2026-09-19 20:07 UTC
🧵1/21
I've recently come back from a short holiday in Stockholm. I'm not going to post about everything I did and saw there, but will note some highlights and things I noticed on my first visit to Sweden.
Ever since the 1936 publication of Marquis Child's "The Middle Way", Sweden has enjoyed a special place in the hearts and minds of anglophone social democrats.
I'm aware that Childs might have given an idealized portrait of Sweden, and I am also aware that Sweden is not now and never has been an egalitarian collectivist paradise. Most painfully of all, I am aware that, recent election results notwithstanding, the far right has made significant gains in Swedish society and that neoliberal thinking has permeated areas such as the provision and management of schools.
Nevertheless, I was still curious to see Sweden for myself, even though I was non holiday rather than on an investigative mission or study trip.
#Sweden #MarquisChilds #SwedenTheMiddleWay #SocialDemocracy
Replies (1)
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@jemmesedi@c.im 2026-09-19 20:21
🧵 2/21 I was only too happy to escape the inland furnace of central Texas for the the moderate temperatures of early September Stockholm, with its islands set amidst waters and still enjoying late summer sunshine. I also rejoiced at spending time in a city with streets brimming with people and activity.Although I am sure work remains to be done on controlling the car in central Stockholm, it is nothing like the car dominated misery that is the reality of all too many US cities. I only used public transport a couple of times. otherwise walking everywhere. Never being far from water revitalised me, as did the many vistas the city offers to those on foot. #Sweden #Stockholm