Country of LAGOM

Sweden has a bit more than 9 million people. On Saturday, June 19 around 3 million watched Crown Princess Victoria and Mr. Daniel Westling say yes to each other in front of the archbishop who pronounced them husband and wife. 

• By Nordstjernan columnist Ulf Nilson, June 2010

• By saying yes, Mr. Westling also ceased to be a commoner. The moment he spoke he became a prince. Since the―dare I say―upgrading was not visible, the archbishop took care to tell the packed church and the 3 million TV-viewers (of whom I was one) that the change had taken place.
  Prince Daniel, who quite resembles Ken (as in Barbie and Ken) was moved to tears. So were many, many of the viewers and media, which promptly reported that yes, it was truly a fairytale wedding and no, there isn't any risk that Sweden will become a republic anytime soon.
  With this, I agree. The descendants of French Marshall Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (who became Karl XIV Johan) have all been blessed with longevity, and there is every chance that the present king (and father of the bride) will stay on the throne another 20 or 30 years. After which Victoria will rule way into the second half of the 21st century.
  A few politicians are very much in favor of switching from kingdom to republic, but they very, very seldom mention this when campaigning. The reason is simple: The voters would take offense. They like the present king in spite of his shyness and very clumsily delivered speeches―or perhaps because he seems quite uncomfortable in his role. Indeed, people say, he could not help that he was born to be king. He might have been happier as a chauffeur or a baker. But royal people are not given the right to choose, so there he is, in a way a prisoner―if a very well paid and pampered one.
  Indeed, the Swedes are quite satisfied with the monarchy and certainly more so after the wedding. In fact, there is no real desire for change in the country. People grump and complain quite a bit, but in the end everybody seems to be in favor of the status quo.
  This goes for politics, too. In September the Swedes will go to the polls to elect members of parliament and―just possibly―a new government.
  But how new? It might well be that the three-party alliance that now rules is reelected. Equally possible is a victory for the red-green parties. And more important: Whoever wins will drive the country along the same old, centrist track. Sweden (much more than China) is indeed the Middle Kingdom.
  You lower taxes a notch for a group that might deliver a lot of votes for you. You raise taxes again just a notch for some other group. You promise better education and healthcare and swear to continue helping the poor people in the poor nations. In the end, it turns out, not very many people remember who promised what to whom. Everything stays pretty much the same: Taxes remain the highest in the world, the immigrants stay unemployed in their ghettos and violent crime goes up, but not by much. Indeed everything remains LAGOM, a particularly Swedish word meaning not too much, not too little, not on the left, not on the right, not too quick, not too slow.
  Soon we shall have the month of July coming by. Then everybody goes on vacation. The country becomes strangely still, but nobody seems to notice.