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Dehumanized, by choice or circumstance?
In Sweden there are 702 people (mostly women) who have lived 100 years. Those who are retired number many more than those who are still too young to work—which means fewer and fewer will support non-working oldsters. Statistically, according to what I read, each young Swede must support 0.79 old people; that sounds a little strange to me.
Big deal, however. What I truly want to say is that Sweden is not, repeat not, a good country to grow old in. The all too common attitude is:
"Old man, go home and die as soon as possible. Don't hold a job because that means you block the way for a younger person."
To which I always reply:
"Stupid. If I hold a job and make money, and spend that money on wine, women and song (and quite a few other things), I create jobs and help people—younger and older—rather than block their way.…"
I know full well that the younger people don't buy my argument. They have made up their minds. More than in any other country (and I have lived in the U.S. and France and travelled the world for more than 50 years), Swedes discriminate against the older generation. They want their country to be rational, super efficient and strict. They see it peopled with young, strong men and the world's most beautiful women (with nicely curving breasts and legs that make you hiccup). Well, I agree as far as the beauty of Swedish ladies is concerned, but I reserve my right to ogle and admire, even if I happen to be 79.
But this was an aside. What I mean to say is that Sweden is pretty prejudiced against (us) old men and women. We have had our time, the younger ones say, so why should we be around. Eat, we do, too, and sometimes (I confess) we drink. So wouldn't there be more food if we were not around?
Nobody goes so far as to state that life should end at 65, when a working Swede suddenly becomes a pensioner. But you can sense that the thought is there, unlike in most other countries. In the U.S., regardless of age, you are first an individual. To some extent, you are what you can do, regardless of age, and you're supposed to take care of yourself—which is all right with me.
In both the U.S. and France, famIly matters much more than in Sweden, when many old couples see their children only at Christmas and perhaps on birthdays. In the U.S. and France, not to mention the Latin countries, to belong to a family is to have a responsibility, not the least to the elders. Even if old people have money, they need emotional support, a conviction that they still count.
This they get in countries like the U.S. and France, but much less in Sweden, where the quest for efficiency overrules more human considerations.
How it got to be that way, I cannot explain. In the old days, when most people lived on farms, there was a special place at the table reserved for grandpa and grandma. They helped with the chores as best they could, but were not forced. Today they very often sit in institutions—ironically called “homes”—and have nothing better to do than stare at the walls and each other.
Sweden, that great welfare state, I submit, is in some ways pretty dehumanized. By choice or circumstance is hard to tell.
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World Reporter
Ulf Nilson, World reporter since his first assignments to Hungary in 1956. Correspondent and Sweden’s man in America for 20 years, Ulf Nilson is still a regular columnist in Sweden’s daily Expressen, and regular contributor in Nordstjernan. He has authored or co-authored over fifty books. He lives in southern France or at his beloved Värmdö, just 30 minutes north of Stockholm. He
• covered the US, including Vietnam during the war years
• marched in the civil rights marches
• interviewed Martin Luther King
• met presidents Johnson, Nixon, Reagan and George H. W. Bush
• and, as one of Sweden’s most well-known journalists, also met with every politician, industry leader or cultural personality—all the movers and shakers of Sweden through five decades of a proliferate professional life.
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