Sweden-a peace-loving nation

Sweden is a peace-loving country. There is, aftter all , such a thing as the Nobel Peace Prize. Having invented dynamite, gelignite and nitroglycerine, and other substances enough to blow the earth out of solar system, the Swedes Alfred Nobel got a guilty conscience and used his profits to set up the Nobel Foundation.
     The Swedes are neutral because they say they are. they are the conceience of the world and therefore only sell peaceful weapons. Perferably to be used as fireworks.

Europa

For most Swedes Europe starts on the other side of the Sound in Copenhagen. Sweden joined the EU in 1955, although most of them would have preferred the EU to join Sweden on their terms. 99% of the Swedes are now soberly against the EU as it is no longer possible to buy tax-free spririts and cigarettes when travelling from one EU country to another.

For, up to now, it has always been the duty of every Swede to buy his ration both on the way out and the way back. Once at hotel in one of Europe´s exciting metropolises, Swedes used to gather, lock themselves up in the room and drink duty-free booze out of the toothbrush glass. The fact that bar prices in Europe are usually considerably lower than even Swedish tax-free prices never occurred to them

Swedish politics

Swedes are liberal, yet they always vote for the social democrats. That´s because they are so conservative. Or, as the well-known saying goes, the Swedes are colourful people. They think blue, vote red and eat green.

Swedish tax

Governments in Sweden have spent years convincing Swedes that their money isn´t really their own. But the Swede is a person of great initiative and has developed a few ways of keeping a few krons for himself. Nobody is allowed to get rich. If people in other countries see someone drive round in a flashy sports car, they may exclaim " Wow! What a cool guy!"  In Sweden they´ll say " What a tax dodger ".

ขอแจมนิดนึงว่าคนสวีดิชส่วนใหญ่เป็นคนขี้อิิจฉาตาร้อนเห็นใครดีกว่าตัวไม่ได้ นี่ไม่ได้กล่าวหาทุกคนแต่ประมาณ 80 % เป็นเช่นนี้ค่ะ ถ้าหาเรื่องค่อนแคะพวกเดียวกันไม่ได้ก้อหาเรื่องค่อนแคะคนต่างชาติซึ่งพวกเขาก้อยอมรับและกล่าวหากันเอง มีคำพูดในภาษาสวีดิชที่ใช้กันเป็นประจำเวลาที่อ่านหนังสือพิมพ์หรือเจอใครที่แสดงอาการไม่ว่าจะเป็นด้วยคำพูดหรือกิริยาท่าทางที่แสดงถึงการอิจฉาผู้อื่นว่า svenksa avundsjukan แปลเป็นภาษาอังกฤษตรงตัวว่า swedish jealousy ที่จริงแล้วเรื่องแบบนี้มีทุกประเทศไม่ว่าชาติใดภาษาใด แต่ในสวีเดนแม้แต่คนของเขาเองที่ไปดำเนินชีวิตหรือทำงานอยู่ต่างประเทศระยะหนื่งเมื่อกลับไปยังบ้านเกิดของตัวเองยังออกปากเลยค่ะ

Swedish business culture

Swedish managers want to be normal people and one of the team. That is why they like to called by their first names; Bengan, Maggan, Bosse and Kalle by their staff.  ( ชื่อเหล่านี้เหมือนกับเป็นชื่อเล่นของไทยค่ะ เช่นผู้ชายที่ชื่อ Bengt=Bengan, Bo=Bosse, Karl=Kalle, Lars=Lasse  ชื่อผู้หญิง Magareta=Maggan, Elisabet หรือเขียนว่า Elisabeth=Bettan เป็นต้น )

They never shut their office door and they even queue up in the same canteen as the workers and eat the same food. They like to think of themselves more as a coash than a commander. Swedish management delegates responsibility and authority throughout the organisation. Over 80% of Swedes have some form of vocational training and staff are therefore quite capable of taking initiative and participating in the decision-making. For foreigners it´s sometimes difficult to know who´s in charge around here. Lasse, in his open-necked, short-sleeved, yellow shirt and white socks and sneakers, doesn´t really look the part.

Business climate in Sweden

In the USA business people go to their therapist´s after a nervous breakdown. In Sweden people running their own business go to their accountant´s.

Swedish inventions

Sweden gave the world ball-bearings, safety matches, adjustable wrenches, safety belts, Tetra Paks, Volvo ans Saab. It also makes and exports Absolut vodka, which is rather ironic as the Swedish word for teetotaller is "absolutist". Ikea, of course, is also Swedish. If the Swedish social democrats created the welfare state, commonly refered to as " the home of the people", then Ikea furnished it.