Hooray, for a Sweden where the trains can run on time

Anders Lindberg  

 

Hooray, for a Sweden where the trains can run on time 

Say goodbye to 30 years of neoliberalism  

 

Published: Today 06.00  

 

Aftonbladet's editorial page is independent social democratic. 

 

Up for battle on National Day Photo: AFTONBLADET / 2916 

 

LEADER

 

I don't know if some of the moderates' election posters are still up. But maybe. At every election, some election messages are usually forgotten at some remote bus stop on the edge of a forest.  

 

The most common poster was a picture of Ulf Kristersson, with a determined expression and gaze fixed in the distance.  

 

"Now we will get Sweden in order," he promised. The RFSU countered with its own election poster and the text "Now we get the sex sorted out". We can hope for a more successful election promise, for Sweden's sake.  

 

But the Moderates identified something that most probably agree with: things no longer work as they were supposed to in Sweden.  

 

Let me take a few examples: the trains do not run on time, the letters arrive every other day or often not at all, the pension does not last the whole month, one in seven children is not eligible for high school, literacy is failing, food prices increase by 20 percent, the politicians think save in elderly care and care, our growth is the worst in the EU, our A fund is almost the worst in the EU and the only countries with fewer hospital beds per 1000 inhabitants in the entire OECD's 38 countries are Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico.  

 

At the same time, we have one of the fastest increases in the number of billionaires - in the world. According to financial journalist Andreas Cervenka's book Girig-Sverige, the number of billionaires increased between 2019 and 2021 from 206 to 542. 

 

In large part, this is your tax dollars at work. So congratulations! Our inequality is now on par with Russia's.  

  

We have got a completely unnecessary class of super rich in Sweden who largely live on   unemployment income from interest and returns 

 

Much of this development has taken place under Social Democratic governments, both with and without a majority in the Riksdag. So what has gone wrong, and above all: what can a progressive left do about it? How do we get Sweden in order?  

 

We need to start with self-criticism. 

 

In the 1980s and 90s, the Social Democrats were also drawn into the wave of deregulation, sell-offs and privatization of public activities that swept across the Western world. With promises of greater prosperity, the free market was allowed to take over. Robin Hood was out and robber capitalism was in.  

At the same time, the Social Democrats seem to have lost faith in their own ability to actually fundamentally change society with the help of politics.

 

It suited the right-wing and the business world perfectly, and for almost 40 years a gigantic redistribution of money and power has been carried out in Sweden, from ordinary people to the 542 billionaires.  

 

Ordinary wage earners have also had their taxes reduced, but the big difference is that we have got a completely unnecessary class of super-rich in Sweden. They live largely on unemployment income from interest and returns. For capital owners, Sweden is a tax haven. 

 

The good news is that it doesn't have to be that way. That things no longer work is a problem created by politics, which can be solved by politics.  

 

The Social Democrats need to invest time and energy now in opposition to produce reforms - not more pamphlets - until the day the SD government falls or is voted out in the next election.  

 

First, we need to admit that deregulation has gotten out of hand. We must say goodbye to neoliberalism. Basic infrastructure such as railways, post and electricity needs to be jointly owned and managed. The strategy to get there can look different, but the goal needs to be clear: trains must run on time, mail must arrive, and electricity grid companies must not be able to have private monopolies where they raise your fixed fee every year without you being able to do anything about it. Without a functioning railway, both growth and climate change are derailed. 

 

The welfare state – the Social Democrats' most important creation – needs to start working again as it was intended, not be a cash cow for various venture capitalists.  

 

Sweden may end up being a tax haven for the rich. A future red-green majority needs to create equality throughout the country with functioning schools, care and welfare. It almost sounds like a dream today, but money exists. During Fredrik Reinfeldt's year in power alone, taxes were reduced by 150 billion, i.e. five times more than Sweden's municipalities and regions now need to get by.

 

This requires a new tax reform where the capital interests that control both the debate and politics are run over. Then you have to have the courage to take on that debate and not be a coward like until now. Because the fact is: many of the SD government's voters lose to right-wing politics and will be more difficult to deceive next time. Many would listen.  

 

A welfare offensive is required. The last election is the first I remember that was not about welfare. It was odd, because health care and schools are among the voters' most important issues. But partly the reason was a lack of welfare reforms on the left. 

 

Where were the answers to how healthcare should start working, dental care should become cheaper, the market school cleaned up and care for the elderly rebuilt after the pandemic? No one heard them.  

 

Let's do the thought experiment that S, V and MP issued the joint election promise to invest 150 billion on welfare in the coming term and told exactly what the money would go to.  

Had the election debate then been about Ebba Busch sausage?

I personally don't think a leftist can win elections in the 2020s without three things – courage to stand up for the welfare state, strength to finance its reforms and an alternative government. 

It is a Sweden with unusually low self-confidence that celebrates national day today. There was no order under Ulf Kristersson, neither in foreign nor domestic politics. It got even messier.  

But as a band-aid, the government has in any case decided on an extra flag day on September 15 to celebrate the king's fifty years on the throne.  

The big national day celebration in Strängnäs is underway, reports SVT Nyheter Sörmland. It was there that Gustav Vasa was elected king of Sweden on June 6, 1523. King Carl XVI Gustaf gave a speech, which was largely about historical events after the meeting in Roggeborgen. 

- Everything eventually resulted in the state of affairs we have today. The foundation was laid for our vital, multifaceted and democratic society, he said.  

Södermanlands Nyheter reports on folk festival in Strängnäs.