Being in another country for the 4th of July is interesting. Despite all my angst and rages and criticisms I think of myself as a fairly patriotic person: that though America gets a lot of things wrong, it’s certainly better than a LOT of other options. A little education on the subject, a little context, goes a long way.
Sharif growing up in China gives us a lot of stories about how much worse it can be. Brussels and Sweden get a lot of things right, if not necessarily BETTER. The focus on sustainability here, though not a lot of fun (in Idre, throw this stuff out here, return this other stuff here, recycle this stuff here and bring your glass to the bins across the street from the police station), is absolutely the RIGHT thing.
The American obsessions with “bigger is better” and convenience are things we really will eventually need to do without. It’s sad to me that the American Dream of Freedom tends to be less about the myth of working hard to better yourself and more about the freedom of not having to care about others and not cleaning up after yourself.
In America it seems like we desperately need rules and regulations because otherwise we have no built-in boundaries, no sense of care or community or pride in our surroundings. Reading more about how Sweden doesn’t have much in the way of corporate regulations, requirements about how companies treat people or even a minimum wage, that the high standard of Living is mostly a product of unions and social organizations seems impossible to me. To see government and corporate interest and labour unions all seemingly pulling in the same direction, people recognizing they’re all on the same team… it’s a beautiful thing and seems antithetical to the America we’ve become.
We’re on a long drive between where we were “vacationing” and our hosts’ homes and the tail end of our trip, and all along there’s been little hints of Lives Lived at a pace unacceptable to most Americans. The roads are too small, you’re not pushed to pay the check NOW, and though the cities are crowded and people PUSH and shove, business and traffic is much less harried. The drive is free of the shouting of billboards and advertisements and the forests we pass through, the trees are free of constant ‘posted’ notices. No reminder that this land is someone else’s. Not yours. And that they are happy, eager even, to reinforce their claim with guns.
The philosophy feels evident in intersections and traffic. There are rarely traffic lights and declarations of right-of-way are subtle and infrequent. People pull out of the way to let you go past and two-lane roads, passing on the opposite side is a regular thing, not a mark of uber-aggression. It feels like everyone’s broadcasting, “It’s okay, we’re all gonna get there”.
Of course, I worry that it’s an illusion. This cooperation is made possible through homogeneity and the sheer tiny size of Sweden. The 6th largest country on the continent maybe, but the size of California with 1/4 of that state’s population. The country SEEMS very white, and even though I get impressions of racial / social castes that have something to do with things other than skin tones, to the outsider, at least, it all seems very monoculture.
Nearly halfway into our 9 hour drive we stop for lunch in Filipstad and are caught off guard by the beauty of this little 500 year old town. In Sweden it seems most restaurants will have a lunch special of some sort that’s pretty cheap and includes salad and a drink and coffee and is FAST. Fast and absolutely delicious. 15 minutes later we’re sated on chicken and potatoes and a really wonderful, strangely parsley-heavy salad, and suddenly the older woman behind us speaks up in a thick Swedish accent:
“Hexcusse me! I cannot help but notiss you are from United Stayes? It is your holiday, no? How you say it, happy the 4th?” She was very sweet and I think the only person to greet us on this whole trip outside of shopkeeps.
If we’d not been in a rush I’d have liked to engage more. Maybe I should’ve given her my card and offered to be pen pals. She asked “vot do you think about your president” and I responded “we’d rather NOT think about him” and though I was curious to chat more I simply apologized on behalf of all of America as we wrapped up lunch and headed for the door.
I feel kind of like I SHOULD be going up to people with some sort of pamphlet titled “Not ALL Americans: an Apology on Behalf of the United States”.
Sigh. Patriotism.
It’s complicated.