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The Socialists have organized a decent kind of materialism in which poverty can be abolished, and have combined their secular order with Chrisitan decency. But Swedish life is controlled and regulated to a degree difficult for an American to imagine; not that these people are not free, but they have a polite and padded kind of freedom. This is the doing not only of the Socialists; Conservatives and businessmen talk a great deal about the need for more individual initiative, but none of them seems willing to fight hard for it.
The Socialists have nationalized only a small number of industries. They are still committed to full nationalization and the abolition of monarchy, but they wouldn't dream of pressing the issues.
The recent case of the Soviet spy Andersson (TIME, Nov. 12) has shaken Swedes into realizing that their cellar is not as safe as they had thought. They have shaken off most of the old habit of thought that made the Communists somehow part of the progressive Left. They grapple with the Reds, day by day, election for election, in union meetings and in the workshops. The Communists now poll only 4.8% of the vote; in 1946 it was 11%.
The Welfarest State. The Swedish welfare state takes care of its citizens from the womb (prenatal benefits to mothers), to birth (maternity hospitals), to infanthood (home assistants to young mothers), through school (free lunches), to jobs (vocational training), through sickness (next-to-free hospitals), through accidents (invalid insurance), through mental troubles (free psychiatric advice), through old 'age (old-age pensions), to the tomb (funeral benefits), to salvation, if possible (state-paid preachers).
This benignity is supplemented by the vast Swedish cooperatives. They operate 8,000 retail shops, ten regional wholesale houses and 40 factories producing everything from canned goods to shoes. The cooperatives have a network of schools, newspapers and housing projects.
The Swedish way of life does peculiar things to the human spirit. Stockholm is a city without tragedy; its absence is as striking as excessive silence. One begins to wonder whether the people in this clean, prosperous, well-ordered place ever feel violent emotions or commit violent acts.
After a few days in Stockholm I found myself asking people, "Isn't there anything wrong with Sweden? There must be." And there is. One government official said: "In a country that has established an orderly society, there comes a time when one begins to ask oneself 'What next?'"
A lot of Swedes are asking themselves this question and finding no answer. The result is a deep undercurrent of emotional unrest. It has many symptoms. A few months ago Stockholm was treated to the spectacle of gangs of prostitutes, homosexuals and assorted hoodlums mixing it every Saturday night in Berzelii Park to the delight of onlookers. The divorce rate has jumped from 7.7% in 1939 to 14% in 1950. Sweden has one of the world's highest illegitimacy rates and one of the highest alcoholism rates.
Liquor is rationed to three bottles a month, two of wine, one of spirits. In restaurants you are allowed only 10 centiliters (about two 1½-oz. shots) with a meal. Some restaurants put an artificial chicken before a "diner."