November 21, 2009
Published: 1 Oct 09 08:02 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/22398/20091001/
Dictionary tool Double click on a word to get a translation
A pensioner from western Sweden may have received the smallest benefit payment ever paid out by the country’s social insurance agency (Försäkringskassan).
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
A male high school teacher in Skövde, western Sweden, has been arrested and charged with a string of sexual offences including child rape. READ »
Liberal party leader Jan Björklund has rallied members during a speech at the party conference in Växjö calling for lower taxes, developments in nuclear power production and for Sweden to adopt the euro as its currency. READ (8 COMMENTS) »
Two sisters are claiming damages from a firm of funeral directors after their father's coffin was plunged ungracefully into a grave by undertakers unsteady on their feet. READ »
Two North Korean diplomats are being held on suspicion of trying to smuggle 230,000 cigarettes from Russia into Sweden. READ (9 COMMENTS) »
Local politicians who previously voiced their disapproval at a move to house asylum seeker children in Vellinge look set to sign an agreement to invite more children to reside in the municipality in the future. READ (15 COMMENTS) »
A Liberal Party proposal to make English language learning obligatory in schools from the first grade has been slammed by members of the Swedish Academy who view it as an "unnecessary reinforcement of the status of English.” READ (47 COMMENTS) »
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has announced that Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy will be the first permanent President of the European Council following negotiations in Brussels on Thursday evening. READ (20 COMMENTS) »
A heavily pregnant young woman was raped in her home on the outskirts of Stockholm late on Thursday afternoon. READ »
Happy name day to me. No, not Blatte Day (yet) »
"Hey all you Elizabeths out there. Today (November 19 if you’re reading another day) is our name day. Happy Elizabeth Day. (Or Elisabeth or Elisabet as you are more likely to be if you are Swedish) So what’s a name day (if you haven’t already clicked on the Wiki link), it’s “a tradition in many countries..." READ »
Jobs - in Sweden, in English
Get your career on track with our job listings from Sweden's top employers.
Property - renting or buying in Sweden
Navigating the minefield of renting or buying an apartment or house in Sweden.
Weather
"There is no bad weather, just bad clothes," say the Swedes. Here's the forecast for everyone else.
Introducing...
Every week The Local serves up a spicy helping of Swedish celebrity for your delectation.
Stockholm Syndrome
Tales of crazy Swedish classes, hamfisted attempts to understand - and explain - real Swedes, and varied experiences of fellow foreigners gathered for your amusement.
Register now for:
> Free use of noticeboard
> Special discounts
> Weekly news roundup
> Unlimited use of discuss
69 jobs in Sweden, in English
21 new jobs this week
0 new jobs today
Your comments about this article:
I have countless cases of Swedes being unable to use common sense. Sweden has made them individualistic but also dependable.
I always tell my husband he wouldn't survive the jungle of a real big city.
System is not only sick, it works over the people. In Sweden everything is sooo..systematic. People don't need to think. Just follow the system. Even it doesn't make any sense.
That is ANY government bureaucracy. Sweden is one of the least wasteful in the world (least corrupt) and you still have this extreme waste. Any government managed program WILL go over budget, and will cost more because of the fact they usually enjoy a legislated monopoly. Government is not the answer it is the problem.
A joke about government employees:
Question: "How many American governmental employees does it take to screw in a light bulb?"
Answer: "Five, One to screw in the bulb and four to fill out the environmental impact and OSHA (occupational hazard) reports."
Sweden indeed is one of the most automated countries in the world, and there is nothing wrong with that, so the woman got 50 öre, the system automatically forwards that to her, what a big deal.
If you want employees to come and intervene and inspect such things it would cost a hell lot more to pay for their time.
There is nothing wrong with automation, and whenever the goverment feels that there is a better solution, they will introduce it to the system!
Get over it and stop attacking Sweden for every small detail, and let people do their job, we probably alwyas look at things from a very narrow perspective.
Swedes also as I know them are capable of dealing with problems. I found that the elderlies who were introduced to "technology" later in their lives are in a way handicapped in dealing with it , but young Swedes are -in general- very educated, flexible, and bureaucracy haters.
You say that "there is nothing wrong with automation". I'll tell you why it's wrong: because it makes people switch off and get detached. You get emotionless because you don't have to think, so you don't emphatize with other people. And empathy is very important, it enables you to understand how others feel. Just go back a few years and look what happened in Germany during the war. Talking about automation!! Is that what you want, a nation of emotionless robots. I think you should think very hard about this one. Either you are very young or very stupid.
More often than not, the rules were established by those with no understanding of the particulars of a given situation, and no interest in the outcome.
Thus "fairness" evolves into authoritarian injustice.