Superiority complex

[John Nystrom]

In general do swedes feel that their society is superior to the rest of the world? If so,then why? If not, then why not?

[Anders Andersson]

I suppose you are referring to late 20th-century opinions here, rather than any convictions deeply rooted in Swedish history and society?  Before the age of instant global communications, few swedes had the opportunity to really compare their society to that of other countries.
 
If the feeling you are referring to was ever common, I believe it´s pretty much gone now. Sweden was lucky to avoid the devastation of WWII, and after the war Swedish industry went into high gear for export as well as domestic consumption, thus helping to support the welfare state, temporarily placing Sweden at the top in terms of living standards. Those statistics may have contributed to an image of Sweden having some inherent qualities helping us attain that position.
 
Being born in the early 1960's, I grew up towards the end of this period of economic growth. If I ever gave the situation a thought, I think I attributed it to good fortune rather than inherent superiority. I felt lucky to live in a country where there was no shortage of food or housing, no earthquakes, no volcanoes, nor any mad dictators running the show. Feeling superior about that would have been like feeling superior because the sun was shining. Maybe others thought their parents had a major part in it. I didn't.
 
Still, I'm happy to voice my opinion about anything in the world that I consider wrong. Even though my way need not be your best way, I think you could at least consider it as an alternative, and tell me what you think about it. If you don't have the time to examine my ideas, fine. If you tell me you don't care because swedes have in the past demonstrated an arrogant besserwisser attitude towards foreign manners, then I'm sorry about that, but I don't see how that applies to me. And, if you think I shouldn't voice my opinion because of the position the Swedish government maintained during WWII, then I get really upset...
 
Perhaps that declaration of mine can help explain some of the Swedish attitudes that you may have witnessed yourself or learned about through the grapevine? As always, further questions are quite welcome.

[Egil Dalaker]

As a young man I spent several years in Svenska
 
 
flottann and I was never exposed to any superiority attitudes, I concider that time of my  
 
 
life the best, even my (dal mas) accent was not
 
 
bad for a (norrman)! I also aquired a swedish
 
 
wife, third generation that is, we are looking
 
 
for her relatives iTÔ, the name is
 
 
Damstrom, anybody like to help out?

[Johan Sjöberg]

Well!
 
I believe it is not untrue to say, that Sweden (as a state) has had, and in some way still has, a collective superiority complex. Sweden (read: its government) has seen itself as the moral head of the world in the UN, and in other international discussions. Though I think this is so wrong, because Sweden has a lot of sins to: the treatment of the sames (lapps, but that should not be used, as it is a disgracing word, comparable with nigger for black) and the tornedalen finns, and still: Sweden´s wealth during the 1950-s and 1960-s was built with a great help of immigrants from Finland, Italy, Jugoslavia and so on. But that is not generally understood among many Swedes...
 
This will probably upset a whole lot of Swedes, especially member of a certain political party, which has ruled Sweden most of this for Sweden so happy period (they were lucky - not effective and good rulers, in my opinion).
 
Sincerely,
Johan Sjöberg
Molkom, Värmland, Sweden

[Christina Backman]

And in the old days, in the States, they used to  
talk about the  dumb Swedes...
Which is just as silly as Johan´s attempt to  
restart  a futile discussion. May it rest in  
peace.
Christina.

[Mikael Wikman]

How can a critical discussion about the Swedish official selfsufficiency and its causes ever be futile? This might not be the right place for the discussion, but that does certainly not mean that it is futile.

[Johan Sjöberg]

OK!
 
This might be the wrong place for this discussion, but since the subject is Superiority Complex, I believe it is not wrong to give my sight of the subject here.
 
And I do not think it is futile to discuss (but it does not have much with genealogy to do, that is true) Sweden´s collective superiority complex. Many Swedes still believes that Sweden is heaven on Earth, though I have own experiences that has shown me, that Sweden is not heaven on Earth.
 
And Christina, if we think of your connection to Finland: How do you feel about the Swedish sight of Finns as a people of drunkards who speek a silly language and fight with knives (all Swedes does not have these prejudices about Finns, but I have heard them a few times too often)? And still, Sweden´s wealth would never have been, without all these Pekka and Sirkka who worked at Scania, Volvo, Alfa-Laval, and so on... (I have not forgotten the Italians, Jugoslavians, Turks, and all other hard-working immigrants of the 50´s and 60´s either)

[David Floodstrand]

I guess this discussion ties in with the bumber sticker I once saw that read You can allways tell a Swede....but you can't tell him much.

[Clyde Peterson]

My grandparents on both sides of my family emigrated from Sweden to the USA during the 1880's and 1890's.  I prode of my Swedish heritage.
Both sets of my grandparents were poor farmers in Sweden and became iron ore miners and farmers when they came to USA.  They were successful in raising several fine children and of course have many fine grandchildren including me.  Obviously us 'Swedes' are a little more intelligent, little more good looking, and have a better disposition than others.  Clyde D Peterson

[Jonas Rask]

Since nearly everyone seems to agree this discussion is off topic here, how about ending it right now instead of robbing more hard disk space from those who wish to discuss subjects that are on topic here?
 
Jonas Rask

[Cecilia Löwen]

I guess this discussion ties in with the bumber sticker I once saw that read You can allways tell a Swede....but you can't tell him much.
 
I must add that I have heard the version You can always tell an english,you can always tell a dutch.You can always tell an Irish,but you cannot tell him much,several times.
 
The point is,you can twist and turn almost everything in the direction you want and to fit your point.
The real stupidity is found in people who think there is such things as a uniform national character,people who always need answers that are easy to comprehend,and who cannot deal with the fact that every nation is more or less complex.
Some people think all people live according to jantelagen in Sweden,others that all Swedes think they are superior.
I honestly find it very amusing that there still exist people who believe in stereotypes like this.
 
What´s next?All women in Sweden are blonde,called Inga and say ja,ja?I think you get my point.
 
Most people I know find no reason in either belittling themselves when they shouldn´t or think of themselves as being superior.
You simply have to give people a little more credit than that.
 
 
 
(Meddelandet ändrat av cecilialoewen den 30 januari, 2008)