“Nearly 90 percent of the price of a bottle of Swedish brännvin is tax (the more liberal EU import limits could drastically cut the state’s income). Sweden tries to justify its policies by advertising the health benefits of teetotaling in… — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“Some 50 percent of Swedes retreat to summer homes, rented or owned, in the country each year.” — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“In Sweden, everyone is assumed to have similar resources, so it seems inappropriate to pay for someone else.” — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“Socialism is not the same as social democracy, the political system that created Sweden’s welfare state.” — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“Unlike the American Stars and Stripes or the British Union Jack, it has no particularly exciting or symbolic history.” — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“It is not shocking to see an ad or photograph of a nude man or woman in the daily or weekly press. To most… — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“A 1970 report found that problems on the job and in one’s finances entered into the picture in at least one-half of the Swedish… — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“Duktig is a word that carries strong emotional overtones: children who behave well are duktig; adults who are talented and independent are duktig. Someone… — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“As in other cultures, alcohol acts as a social lubricant for Swedes. One of the social and psychological functions of drinking in Swedish culture, writes ethnologist Åke Daun, is “to lessen the individual’s fear of making a fool of him- or herself—for example, the anxiety people feel about saying the wrong thing” (1996, 51). Alcohol helps some Swedes relax, assume… — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share
“At 1.5 children per Swedish female (The Swedish Institute 1997), the rate is so low that deaths in Sweden outpaced births in 1997; immigration,… — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“Sweden’s position of neutrality during World War II put the country in the position of not defending its neighbors against German invasion. This was… — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“Slavery was abolished in 1355 because of church teachings stating that all men are equal in the eyes of God.§” — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
“As Americans maintain their privacy by protecting their space (e.g., big cars, privacy fences, gated communities), Swedes maintain their privacy by remaining quiet. Swedes… — Christina Johansson Robinowitz Copy Share Image
