Belgium and three in New York City, USA.
The timing was perfect. I returned in June to a summery, sun drenched Sweden. Ahh - summer life!
However there are some issues that concern me in my mother land…
Taxes! Yes, yes I know. I don’t mind paying taxes. It is for the benefit of everyone and is an idea
that I support. It is a good principle. Those who are in need should be helped. I however am not
like Mona Sahlin, present party leader for the Socialdemokraterna, who believes it is tough to pay
high taxes. I believe that taxpayers should be able to keep at least 50% of their salary in their pocket.
Currently, that is not the situation. First, 54% of my salary is taken for taxes. In addition to this, I also
pay 25% in VAT of everything that I purchase. And if I buy a bottle of liquor I pay 75% VAT or pump
gasoline into my car, I pay 70-80% VAT. So in other words, because I drive a lot, and enjoy a drink
(although not at the same time), I would say that I spend almost 75% of my salary in taxes instead
of keeping my earned money to myself! To be used for massive consumption! This further means
that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to 3PM I am working for the government, and the
remaining 1 1/4 days I work for myself and my family. This gives a feeling that something is very wrong. Actually - it feels like state-allowed theft!
I also notice that our government has changed its approach on national defence. Today we would like
to have a professional army and navy. Come on! If someone really wants to invade Sweden and fight
our 10,000 man strong army, with our 120 military aircrafts, five military ships and 4 submarines, they
will be successful. I say, dismantle it and join NATO since in practical terms we have already done so.
Use the 42.3 billion SEK in a better way.
One way of using it to improve the services at the hospitals by re-employing 10,000 nurses, who are the
backbone of the medical establishments. That will shorten the lead time in the waiting rooms.
Maybe we could also use part of defence budget to dismantle the tax burden of our retirees. The
retirees paid taxes already when they were working hard labour and long hours. We don’t need
to punish them by charging them with taxes again. They instead deserve a fat retirement check.
I also think that we could reduce the number of parliamentarians in the parliament with 50%. The
political decisions will be as good as having half of the more than 300 members in the parliament
making the decisions for the Swedish people. Use the money to double the number of teachers in our
schools. The school will be more effective. The children more knowledgeable.
Dismantle the monarchy. The position for the head of the state should require an election, not a
position that one is born into. It is not appropriate or does it suit a modern society of today. On top
of this it makes sense from a purely personal and human perspective. Just imagine being royalty and
having to behave in certain way and be a public person. I believe it is a human right not to be forced to
do so.
Everyone in Sweden watches television all the time. The children are always playing their PC games.
Do as they do in Iceland and introduce a weekly TV-free day. And for the youngsters, a weekly PC-
free day. The energy could be focused on dance, dialogue, reading, discussion, evening classes etc.
Join EMU. In the name of the European solidarity.
And finally - SAS should introduce a direct flight between Göteborg and New York. That just makes
good sense!
Think progressively.
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