Proud to be a Swede and a Homo Domesticapiens

Interviewing Myself.......

Is Sweden something to be proud of?
Sweden is a peaceful country with peaceful people.
The landscape is beautiful; from the flat lowlands in the south to the wild mountains in the north. The variation of the landscape in combination with the variation of the four seasons give us an endless variation of sceneries.
This country has little pollution, the air is safe to breath and the water safe to drink almost everywhere you go.
Sweden and the Swedes have been blessed with a country full of natural resources

Sweden has a lot of good entrepreneurs. In the shade of the big, famous, Swedish manufacturers there is a huge group of small manufacturers that survive the international competition with innovativeness, flexibility, stubbornness and a lot of common sense. I admire these entrepreneurs because they live very unglamorous lives and they are still so dedicated. In fact they are the foundation of our economy.
Yes, Sweden is something to be proud of.

Anything I really dislike with Sweden?
We are too self contained and too ignorant about the rest of the world.
But to be honest I was like that myself before I got the privilege to work and live outside of Sweden.

How did I change?
I applied for a job abroad in a big international Swedish company. They offered jobs in China, Taiwan and Malaysia. I was the lucky one to get the job in Malaysia where I stayed for 3,5 years.

I learned a lot about Malaysia and a little about some of the neighbouring countries. But the country I learned most about was Sweden. It was a very interesting and eye opening experience to live outside my home country and look at it from the outside. To look at it with other countrymen's eyes, to listen to other people's views of Sweden and to live in a totally different society to bench mark with.

So what did I learn?
That I was self contained and ignorant.

Can I explain that in more detail?
I grow up in a country ruled for decades by Social Democrate government. Educational system, social security system, political values, tax-system, you name it, everything was shaped by this ideology. Having a father who supported the Social Democrates, I was brainwashed with how excellent and outstanding these systems worked and how the rest of the world suffered.

As a teenager I revolted against my father but it was when I moved to Malaysia at the age of 35 I realized that I was still brainwashed.

I remembered my father's comment to me before I moved to Malaysia: "Oh, watch out for diseases, natural catastrophes and poisonous snakes. How can anybody want to live there?"

My father has never been to Asia. He never visited me during my years in Malaysia.

Can't I be more specific than that?
Ok I'll give some examples:
I realized that many people in Malaysia were working 1o hours a day, 6 days a week and on top of that they could have 2 hours commuting time a day. People had 1-2 weeks of vaccation while Sweden has a minimum of 5 weeks for everybody. They were really focusing on work, had little leisure or spare time but still they were happy! It was all about attitude and expectations.

In Sweden a lot of people see work as a necessary burden. We work our maximum 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Swedes have more spare time than most people in the world. Spare time is very important and many times what makes life worth living for. Many Swedes work hard but they work even harder during their spare time which they fill up with millions of activities for themselves, the family and their children.
Is it strange that Swedes are the most burnt out people on earth?

In Malaysia people paid around 18% in income tax. In Sweden people paid 30-50% (or more) in income tax. Still the Malaysian society was working well!!!
There were schools, hospitals, public transportation, highways, TV braodcasts you name it. Most things were privately run but it worked, it was not chaos!!!

Back to Sweden, am I proud to be a Swedish man?
Yes I am.

Why?
I grew up in a country with very good post second world war economy. Salaries were high, taxes were high, prices were high, nothing was cheap, everything was expensive.
Due to the high labour cost ordinary people like my family couldn't afford to buy many services. So, we all had to become handy men and learned to do everything ourselves. I can fix the car, I can build a house, I can cook, I can clean, I can repair the dish washer, I can help my wife deliver a baby......

On top of that I grew up during the women's liberation movement in Europe which has shaped my view on equality between the sexes. I would say that many Swedish men in my generation have become very good species of the Homo Sapiens. We could be the most domesticated generation ever... Homo Domesticapiens.
I don't know if I am very Swedish. But I am proud of what I have become.

Warning to women reading this: Beware there are male chauvinistic pigs in Sweden too.