, statsbesök, middagar på slottet etc. Kungen fördelar en del av pengarna ut i familjen av löpande karaktär samt olika arrangemang ( som bara ett par exempel Nationaldagsfirandet och Nobelfesten). Naturligtvis rör det många fler. Men allt kan man inte se i kalendern på kungahusets hemsida. Mycket görs i "det tysta". Det är mycket billigare att ha Kungahuset än att ha en president, som också ska väljas om emellanåt.
I'm happy with the taxes. As someone with type 1-diabetes, I'd be poor af without it. Insulin and all the utilities I use are super expensive. You almost need to be rich to survive with this disease.
Interesting about the colors. If you look at the Chinese flag and the former USSR flag. They are red like blood. So probably it's an American thing with blue democrats, you switched the colours 😁
They hate standards and things like metric system, of course they have to make left blue and right red, just the be different, don't know what is their problem actually, I see so many good things with standards. Tesla have their own system for charging EWs, Ford their own, Its a wonder that they don't have a different types of gasoline, Chevy one kind, Ford an other kind, not compatible.
There is a war going on in my laptop between Microsoft and Google, they both try the be my default browser and search engine. Does this benefit me as a customer, no.
Excellent video! Always love seeing my country from an outside perspective, and you struck a great balance. I do however think there is an underlying left-leaning ideology that you are missing in the examples of policies that might seem conservative on the surface, especially to you as an american. Both the alchohol policy, including systembolaget, and our liberal approach to covid-restrictions stems from a deep rooted focus on public health. The goverment restricting individual freedom in terms of acess to a dangerous substance for the good of the people is a very socialist idea, but to you it serms conservative because in the US the conservatives, especially the religious right, has made alchohol consumption a question of morality. Our covid restrictions are based on a holistic view of public health, not neglecting mental health. What is long term viable for the people has been the guidning principle for our policy-makers, rather than the idea that people demand their freedom.
Stefan.. What we consider left in the US is actually not "left" at all. The US has NO left parties. When talking politics right wing and left wing you have to look at the entire political spectrum. US Democrats are a right wing party on the full political spectrum. So what does left actually mean? Americans don't really know.
I also actually think it started out back in the 40's and 50's as a well thought out tactic from the conservative side to call democrats "left".. Because they want to scare away voters from the democrats who are afraid of socialism...
Most people in Sweden don't see or understand how much taxes we pay because they are devided into many diferent taxes, and as you say some are hidden. Btw dont forget sales tax of 25%
Taxes aren't that high. You have the jobbskatteavdrag so it's approx 22 %. And you only pay kommunalskatt if your income is below 523 200 kronor per year. The arbetsgivaravgift varies between 0 kr and 31% depending on how old the employee is and how high the salary is. I think you should correct this, please.
Very weird indeed, we see our neighbours Denmark and Norway decriminalising drugs. I always seen swedes as quite intelligent but their drug laws seems a bit out of touch with reality.
@@ivanradstrom9939 Crazy that they don't! Well fascinating at least. But I think 20-30 years from now weed will be legal after they see how it is in the US over a long period of time
I think the reason for the loose Corona restricitons has something to do with the Swedish constitution, it says somethng like the government cannot force it's citizen's to stay inside.
@Jack Jones Oh, I don't know about that. It's more that the Swedish government says that it's the people responsibility to keep distance and not go out, however they cannot force us to stay inside. But that doesn't mean they'd rather have people die than let the economy crash.
well... they may have given recommendations but my Swedish musician and artist friends are having a BRUTAL time with the restrictions even in Sweden... support aritsts🥺🙏🏻
@North America Pardon me I do not clearly understand the purpose intention and relevance in relation to my post. If you could be so kind as to clarify the purpose with what intention in relation to my previous post your question asks it would be easier to understand.
When it comes to the COVID-crisis please keep in mind that in Sweden, it's Anders Tegnell, the state epidemiologist, who has been in charge of the response, whereas in Denmark it's the Prime Minister who is in charge.
It's really interesting hearing your thought on Swedish politics from an American perspective and I enjoyed this video, but, you really need to rethink your concept of "liberal" when speaking about Swedish politics since it doesn't translate to what you are trying to say. In Sweden that term apply to the right/blue side of Swedish politics and the term has a completely different meaning in the rest of the world outside of the US. So a lot of non-american people might not hear what you're trying to say.
Good points but the high taxes don't really matter as the economy is already built upon the amount of money people earn after taxes. If things were priced too high noone would buy it and then the market would naturally adjust itself. Your money isn't really stolen from you as you've never had it in the first place. I think a lot of people are negative towards high taxes because they think their money is being stolen, but I don't think that's how it really is.
You are right about the taxes, but the 30% capital gains tax does not apply if you have yours stock and funds in a ISK account, called investeringssparkonto in swedish. The tax rate on that type of account is currently fixed at 0,375%. basically tax free :)
Det beror på. Du måste ha mer än 3 * 0,375% i profit avkastning från dina aktier för att det ska lönsammare än en värdepappersdepå. Glöm inte källskatten från utländska aktier vilket är en pain in the ass. Plus det är inte alltid 0,375% det beror på statslåneräntan men den kommer i stort vara oförändrad tills 2024. Men ja mycket bättre men man måste vara försiktigt och påläst.
@@seyed7380 ja jag vet hur skatten på ett isk konto är bunden till statlåneräntan, också därför jag skrev att den" just nu" är bunden till 0,375%, vill man veta mer är det en enkel googling bort. Källskatt behöver du bara bry dig om ifall du har utländska aktier med utdelning, i såfall använder man ett KF konto så sköts det automatiskt, men då måste man också få lite större summor i utdelning för att det ska löna sig då skatten är högre på KF än på ISK. Att man behöver va försiktig och påläst för att använda ett ISK konto håller jag inte med om. Allt sköts mer eller mindre automatiskt när det gäller skatter. Förenklat kan man säga att har man som målsättning att gå med vinst på sina aktier så är ett isk konto i princip alltid mera lönsamt än ett vanligt AF konto.
@@Erik-ml7fz "Att man behöver va försiktig och påläst för att använda ett ISK konto håller jag inte med om" Men du själv är påläst och försiktig med vad du har skrivit nyss... Sluta hyckla tack, jag vet att ni är experter på det men det räcker. :)
@@seyed7380 sluta hyckla? Vad pratar du om? Det är ju du som försöker få det att låta som att det är svårt och krångligt att handla aktier och fonder via ett isk konto "man måste vara försiktig och påläst" När det i själva verket är enklare och billigare än att använda ett AF konto. Skatten är lägre och den dras automatiskt när du deklarerar om du använder ISK konto. AF måste du själv deklarera dina försäljningar och dessutom är skatten många gånger högre. Så nej man behöver inte vara mer påläst för att använda ett ISK konto jämfört med om man använder ett vanligt AF konto som du påstår. Snarare tvärtom.
What it boils down to I think is that Americans and swedes view society in different ways. The handling of covid for example wasn’t all that different if you think about it. Both the Democrats and Socialdemokraterna were very clear on following what the science was telling us and following the experts. We both did that but our respective experts said different things, which isn’t too strange since it’s a completely new virus that no one knew anything about. When it comes to the royal family I think people like them because it’s a big part of Swedish culture and history. Personally I like having a monarchy because I find it valuable to have a non political ambassador for Sweden, although I don’t really care that much. I was quite surprised that a RUclips clip about Swedish politics didn’t infuriate me at all haha, good job!
More liberal does not mean being further to the left. In European politics liberal parties are commonly in the middle or leaning right of center. Social democrats and socialists are on the left side of politics here.
This is why I find american politics so strange and surreal from a european perspective. Liberalism is traditionally a right leaning political ideology in Europe. The entire political spectrum in the US is shifted so far to the right, even the democratic party would be a right wing conversative party in Europe.
@@user-pf2lv8mf5o That is the main takeaway from this. The US has shifted so far to the right that there is no leftwing there anymore. What some Americans would call a communist would be on the rightwing side of swedish politics.
This. Soo many people get this wrong.
That is because what they call "liberalism" in the US has shifted away from the original meaning. Classical liberalism has been re-branded "libertarianism".
The term “Liberal” comes from change, so in a Rightwing country it’s not strange that liberal becomes associated with the Left
You can't use the word liberal to mean left in European politics. Left is socialist and liberal is well, liberal.
Håller med, detstamma när det gäller "progressiv", här i sverige är man progressiv om man har positiv inställning till invandrare/migration medan i USA är man progressiv om man är för öka statens inflytande.
Right, there is not much liberalism in Swedish mainstream politics. The entire left wing want basically authoritarian government, which is basically the opposite of liberalism. They are only liberal when it comes to marriage and family issues, that’s about it.
As someone who lives in Europe, the use of liberal in this video is quite confusing. I always catch myself thinking "Does he mean US liberal or European liberal?.
Thank you for your video. It's brave of you to enter this subject :) Here's a few thoughts.
You can't say liberal and mean the left side of the spectrum in many places outside the US.
In Sweden Liberalerna (the liberal party) is a right wing party. The last 3 years they were part of a cooperation in the middle but they're not part of it anymore and has since moved back to the right. The other liberal party Centerpartiet is currently in the middle because they don't want to cooperate with the far right Sverigedemokraterna, otherwise they've usually been a right wing party too.
So considering this and compared to a lot of other countries too the US has a far right party (the Republicans) and a center/right party (the Democrats). The US has no left whatsoever! Part of it is since they are so afraid of the word socialism which is a seriously negative word in the US. The only thing I've seen to the left side of the spectrum is Bernie Sanders who has many social democratic values and despite his good skills explaining things, his speeches, and the movement around him he has to deal with being called crazy, socialist or communist despite nothing of it being even remotely close to the truth. He may have managed to move the narrative slightly to the left but Biden is a quite different president compared to what Sanders would've been despite representing the same party.
My point is the whole left right scale is far to the right in the US.
In the choice between Trump and Clinton I believe the support for Clinton was around 90% in Sweden during that election while not winning the popular vote in the US, Trump still won the election in the US.
I think you have to use other words than liberal or progressive when you talk about the left side of the spectrum outside the US since that is very confusing if you're not used to the narrative used in the US where right is far right and left is centre/right.
The problem in comparing the left/right spectrum between Sweden and the USA is that the entire US political spectrum from the hardest rightwing to the most progressive leftwing still lands by comparison, in the Swedish spectrum slightly to the right of the Swedish "Moderaterna".
Red is the socialist colour in most countries I think
It must be because america uses the imperial system...
@@hussein.abass. Hahaha it is because of the media in the us. Republicans actually used to be the most left wing party back in time and democrats used to be the conservative.
@@frederikjrgensen252 It is because of the media, but not like you say. They way they color left and right is fairly new and started at 2000 election because of media started to use unified colors for graphical maps on TV. They selected Red for Republicans because they both start with R.
US used to use the international standard for a long time, but the standard used on TV got so much penetration on general public that they switched colors.
But republican and democrats has also switch political position in the past, but it was much earlier. Like 100 years ago.
@@Fogel70 JJ mccolough has made a really good video on this topic. In my country Denmark we also have some odd party names like the venstre party (left party) and Det radikale venstre (the radical left party) both parties are center parties. The radical left being center left and the venstre party being center right.
@@frederikjrgensen252 Sure, but my point was that US switched the use of colors during 2000 election, when they earlier used the conventional standrard used for a long time. Blue for right and red for left. But starting at the 2000 election they switched over to Red for right and blue for left.
3:45 Jag tror det har att göra med inkomst och jobb i Sverige. I storstäder speciellt Stockholm där inkomsten är högre och många företagare bor röstar man höger eftersom man vill ha sänkt skatt och gynna företagande. Medan på landsbygden bor fler "arbertare" eller vad man ska säga, därför röstar många på socialdemokraterna eftersom dom vill gynna arbetarklassen och höja deras villkor och standard.
Makes since, maybe the US is the weird one on that point.
Stor del av arbetarklassen och folk på landsbygden röstar dock SD idag. Socialliberala Centerpartiet är ganska populära bland storstadsbor.
förutom jag som lever på landsbygden och tycker inte alls så
@@StefanThyron I don't think that the US is wierd on that point. The political parties are very different in terms of ideology and "sakpolitik". Here in sweden almost all the parties are around the middle line in the "Autharitarian/Liberterian" axis on the political compass and on the "righ-left" axis their very spread, but in the US both parties are close on the right-left axis and the bigger diferences between the parties are on the "Autharitarian/Liberterian" axis
@@isacfridlund That's very true. Even though our parties aren't very far from each other if we put them on a global political scale. I mean, Marcus Oscarsson doesn't even put Bernie Sanders left of SD, KD, M.
Using the Word ”liberal” and ”conservative” in an American way as a synonym to left and right is a bit weird in a Swedish context.
E.g. the Social Democrats are fairly conservative. That’s why they are pretty popular in the countryside. Remember, conservatism has nothing to do with left vs right or taxes. It has to do with preserving the status quo, and the social democrats have governed for almost 100 years and are the definition of the status quo in Sweden. When they govern, very little changes.
Equally, liberalism is an ideology about freedom and not synonymous with leftism. The liberal parties are the greens, center and the, well, liberals. Low taxes, personal freedom etc. These parties are basically the same as the democrats, as you noticed. They are not conservative because they want to fundamentally change Swedish society away from social democracy into liberalism and often look at the US as a model.
The Conservative right wing parties (M, KD) are to the economic right like the liberals, but more aligned with the social democrats on many conservative issues and try to out do them there.
So basically, you have conservatives on both the left and the right in Sweden, and “woke” progressives as well.
Exactly!
Glöm ej SD
@@pansarkraft Everyone should forget SD.
@@johnneiberger7311 As a dane I would like to know why most swedes don't like the SD and why the swedish politicians don't want to work together with them. In Denmark it is very normal to work together with the Sweden democrats sister party the DPP.
@@frederikjrgensen252 why work with a party you don’t share values with?
10:27 "..yet *WE* still have a king"
Subconsciously, you've started to think of yourself as somewhat Swedish? You're welcome to do so 😁
He's a swedish citizen, he pays taxes in Sweden, he works in Sweden, he lives in Sweden. I would say it's his king just as much as it is my king.
@@kermoots9261 He´s a Swedish citizen? I think I´ve missed the video where he said that? When did that happen? He´s only lived here for four years, not five.
@@kermoots9261 Well I think it was more a comment of what he feels he belongs to. If I move to Canada and get a Canadian citizenship, I'm suspecting that it'll still take a while before I consider myself "Canadian". So I think the comment was meant as "you feel like you're beginning to fit in and belong here? Glad to hear :)"
Stefan, you really need to get a grip with the difference between socialism and social democracy.
No u
@@sbyco eh what? Social democrats are capitalist and not socialist.
Socialism and democratic socialism is not equal to social democratic ideology
@@sbyco well it is different because you have a winer takes all system and very negative to government coalitions.
Wen we have those tensions they just move to the left party or start their own party as there is no spoiler effect, and we can’t chose the PM anyway.
@@sbyco biggest divide we have in the parties are actually stands on immigration and concessions to the center and liberal party in the coalition
Sean yes, it’s the same in Sweden. There has always been a more socialist part of the social democrats (they are called the reformists).
King Carl XVI Gustaf turns 75 tomorrow on April 30th 2021.
Yay maybe he's finally gone soon just a few more years
@@Charkel cringe.
Expressens ledarsida gav alldeles nyligen upp kravet på kungahusets avgång och införandet av republik. Man motiverar detta med att man kommit fram till att kungahuset är mest till nytta för Sverige, och inte just alls skadligt.
Long live the king.
Gud bevare Konungen!
Yeah, I've never heard anyone here in Sweden complain about their salary in regards to taxes. I'm a teacher and I make loads of money after taxes, so it's not like I'm MISSING the money I'm not getting paid out... it would cost me SO much more to have to pay for medical care and so on... and it goes to my retirement money, and when I'm sick I can just stay home from work, no problem... and people who have kids would struggle having to pay for school meals, dental care and so on. I don't even have to think about saving money for those kinds of things...
They might complain more if all the taxes were listed when they get their salary...
The are plenty of other countries with way less taxes than Sweden that still have better social services.
The fact is that the taxes are so high in Sweden that they dampen the economy so much that the taxes generated are less than they could have been.
Example: After the 2006 election the Alliance government lowered the overall tax burden, and this resulted in HIGHER tax income for the state.
This effect is best explained by the Laffer curve.
And the scary thing is that the left wing parties in Sweden know this, but still insist on trying to increase taxes even more...
@@Merecir lol, right wing person detected, then I guess. I write about my own experience as a swede. I want for nothing, healthy, sick, employed or unemployed, I've been all those things, and I've always had a great, safe and stable life, due to living here.
@@wynja77 Regardless of your political stance. If you are a proponent of taxes, would you not want the state to maximize the amount of taxes it can extract from the system?
And as we have now proven that taxes in Sweden are so high that the system generates less taxes than the maximum, would it not then be the logical conclusion that lowering the taxes would in fact increase the amount of tax income for the state?
@@Merecir You're just a random person on the internet, I don't think what you write "proves" anything. It's probably a case of that the reality isn't that easy.
As an American, I wouldn't mind paying a bit more in taxes for more benefits, it's just our government is horrible at spending money, so the extra taxes would probably just go into military spending our something like that unfortunately
One thing that I think adds to your confusion is the typical American misconception that "liberal" means left-wing, when in actuality it's a center-right ideology (which is accurate for the US Democrats). There's also the misconception that right-wing = conservative and left-wing = progressive, when they're actually completely separate (right/left is economics, while conservative/progressive is social). As an example with Swedish parties, the Liberals are right-wing/progressive, while the Christian Democrats are right-wing/conservative (all of our big left-wing parties happen to also lean towards progressivism, but it doesn't have to always be that way).
Maybe one of your best videos.
As a Swede, I really only have one ‘problem’ with it and this is the use of the term ‘liberal’. I do know that liberal has a different meaning in the US than in Europe and for most of us - certainly for myself- to be liberal is the very opposite of being a socialist. And most certainly on the ‘blue’ side here in Sweden.
Then you can question if "Liberalerna" really are Liberals too
@@klaseniusproductions7591 ye
Exactly. Liberals in Sweden is mostly about ""Why should I care about anyone else? Why can''t I do anything I want?".
So I think people get the word liberal mixed up with the word freedom. It doesn't necessarily mean that freedom of choice Is freedom for all. Why are people leening more towards socialism here I Sweden? Well its because we have a strong sense of justice and we are brought up with the word solidarity, which is just another way of saying that instead of me getting a few 100 kronor (tens of dollars) we can pay those kronor In tax and help someone in more need. So freedom for me is to know that if shits hits the fan, I'll be taken care of. That's why I at least wouldn't vote red (or blue)
@@Jenniebynsow In other words: totalitarian collectivism. Alla SKA med, annars jävlar.
This is just my experience and my thoughts, so no stone hard facts. But when you were talking about how the rural areas of Sweden are so far left while in the US they're right I just felt like sharing this! Me and my family are from the far north (mostly Gällivare), and socialism has been very important in order for the cities to even survive. A lot of people were poor, and my family was no exception, they were so poor that they couldn't afford a funeral when my great grandfather died. And if I remember correctly my grandparents families used to get milk delivered for free so that the kids in the families wouldn't get malnourished, I don't remember if this was something that the mine financed or if it was the state, but none the less helping each other has always been very important in the poor and harsh parts of the country. I am no expert when it comes to economy and politics (nor history), but I would say that leaning towards socialism is to be conservative in those places, because socialism is what built them.
Det är precis varför Socialdemokraterna har mycket stöd. Det handlar om tacksamhet till systemet men idag när du kollar på de yngre generationerna, det är inte så vanligt att man är för S.
@@seyed7380 Nää, sen tror jag att en stor anledning till det helt enkelt är att unga personer inte har upplevt dessa tider, därför vet de inte vad Socialdemokraterna gjort. Sen är det även svårt att jämföra den tiden med dagens tid. Nuförtiden behöver inte lika många personer hjälp av staten längre. Tycker även inte att man ska rösta på ett parti för att "tacka" de för vad som hände för många år sedan, utan istället borde man kolla på vilket parti som kommer dela ens åsikter mest de nästkommande fyra åren.
@@seyed7380 you forgot the big old D
@@sabedi2129 Det upp till varje person att bestämma vad som är vettig politik. Jag säger bara att Socialdemokraternas dagar är räknade.
@@Folkharp-sx8nh no
Respect for being honest about your political leanings!
As a swede, This was very interesting to watch!
Are you aware of that about 30% of the tax your employer pays on top of your wage (arbetsgivaravgift eg. statlig skatt) goes to fund your retirement plan?
18.5% of gross salary, of which 7% comes from your personal income taxes (so that the basic rate of income tax is really about 25%) and the rest from the employer goes to your government pensions account, and employers typically add another 4.5% (goes up to 30% at higher levels of income) to your workplace pension. Quite generous, and in light of that Swedish taxes aren’t as high as they might first appear. The trouble is a lack of transparency as it’s all bundled together into a ‘tax” line item, whereas in countries such as Denmark the different charges are all separate.
@@RobertClaeson Thank you Robert! I think it is only in part due to Lack of transparency but mostly disinterest from employees whom sees every deduction from what we get our hand on money wise every month as an evil tax😁
It is a pity that Stefan does not pay much interest to these comments he could really learn a lot😎
That's a really misleading statement. www.skatteverket.se/foretagochorganisationer/arbetsgivare/arbetsgivaravgifterochskatteavdrag/arbetsgivaravgifter.4.233f91f71260075abe8800020817.html
@@eriksundqvist Misleading? Your link just confirms Roberts comment!
@@Goophern What are you talking about? He said that the money goes to fund my retirement plan. As in, ALL the money goes there. They sure as hell do not. Approx 10% of the money does that. What's absurd is that 11% goes to "Allmän löneavgift", dafuq is that even. I'll tell you. It's more tax.
Great points! As for me the weirdest things in US are the death penalty, the many anti-abortionists, the fact that you can go bankrupt if you get sick and the liberal gun laws.
Your best video yet, so on point, it's all true! Amazed that you have found such a clear view of how it works here (many people, even Swedes do not understand this). Most good, some strange, some bad, but still good (compared to many countries). Ok I am biased. High taxes, sure, but no expensive school or insursnce making us more equal. A kid that has really poor parents but is really smart has (mostly) the same opporunities as a rich kid.
I think some basic stuff should be run by the government, the infrastucture enabeling more money and wellfare (transportation, healthcare, school, etc). Cheers from Gothenburg.
The king is rather a morality boost, at least for me :P He's funny XD And seems like a decent dude :P
Jag älskar kunga familjen, de verkar så snälla. Dessutom gör de ett bra jobb med att "marknadsföra" Sverige och underhåller många gamla byggnader som annars antagligen skulle förfalla.
I think you meant "decadent dude" 😂😂
@@patriklundberg9527 mmmmm mysko farbror.
he's our senile but very loving grandpa lol
”Förlåt men filma katten där borta, den är väldigt vacker” yes pls
5:25 that's because we've been practicing social distancing our whole lives. We were born for this 😄
@Stefan Thyron You often talk about how much of your money disappears into taxes. But have you done an actual comparison between what you get for your salary in sweden vs USA? As in not measuring your salary in dollars or crowns, but measuring it in goods and services you get when using your salary. Because I am quite sure the standard of living is high in sweden. Which means swedes get a lot for their salary.
Agreed it would be a better comparison too look at how much you have left after bills are paid.
@@daguds Not only bills. Things you buy to increase the quality of your life.
Just think of healthcare insurance, education, medication etc - its all included in Sweden. In the US on the other hand….
@@KurtGAndersen This is the case. In the US, you pay for everything for yourself. In Sweden, the average annual wage is lower than in the US, but after your paycheck comes you have already sort of "paid" for your services like health-care and education. This might seem like a bad situation for the high-paid businessman, but then again, when I think about it, I'd rather live in a safe and stable society than in a place where I earn a lot, but then I would have to use heaps of money to secure myself and my property. The Nordic model isn't perfect, of course, but it's a lot more equal.
We have a monarchy because of historical tradition. The same as our neighboring countries Denmark and Norway. UK, Netherlands and Spain also have a monarchy. The French monarchy ended with Napoleon in power. Many other countries monarchies ended with occupation, dictatorship or they are newly sovereign states like Finland and Estonia etc. Or other reasons and so on. :)
UK monarch still has power though, more than you'd think
only for the sake of completeness
,hete here the continue od countrs rest of you have forgotten some of the monarchs who are still ruling
The interesting thing is that several of the monarchies that you list above are among the most stable and democratic countries in the world.
I love the fact that we can vote on the party we like the most without the fear of losing our vote. I have heard so many americans saying they like the libertarian party but cant vote on it because it is a "lost vote".
thats because they have been conditioned to think that way if more people knew there was a 3 party option and if they voted in enough mass they could win numbers are up to 20% in some areas
No. You are keeping about 70% of everything you make. The hidden tax you talk about does not come out of your pay. It is wrong to add them together. However, the "hidden" tax pays for sick leave, pensions, and alot of other stuff. If that tax rate is lowered you would NOT get more in payment for your work.
right?? it felt SO wrong to me when he just added the percentages like- that's not really how it works... ;-;
It does come out of your pay. If you look up the history. It was taken off your pay to create a pension system. So that 20% goes to your pension and you pay about 30% when getting it back. Plus you have to pay 25% tax/moms when you spend your taxed money on something. So you actually pay closer to 70% in tax on your income. Not keeping it.
i cant speak for every1, but i enjoy our taxes, given all they contribute to in our country
wouldnt want to live anywhere else
Yet they didn’t lockdown and pay people to prevent the virus which surprised me. In nz we pay slightly lower tax but the government paid everyone during the lockdown due to this.
Yes, the point of having high taxes is to make it better for EVERYONE not just the one who makes the big money. And if the population is better off then the country is better off in general and we reduce class differences etc. I think the strong social democratic systems are what made Scandinavia so successful when you look at the happiest and "best" countries in the world. Not saying any country is super good in my opinion, there are still tons of problems, but taxes is not one of them. Only when it comes to these rich people who are trying to avoid paying taxes. Around 130 billion got lost i 2018 according to Aftonbladet. Just imagine what we could do with that kind of money to make it better for the general population instead of them just buying another yacht.
I think the way you see the employer's tax is weird. The employer pays a tax, and you pay a tax. If there wasn't an employer's tax that money wouldn't go to you. So I don't think it is fair to say that you only get HALF of what you earn. Because you aren't earning those other 20%. Maybe you can think of it as the business sector paying society back for providing your worker with the competence. The tax payers did invest in every person's education after all, and that money has to come from somewhere. We all pay for each other's professional skills and education, and the business sector contributes.
Very well said. Thank you.
Tror inte det är arbetsgivaravgiften han talar om, utan företagsskatten. Företag (beroende på tföretagstyp) betalar strax över 20 % i vinstskatt, och då han förefaller ha ett eget företag så måste han först betala den skatten, för att sedan betala ca 30 % i kommunelskatt på sin lön.
You have made some great observations. There are explanations to some of these issues that don't necceraly correlate to ideology but to history. For example, in Sweden the government didn't have the mandate to issue a complete lockdown because the constitution protects freedom of speech/the right to organise and demonstrate very high. Issuing a lockdown would prohibit it completely and is not in the government's right. Instead, the government made a temporary law that has the support of the whole parliament- all the parties - that mandates some restrictions on industries, public sector, right to protest etc. This is good because it means that Sweden doesn't take democracy for granted and the constitution protects the people from totalitarian rulers. With far less restrictions the government is relying on people taking own responsibility and in a country with high trust in its public institutions this strategy has worked in some ways well. I can understand that from an American perspective this sounds more like a conservative standpoint, perhaps correlating more to economic growth, but in Sweden freedom of speech and the right to organize protests is valued highly do to the working class fight for their rights in the beginning of the 20th century.
I think it's great that you make these videos and reflect on the similarities and differences. If you wanna learn more on politics in Sweden vs US I'm sure we are a few nerds that can elaborate on it with you 😄
Considering what is happening in the states now and for the last four and some years I think the "wierdness" of our politics pale in comparison.
Great video as always 👍 but one thing I would like to add is that the word "communism" isn't really as acceptable as you portray it and the people who use it the most are from the youth parties especially "ung vänster". Many of the older generations are still very anti-communist and still dislike Vänsterpartiet due to their history as Communists.
Agreed there has been some controversies surrounding the fact the some party leaders (Lars Ohly, Noshi dadgostar, etc) still referred them self as Communists or didn't take a strong enough stance agianst communism.
@@wilhelmmoller960 Funny thou that so many see Communist China as a friendly superpower
No i relly don't agree, alot of swedish poleticans fore example want to deport the chines ambasador and HM have closed and reelocated some factorys in China do to rumors of child laibor and let's not forget that Sweden togheter with the UN are condemming the reeducation camps they put ther muslim population in.
@@wilhelmmoller960 China is a Communist super power with a very dark history. I really admire Donald Trump. He was the first to really stand up against China.
@@kobrapelle i don't know IF you can really call China a proper cummunist state, but yes they need to be criticized and there status as a superpower needs ro be chalanged. Trump did indeed chalanges China but i don't know if it was all fore the right reasson but it did atleast Bring chinas dominance up for debate
About taxes; if you make under 33000 sek per month, you pay about 25 percent in taxes. The tax that your employer pay is money that is for you. Paid sick leave for example and parental leave.
The employer tax is still a tax. Then you also pay VAT/moms, 20% on many things you buy, and then also special taxes on gas, electricity and other things.
@@RobertKallstrom true. But without the employers tag, we wouldn't have money during sickleave and other benefits. Tax on things you buy; yes but that is also the case in the States
@@lazycat64 Jag tror faktiskt inte att alla stater i USA har moms, "sales tax", och om de har det så är den betydligt lägre än i Sverige.
Jag håller med dig men ville bara lägga till det.
@@nebelung1 så kan det vara. Jag vet bara att jag läst att svenskar som handlar i USA blir förvånade när det inte är priset på etiketten som gäller utan att det skall läggas på moms också.
I fail to comprehend how one can live in Sweden, see all the benefits of social democracy (everyone being able to afford healthcare, nobody starving to death, efficient public transportation, free and excellent education...), and yet support the American Libertarian Party?
Families are in constant debt simply because they want their children to have a decent education, or because they get hurt, or are born with crippling conditions. But yeah, complete privatisation of all sectors seems like a great idea. Maybe let's charge people to breathe too.
Libertarians are historically socialist. There is a small section who espouse the writings of Murray Rothbard-he’s the one who advocated for complete privatization/free market BUT he also took that so far as to advocate for parents to sell their kids in the marketplace, too ... insisting that requiring parents to feed their children was an infringement of the rights of the parents.
Most people don’t read enough into what he said, see “free market” and privatization, and just stop reading.
Rothbard also advocated for the age of consent to be 3 years old (yes, you read that correctly-he claimed consent needed to be based on when physical relations could happen without physical harm to either party and tried to claim this begins at age 3).
The folks who usually talk about Rothbard’s talking points (just so far as they’ve read) are people who’ve become disgruntled with the Republican Party, and then need to be brought up to speed on why they can’t make the Libertarian party over in their idea of a Republican image.
Libertarians aren’t conservatives, generally (conservationists, yes)--but they want to make sure proposals are fiscally responsible (needs are actually being adequately met, not just throwing money to the wind).
They’re also an actual political party. Anyone can participate at no cost, and if you volunteer throughout the year, you get a voucher for attending the state convention.
Republicans are a private club. You have to pay yearly dues to attend meetings, fees for other events, fees for the county convention, fees for the state convention.
Democrats don’t charge; they are an actual political party and not a private club.
I hope that helps? Feel free to ask questions (might take a few days to get to it, just FYI).
Honestly, I think people here in America look to the libertarian party more hopefully (without really looking at their policies) because with our 2 party system I think there's a lot of corruption and split views... the idea of a third party just sounds more appealing I think
Lol, what a straw man. No libertarian I have ever met says that we have no moral obligation to help the disadvantaged and with libertarianism there will be a huge civil society. Plus, things like 'enormous' debt for education in the US exists because the free market has been distorted by the state. Also, the 'enormous debt' thing is, actually, kind of a myth, actually student debts are higher in Sweden (where we don't even pay for the actual studies xD): The debt-to-income ratio is 60% in the US but 80% in Sweden. www.collegefinancinggroup.com/student-loan-repayment/free-college-in-sweden-high-student-debt/.
Btw, please stop attributing things like that no one is starving to death to social democracy. No one starved in Sweden long before social democracy. Also in Venezuela, which is a socialist (~social democratic) country, people actually are starving. In Japan, the train system is the best in the world and it's completely privatized, so your point about efficient public transportation due to social democracy is also false. Also, we don't have 'excellent' education in Sweden: Look at the PISA results and how our universities are ranked internationally (most of the top universities are private and are located in the US).
Hey Stefan, i'm kinda a new here in your channel but it's really nice to see your videos because i'm too i'm trying to move to Sweden, but one thing i don't know that you know about the political compass (that is a one way of measuring ideology) is that the US major political parties can be divided in "left" or "right" but that's not true if you see ideology in the world, so if you see what is considered left or right in a wide sense probably the US major parties would be on the right alignment and the differences would exactly the more conservative and liberal. So if you are more aligned with a Libertarian Ideology it's really not a surprised that you are more right-forward, it's just how the spectrum works! There's a lot of ways of "measuring" ideology, there's no quite right or wrong here because it's a little abstract in some kind of way on what you're looking at and what you're looking for.
Liberalerna (tror jag de heter numera, tidigare Folkpartiet Liberalerna) betraktas i Sverige som ett högerparti. Socialisterna är inte glada för saker alls med Liberal- i namnet. Liberal är inte Social.
@@MathiasHeinel Yeah that's what i kinda tried to say overrall, because of the political compass is sometimes weird to label things. Using an example of my life, here in Brasil for along time there were A LOT of center parties that just were "government parties" they are not moved by ideology, but by true politics and money. And there is the Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party, but since 2010'ish there was a great movement to the right and the rise of the now president Bolsonaro that is not a normal right-wing, but it's in fact a lunatic. And it's really normal here to relate "liberal" here in Brasil with right-wing because they relate with economics and not social democracy, and because the left-wing is more aligned with social equality part of the job, not really the economics.
Hi from Melbourne ,super interesting videos. I love hearing about your experience in Sweden. Very interesting and insightful.
Red was the colour of the international workers rights movement in the late 19th/early 20th century and became the symbolic colour of both socialism and communism. It's a complete mind**** for us Europeans to hear Americans talk about an area "going red" and remembering that to you that means conservative. It's like Denmark (I think?) who've decided to call the conservative end of the scale "left" and the socialist end of the scale "right" in complete disregard of the rest of the world ... 😂
Norway also has a party called venstre which is right leaning. The name venstre is from when venstre was the most left leaning party in parliament. The republican and democrat use those color because of media.
We don't really "support the monarchy financially". Yes, sure, there are tax money paying for it but we need to have a head-of-state function and the monarchy gives us that for a bargain, really with a profit if you count goodwill. We can compare to Finland, whose head-of-state function is a LOT more expensive, I think it was something like double the cost last time I checked the Finnish state budget.
Bra video! Apropå Demokraterna och Republikanerna i USA och deras ideologier och partifärger, så har jag för mig att de har bytt sida under tidens gång. På 1800-talet var Demokraterna de konservativa och tvärt om!
Ja, de skiftade på sextiotalet, som en del i republikanernas "Southern strategy" som inleddes i början av sextiotalet.
Ännu roligare är att de en gång i tiden var samma parti, de är båda splittringar ur The Democratic-republican party (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic-Republican_Party).
Det nuvarande partisystemet i USA är ett av många. De har splittrats och nya partier har ersatt varandra ett antal gånger där.
De fick färg först med färgtv:n ungefär, det finns youtube klipp om det
Most democratic countries have more than two parties to vote for, only the United States (what I know) has only two political wings/parties to vote for (red or blue).
It becomes very polarized and static and one thinks of historical events happen back in the United States.
Visst är skatten högre, men då är det mesta redan betald om du blir sjuk eller vill studera på universitet eller liknande.
I USA får du lägga undan pengarna till detta istället, lite generellt....
@@vardekpetrovic9716 Insane ??? You can't even read the text. I compare sweden vs USA, Polen isn.t mentioned. And I didn't say it was totaly free. Read first........
Interesting insights! Color schemes of the left and right wings in Germany are similar to Sweden - maybe a European thing?
Yes, it's really only the US that use the opposite color scheme. The rest of the world, at least the Western world, uses red for left-wing politics and blue for right-wing politics. AFAIK, the US color scheme was made up on a whim by a TV network in the 70s or something. Quite recent.
I believe it has something to do with the history of the labour movement, left leaning european political parties chose the red color as a sign of solidarity and and as a symbol to previous communist ideologies.
Its used Usa that have red as right wing look at Sovjet and China,Vietnam redflags....
J.J. McCullough made a video on political colors pretty recently. Definitely worth a watch if you're interested in how the different party colors came to be around the world.
@Jörgen Fredriksson It must be because america uses the imperial system...
We have basically no property tax, though, which you do have in most American states. That's just one of the _many_ reasons Swedish real estate prices are so insane, but it is a reason no less.
Våda föreslår du att vi borde återinföra den?
@@seyed7380 Det tycker jag absolut att vi borde göra. Den har en väldigt positiv effekt på ekonomin, främst folks rörlighet.
@@paulallen579 vi har redan nog höga skatter behövs inte fler. Låga räntor under högkonjunktur plus massinvandring på det så svenskar nu har dem högsta privatlånen för man vill bo med andra svenskar har bidragit till dessa
@@paulallen579 Fastighetskatt är bara en dold förmögenhetsskatt.
@@dwaynethewokjohnson7773 Det hade gått att sänka inkomstskatterna och andra skatter ifall man höjt fastighetskatterna till exempel. När vi avskaffade fastighetsskatten så sjönk hushållens beskattning från 13 miljarder till 10 miljarder, jag hade hellre sänkt inkomstskatterna för de 3 miljarderna eftersom fastighetsskatten har så bra effekter på ekonomin.
The red/blue thing in the US is as far as I know relatively new, and a result of the introduction of colour tv. It just happened that some large network started using the colours that have become standard now. There is no real reason for it.
One thing many fail to understand is that if you have a child (for example) in Sweden you'll get a subsidy, while in the US you'll get a tax reduction.
This makes the tax seem higher than what they really are, in practice
Idk it depends what you want. The social programs in Sweden sound nice but I wouldn’t want to have a top marginal tax of 57%, 25% VAT, and a car tax.
I live in Kansas. Try taking away farm subsidies, rural subsidies for road maintenance, etc - and you will find how socialistic they really are. They get subsidies if their crops fail, and if they don't. They are given subsidies for not planting anything.
You seem to think that "left" means liberal, but that is not really the case. In the US there are only 2 parties and that may be the reason you think that, but when you have more parties you need more variables to understand the political landscape. Socialism does not have to be liberal, in fact many times it's more authoritarian. The "Left" and "Right" scale in Sweden has more to do with economical politics like taxes and parties can be more or less liberal no matter where they're placed on that scale. I would for example say that the most liberal parties in Sweden are "Centerpartiet" and "Liberalerna" despite being closer to the center or even to "Right" side of the Swedish political map.
Very interesting! I find I'm very similar to you with my politics abroad. In the US I'd vote Green, and I'd be considered super liberal, but in the UK I'm fairly moderate. It's not that my views have changed much, but that a lot of "crazy liberal" stuff in the US is just normal here. Like even most conservatives here agree we should have free, accessible health care and legal abortions. But economically I'm more conservative, so I end up leaning more right. Still would never vote Tory though (Conservative party, handled the pandemic shockingly), I have a soul.
So who would you vote for in the UK? I thought it would have been Tories.
You could vote for the Liberal Democrats. I think the LibDem is prob the best political party I've seen in the English-speaking world.
@@Dudedubba lol Nick clegg promising students no tuition hike? Ring a bell? Got the chans in govern't and what do the lib dems do?
Comparing the two societies you need to consider what meaning you put into the labels "liberal", "socialist" and "conservative". There are both a financial dimension and a social dimension - that won't necessarily follow each other - to every one of those labels.
Swedish liberals, for instance, tend to be more on the liberal side both in the financial dimension and the social whereas the US Democrats are only liberal on social issues - not financial ones. US Conservatives tend to be very liberal on financial issues but not on social. Swedish Socialists are more liberal on social issues but very much not on financial ones.
The royal family is absolutely a good investment economically for Sweden to keep. The millions we spend are probably multiplied several times in terms of income from tourism. AND if someone thinks we wouldn´t spend that kind of money if we got rid of the royal family they are wrong. All the castles and mansions have such a high cultural and historic value that taxpayers money would have to pay for the maintainance anyways...
Not to speak of the headlines they create globally, putting Sweden on the map. Thank you Carl Gustaf with family for advertising at a low cost.
Around 120 million goes to the royal family but according to lots of news papers they actually generate around 140
It's around 140 million crowns, but the family gets just 35-40 million crowns. Most of it goes to f. e. to pay salary to the stuff and maintenance in the castles, but not the real estastes.
I'm curious if having a king is costing money or earning more due to tourism. I'm not sure, but I would not be surprised if it was slightly net positive.
The monarchy actually makes money it's profitable and out of the five most democratic countries in the world 4 are monarchies it goes hand in hand with swedish values
A very sensitive subject to talk about, that was brave! In general I agree with all your points, drug policy is weird and taxes are too high. Legalisera mera!
Inte lika "sensitive" att prata om politik i USA som här i Sverige, kan vara en anledning att ham gjorde videon
I find that Swedes find this sensitive kind of disturbing.
@@sabedi2129 Fast ditt påstående stämmer verkligen inte överens med verkligheten.
In Europe the monarchies are the most liberal and progressive countries. European monarchies are chart topping in various liberty rankings and in my opinion having a non-partisan monarch is far better than a partisan president.
Just wanted to point out that liberal and conservative aren't opposites, the opposite of liberal is authoritarian and the opposite of conservative is progressive, the moderate party for example call themselves Liberal-Conservative
I think most Swedes don’t know how much they actually pay in taxes
Of course, I can understand that the political colors can be confusing for an American. However, it is the United States that is different in the rest of the world is red = left and blue = right. Strange that you have become more right-wing in Sweden, probably thought it would be the other way around. The Libertians' let go of politics is hm...well irresponsible.
I started checking out your videos when you were based in Norrköping, but I still love your videos even though you abandoned this pretty city!
But really, it's interesting to see how you view Sweden compared to the US
Ontario Canada also has a govt owned liquor store (LCBO), very little alcohol is sold in private stores (only a few that sell Ontario wines). Beer is sold in beer stores owned by a consortium of the beer producers.
@@vardekpetrovic9716 the beer stores in Ontario are owned by the breweries. Used to be called "brewer's retail", now "the beer store"
The whole point of not having harsh restrictions was to leave responsibility of following guidelines to the citizens themselves. That way we make life easier by not setting down strict rules which messes with our daily lives while also adapting to the reality of the virus in a way which works for the individual. It is a great responsibility for every person and some care for it poorly but I myself am a believer of the rational human and that people only follow forced rules when someone is looking.
Maybe you culd make a video about religion in Sweden vs USA. 😉
I can tell you as a lawyer there's a strong lobbyism about legalizing some drugs. At first marijuana. And there's an error in the clip, it's not corporate income tax that's the hidden tax. It's arbetsgivaravgifter, the fee an employer has to pay on the salary for an employee.
You can say what you want about taxes. But on average many Americans have to pay more to enjoy what we have in the Nordic countries. But it's more of personal freedom in the states rather than here. But if you want the exact same things, health care, dental care, college. USA is more expensive.
I'm in Denmark and I would argue that all our parties are "socialist" at a base level, and where they tend to differ are within immigration and taxes/legislation in the private sector. I don't think you could compare the Danish conservatives to the US Republicans on a one-to-one-ratio, because on some issues they'd be considered socialist/liberal by American standards. I'd argue that there are more nuances in Nordic/European politics than there is in the US, where it's more "either/or". My point is just that being Nordic/European conservative is not the same as US Republican and should not be compared on a one-to-one-ratio.
Jag tror inte att vi är så ideologiska. Vi gillar det som fungerar.
I’m the same. As a born and raised Swede I’m def more conservative (blue) but if I was American I would without a doubt be a Democrat.
It’s because even our most Conservative party is still so much more liberal and socialistic than the American Democratic Party is...
Dont belief that BS. In the Netherlands they say the same but the right wing liberal parties such as VVD and populist right are decentralizing everything. Moderaterna is not far away from the dutch VVD.
The premise that the people would be angry if there were a more strict corona policy is completely wrong, if daddy government would say “stay inside” almost everyone would follow. We have had a very restrictive drug policy for a long time and if they would chance that it would require them to admit that they have been wrong, and politicians usually don’t wanna do that.
The red vs. blue political color thing in the US is actually fairly recent. It's due to the color coded maps on TV election coverage. I don't recall the terms being used at all prior to 2000. Bush/Gore was a very close race, so there was much discussion of which way each state was voting- would it be colored in on the map in blue or in red, particularly Florida which wasn't decided until sometime in December. In the end, Florida went to Bush and the map was colored in in red, hence Florida becoming a 'red' state. The colors have no meaning or connection to international politics.
You do teach me so much. You are a natural teacher. I've always thought; if we could all live in another country when we're young it would be so helpful to understand other people, etc. I was a little surprised to learn you're Libertarian. They oppose any gun control. I was tremendously influenced by my Liberal father and firmly ensconced that camp my whole life...and I recognize the power of our early indoctrination. However, my younger brother, 8 years difference, is a devout Libertarian. We couldn't be more different politically. My brother seriously disappointed my father in the end; his cruel judgment and dismissive attitudes towards Liberalism wounded my father in his late 80s. I feel it's the coldness of many Libertarians of "survial of the fittest'... "You made your bed; lie in it." "You're disadvantaged; get over it." Sweden is more complicated than I imagined.
I wouldn't say I'm a through and through Libertarian. And let's be honest the party itself in the US is a disaster. But I really like to have a high level of personal freedom and I don't like having an authority telling me what I can and can't do, taking a high percentage of what I earn, etc. I definitely understand the benefits and Sweden has a great system! But it does go against my natural tendencies in some ways.
@@StefanThyron we should also. remember that "Libertarians" are no longer a politically homogenous group of people. I ran into this Dutch fellow the other day who described himself as "leftist libertarian". I think you, Stefan, would fit right in in the Netherlands. Prob the most libertarian country in Europe.
Many libertarians aren't about "survival of the fittest". They just believe in actually following the US constitution and that small, local governments, like a county, should be more at the front of governing their citizens and distributing resources to those who need it. In the USA we have many liberal and socialistic policies that are costing trillions and continue to fail because of the huge federal bureaucracy. I think socialism works better in Sweden because it is much smaller and has a far more culturally homogeneous people.
@@StefanThyron Are they actually your positions? Or are the taught. I am really interested.
@@beorlingo They have high taxes though. This seems to be the biggest issue for Stefan.
Hi can u do one about netherlands and sweden cuz i wanne meet friends in sweden but im autistic and i wanne know what to expect
I'll hit up some netherlands friends :)
Hello!
I'm not going to pretend that I know what to expect when making friends in Sweden. But from my personal experience as a Swede living in Sweden with doctors/psychologists suspecting that I have some type of "rare" combination of Aspergers and Schizophrenia (still not 100% diagnosed yet).
My personal tip for making friends in Sweden (or any country really) would be to meet people within an activity you are already interested in. For example gaming (based solely on your name) or anything that you are interested in really.
Just join a local group or whatever you can find and talk to people and don't be afraid to mention that you have autism if you are comfortable with it.
In my experience most people will be understanding of me missing social cues and being a bit strange, even if they don't fully understand what my experience of reality is.
Just be yourself and be as honest about yourself as you are comfortable with, and eventually you will meet people who will accept you for who you are and are more than willing to be your friend.
I would also suggest talking to a local psychologist wherever you live and see if they can help you to find places to meet people.
This is just what I would personally recommend from my own experience, but professional help is always better.
I hope this helps you in some way and good luck!
@@StefanThyron thank you :)
@@AndreasBgaming thank you i think it wil :) ill still br waiting for the tips stefan gives :)
@@AndreasBgaming Good tip! Many (me included) get a bit uncomfortable when suddenly spoken too. Although, sometimes it works. :)
Btw, you used the old logo for Moderaterna. They have went back to just moderaterna and a style more common with their old design. This is a nod to that they are going back to being a conservative party rather than their experimentation with liberalism under the Borg-Reinfeldt administration.
Very informative and interesting!
Look forward to when we will crown Princess Victoria as the Queen of Sweden
Crown Princess Victoria is lovely, but I hope it won´t happen in 20-25 years or so, I don´t want the king to die soon and her and her siblings losing their father.
one word that americans should learn: solidarity
As an American, I agree completely. I would like to live in a country where we look out for one another and share burdens more. Paying taxes so others can benefit, especially health care. But American culture is TOO individualistic.
The reason cities tend to be more conservative in Sweden and the opposite is true in America (and other places too) is immigration and racial or ethnic composition.
Interesting observations!
You are one brave soul for talking about politics . . . ha ha. It was interesting to hear about some of Swede's politics, especially as an American, who would love to visit Sweden to get back to my ancestral roots, and I am finding out, there are WAY more people with my personality in Sweden than in the US. HOWEVER, like you, I am a Libertarian, except I lean towards Conservative/Republican, a Libertarian kind of has to lean toward either Democratic or Republican if they want their vote to count (I am sorry, but I CAN NOT get on board with the Democrats' view of abortion (sad, sad, sad!), Socialism, lack of economic sustainability, and the lack of religious freedom (sorry, Dems, you're liberalism doesn't seem so liberal anymore . . . ) So even though Sweden does entice me in a lot of ways, I think I would be too frustrated with the politics to live there. I am glad you shared your views to help this far-away gal learn perspectives from another culture. Very interesting! Thank you.
You’ve got eight parties in the parliament here, so surely you would likely find a party that would fit your views to a broad extent.
But, regarding your views on abortion; you’ll have to go really far right to find those in Sweden. Even our conservative block is mostly for it, except for perhaps the Christian Democrats (duh) and the Sweden Democrats. I personally don’t know a single person who is ’against’ abortion in any way whatsoever, and neither am I. Most of us consider it to be an individual freedom, and the right for women to decide over their own bodies and lives // Born and raised Swede of 21 years.
Rural areas are more on the left because the median income is lower there. Follow the money ;)
Well that's the case in the US too yet the rural areas are conservative. Weird!
@@StefanThyron I believe the rural areas in sweden are more left-wing because historically, the poor people started the left-wing and more liberal party (socialdemokraterna). The thought that people who make less money and workers are more liberal has lived on to today, so naturally the rural areas vote for the socialistic party.
You also can’t forget that the map is misleading because it only shows the biggest party in the region (I don’t know what ”kommun” is in english), even if the second biggest party is very close.
Great video by the way, very interesting
@@Theodor1354 'kommun' would be something like 'county'
@@bjarkih1977 "Municipality" is the direct translation for "kommun".
@@StefanThyron Could it have to do with land ownership? The Swedish forests are mostly owned by big forest companies or the government, not the people who live near them.
Arbetsgivaravgift is not a tax on you the employee. It's a tax on the employer. So no, it's not 50% for the employee.
What states in USA have legalized casual use of marujana? I thought it was only allowed for medical use...?
The reason for the somewhat strange policies with regard to alcohol and drugs etc is the simple fact that health care is tax funded. This means that there is a strong desire to restrict anything that will cost the government money (except for a few things that are done for entirely political reasons).
Then it should be the same in essentially every European country, but it is not. There was a big drinking problem in Sweden in the 19th century. That in its turn fueled a strong temperance movement, and many of the Swedish politicians, especially in the first half of the 20th century, came from this movement.
Gällande monarkin, vill minnas att kungahuset går plus (i vanliga fall) pga turism vilket innebär att staten tjänar pengar på att ha kvar monarkin
De pengar som kommer in via turismen går ju till kungahusets omkostnader. Av apanaget Kungen får ungefär 140 miljoner/år går det mesta till omkostnader som löner till de anställda, underhåll av olika karaktär (inte fastigheterna i sig) inne på slotten m m. Kungens del är ca 1/4 (mellan 35-40 miljoner). De pengarna ska användas till bl a representation, statsbesök, middagar på slottet etc. Kungen fördelar en del av pengarna ut i familjen av löpande karaktär samt olika arrangemang ( som bara ett par exempel Nationaldagsfirandet och Nobelfesten). Naturligtvis rör det många fler. Men allt kan man inte se i kalendern på kungahusets hemsida. Mycket görs i "det tysta". Det är mycket billigare att ha Kungahuset än att ha en president, som också ska väljas om emellanåt.
I'm happy with the taxes. As someone with type 1-diabetes, I'd be poor af without it. Insulin and all the utilities I use are super expensive. You almost need to be rich to survive with this disease.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing and your insight. Enjoy your day!
Glad you liked it :)
Regarding taxes, they are high in the US as well, for instance California. + taxes on other stuff. And they get nothing for it.
Exactly!! I live in California, so expensive! Rent, healthcare, etc we get nothing for our taxes!
Interesting about the colors. If you look at the Chinese flag and the former USSR flag. They are red like blood. So probably it's an American thing with blue democrats, you switched the colours 😁
They hate standards and things like metric system, of course they have to make left blue and right red, just the be different, don't know what is their problem actually, I see so many good things with standards. Tesla have their own system for charging EWs, Ford their own, Its a wonder that they don't have a different types of gasoline, Chevy one kind, Ford an other kind, not compatible.
There is a war going on in my laptop between Microsoft and Google, they both try the be my default browser and search engine. Does this benefit me as a customer, no.
My laptop is Intel free, I of course prefer AMD.
Excellent video! Always love seeing my country from an outside perspective, and you struck a great balance.
I do however think there is an underlying left-leaning ideology that you are missing in the examples of policies that might seem conservative on the surface, especially to you as an american. Both the alchohol policy, including systembolaget, and our liberal approach to covid-restrictions stems from a deep rooted focus on public health. The goverment restricting individual freedom in terms of acess to a dangerous substance for the good of the people is a very socialist idea, but to you it serms conservative because in the US the conservatives, especially the religious right, has made alchohol consumption a question of morality. Our covid restrictions are based on a holistic view of public health, not neglecting mental health. What is long term viable for the people has been the guidning principle for our policy-makers, rather than the idea that people demand their freedom.
Stefan.. What we consider left in the US is actually not "left" at all. The US has NO left parties. When talking politics right wing and left wing you have to look at the entire political spectrum. US Democrats are a right wing party on the full political spectrum. So what does left actually mean? Americans don't really know.
I also actually think it started out back in the 40's and 50's as a well thought out tactic from the conservative side to call democrats "left".. Because they want to scare away voters from the democrats who are afraid of socialism...
30 % tax + 20 % tax does not equal 50 % taxrate, that is not how math works or how the tax system works for that matter.
Most people in Sweden don't see or understand how much taxes we pay because they are devided into many diferent taxes, and as you say some are hidden. Btw dont forget sales tax of 25%
Sales tax does affect your income, "only" your buying power.
@@_Wolfsbane_ it's still a tax
Taxes aren't that high. You have the jobbskatteavdrag so it's approx 22 %. And you only pay kommunalskatt if your income is below 523 200 kronor per year. The arbetsgivaravgift varies between 0 kr and 31% depending on how old the employee is and how high the salary is. I think you should correct this, please.
I wanna hear your opinion on Sverigedemokraterna (The Sweden Democrats) as they are kinda taboo to talk about in general here in Sweden.
I think that having a king is a good thing. That way there is no crazy presidential elections like in the US. :)
Very weird indeed, we see our neighbours Denmark and Norway decriminalising drugs. I always seen swedes as quite intelligent but their drug laws seems a bit out of touch with reality.
actually norway changed their mind which is a shame
Yup even the UN has descibed Swedens drug policy as against human rights. It's the one policy no big parties want to even discuss changing.
@@ivanradstrom9939 Crazy that they don't! Well fascinating at least. But I think 20-30 years from now weed will be legal after they see how it is in the US over a long period of time
@@StefanThyron Yeah for sure
Had been fun to see what you are working with here in Sweden? maybe you could vlog a workday?
I think the reason for the loose Corona restricitons has something to do with the Swedish constitution, it says somethng like the government cannot force it's citizen's to stay inside.
@Jack Jones Oh, I don't know about that. It's more that the Swedish government says that it's the people responsibility to keep distance and not go out, however they cannot force us to stay inside. But that doesn't mean they'd rather have people die than let the economy crash.
well... they may have given recommendations but my Swedish musician and artist friends are having a BRUTAL time with the restrictions even in Sweden... support aritsts🥺🙏🏻
@North America Pardon me I do not clearly understand the purpose intention and relevance in relation to my post. If you could be so kind as to clarify the purpose with what intention in relation to my previous post your question asks it would be easier to understand.
When it comes to the COVID-crisis please keep in mind that in Sweden, it's Anders Tegnell, the state epidemiologist, who has been in charge of the response, whereas in Denmark it's the Prime Minister who is in charge.
This analysis was so interesting thx Stefan!
It's really interesting hearing your thought on Swedish politics from an American perspective and I enjoyed this video, but, you really need to rethink your concept of "liberal" when speaking about Swedish politics since it doesn't translate to what you are trying to say. In Sweden that term apply to the right/blue side of Swedish politics and the term has a completely different meaning in the rest of the world outside of the US. So a lot of non-american people might not hear what you're trying to say.
Jag läste någonstans att stödet för kungahuset är högre än på många många år.
Kronprinsessan Victoria är populärare än Kungen. Hon och Prins Daniel kommer att bli ett bra par att ta över när den dagen kommer.
Good points but the high taxes don't really matter as the economy is already built upon the amount of money people earn after taxes. If things were priced too high noone would buy it and then the market would naturally adjust itself. Your money isn't really stolen from you as you've never had it in the first place. I think a lot of people are negative towards high taxes because they think their money is being stolen, but I don't think that's how it really is.
You are right about the taxes, but the 30% capital gains tax does not apply if you have yours stock and funds in a ISK account, called investeringssparkonto in swedish. The tax rate on that type of account is currently fixed at 0,375%. basically tax free :)
Det beror på. Du måste ha mer än 3 * 0,375% i profit avkastning från dina aktier för att det ska lönsammare än en värdepappersdepå. Glöm inte källskatten från utländska aktier vilket är en pain in the ass. Plus det är inte alltid 0,375% det beror på statslåneräntan men den kommer i stort vara oförändrad tills 2024. Men ja mycket bättre men man måste vara försiktigt och påläst.
@@seyed7380 ja jag vet hur skatten på ett isk konto är bunden till statlåneräntan, också därför jag skrev att den" just nu" är bunden till 0,375%, vill man veta mer är det en enkel googling bort. Källskatt behöver du bara bry dig om ifall du har utländska aktier med utdelning, i såfall använder man ett KF konto så sköts det automatiskt, men då måste man också få lite större summor i utdelning för att det ska löna sig då skatten är högre på KF än på ISK.
Att man behöver va försiktig och påläst för att använda ett ISK konto håller jag inte med om. Allt sköts mer eller mindre automatiskt när det gäller skatter. Förenklat kan man säga att har man som målsättning att gå med vinst på sina aktier så är ett isk konto i princip alltid mera lönsamt än ett vanligt AF konto.
@@Erik-ml7fz "Att man behöver va försiktig och påläst för att använda ett ISK konto håller jag inte med om"
Men du själv är påläst och försiktig med vad du har skrivit nyss...
Sluta hyckla tack, jag vet att ni är experter på det men det räcker. :)
@@seyed7380 sluta hyckla? Vad pratar du om?
Det är ju du som försöker få det att låta som att det är svårt och krångligt att handla aktier och fonder via ett isk konto "man måste vara försiktig och påläst"
När det i själva verket är enklare och billigare än att använda ett AF konto. Skatten är lägre och den dras automatiskt när du deklarerar om du använder ISK konto. AF måste du själv deklarera dina försäljningar och dessutom är skatten många gånger högre.
Så nej man behöver inte vara mer påläst för att använda ett ISK konto jämfört med om man använder ett vanligt AF konto som du påstår. Snarare tvärtom.
What it boils down to I think is that Americans and swedes view society in different ways. The handling of covid for example wasn’t all that different if you think about it. Both the Democrats and Socialdemokraterna were very clear on following what the science was telling us and following the experts. We both did that but our respective experts said different things, which isn’t too strange since it’s a completely new virus that no one knew anything about. When it comes to the royal family I think people like them because it’s a big part of Swedish culture and history. Personally I like having a monarchy because I find it valuable to have a non political ambassador for Sweden, although I don’t really care that much. I was quite surprised that a RUclips clip about Swedish politics didn’t infuriate me at all haha, good job!