Socialist Progressives

Starry Messenger

(32,342 posts) Wed Mar 21, 2012, 07:56 PM Mar 2012

Swedish equality fades away as rich get richer

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/21/us-sweden-inequality-idUSBRE82K0W320120321

Sweden has seen the steepest increase in inequality over 15 years amongst the 34 OECD nations, with disparities rising at four times the pace of the United States, the think tank said.

Once the darling of the political left, heavy state control and wealth distribution through high taxes and generous benefits gave the country's have-nots an enviable standard of living at the expense of the wealthiest members of society.

Although still one of the most equal countries in the world, the last two decades have seen a marked change. Market reforms have helped the economy become one of Europe's best performers but this has Swedes wondering if their love affair with state welfare was coming to an end.

<snip>

Swedes had grown increasingly weary of their high taxes and with more jobs going overseas, the new government laid out a plan to fine-tune the old welfare system. It slashed income taxes, sold state assets and tried to make it pay to work.

Sounds familiar...

3 replies

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Swedish equality fades away as rich get richer (Original Post) Starry Messenger Mar 2012 OP

And Sweden was where I was dreaming of moving if the repugs get elected ... TBF Mar 2012 #1

RE: your last sentence......... socialist_n_TN Mar 2012 #2

I wasn't really shocked either. Starry Messenger Mar 2012 #3

TBF

(32,111 posts)

1. And Sweden was where I was dreaming of moving if the repugs get elected ...

Reply to Starry Messenger (Original post)

Wed Mar 21, 2012, 08:14 PM

Mar 2012

but this really is no surprise. Capitalism is going to keep pushing until it takes over in a mixed economy.

socialist_n_TN

(11,481 posts)

2. RE: your last sentence.........

Reply to TBF (Reply #1)

Wed Mar 21, 2012, 08:16 PM

Mar 2012

That's why I'm a revolutionary socialist rather than reformist. Capitalism CAN NOT BE REFORMED. Inherent in the nature of the system is to take over.

Starry Messenger

(32,342 posts)

3. I wasn't really shocked either.

Reply to TBF (Reply #1)

Wed Mar 21, 2012, 08:48 PM

Mar 2012

I had an inkling that there was trouble in paradise when Ikea came here and started acting like typical anti-union thugs.

Without removing all the conditions that lead to exploitation, this is bound to happen. I'm just looking at the page of the Swedish Communist Party:

From the early 1970:ies our party took as its task to organize working class people. We literally turned our face toward the worksites and started building party cells inside big industries, hospitals, construction plants. New members were recruited and in some cases our party managed to challenge the social democrats that since the early 1950:ies totally dominated the trade unions. In those cold war times the Swedish social democratic prime minister Tage Erlander, the predecessor of Olof Palme, declared: "We shall make the trade unions the battleground where communism shall be defeated". And they were successful in this task.

From this time class cooperation was made the fundament of the so called the Swedish model, which by Social Democrats was presented to the workers as a functioning peaceful way to socialism. In reality it has nothing to do with socialism. The truth is that what was called the Swedish model in fact is a corporative capitalist state built on the cooperation between big business, the state including its political leadership and the reformist trade unions.

Politically our party challenged this model saying that the working class only can get in power of the state by a socialistic revolution. Especially in Gothenburg the dominating industrial town of Sweden our party grew strong. In the late 1970:ies and early 1980:ies we were the only political force that took stand against the decision of the state and the capitalists to close down the entire Swedish Shipyard industry. In Gothenburg we at that time in our party cells organized almost 100 shipyard workers out of a workforce of 10 000 persons.

The social democrats agreed to close down the shipyards claiming that the future is in the car industry. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful in our attempts to organize a powerful resistance to this shameful policy. Today, when the car industry is about to fall, we once again are trying to organize workers resistance. We have party cells in the Volvo plants but it is not easy to form a policy when the workers does not believe in the power of the class.

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