Cruise Ship Silvia Regina, 5/17/1989No Poor or Hungry

(CRUISE SHIP SILVIA REGINA, GULF OF BOTHNIA, May 17, 1989)

by Bob Van Leer

At this writing Betty and I are on a cruise ship sailing across the Gulf of Bothnia from Stockholm, Sweden, to Helsinki, Finland. The Gulf of Bothnia is the northern arm of the Baltic Sea. This is only an overnight cruise but it is on a large liner with all the amenities.

We dined tonight at a smorgasbord, featuring too many different kinds of dishes to try everything. As could be expected, the meal was long on fish dishes. There were three or four kinds of herring alone. A band was playing U.S. songs, although our party of 28 is probably all the Americans aboard. On another level there is a gambling casino and nearby a “duty-free” shop that is supposed to save you money but winds up costing more.

Today was a full day, starting at 9 a.m. Larry Gerber with Associated Press was supposed to meet us at the hotel. There was a confusion of scheduling but he caught up with us later. We boarded our bus for a short drive to the U.S. Embassy. The weather was bright and sunshiny but it was cool.

At the embassy we were addressed by Ambassador Gregory J. Newell. He is a career ambassador who has served in Sweden for more than three years and is now leaving both the embassy and the diplomatic service, so he was very candid in his speech. Newell is young for an ambassador, in his mid-forties. He said he didn’t find Sweden a happy society, or sad one, but neutral as is the country’s politics. Newell said that government spending is 62 percent of the Gross National Product and the country has no more margin.

There are no poor or hungry but the people aren’t challenged. The standard of living is among the highest in the world. But, as compared to the U.S., the square footage of housing is smaller and the amount of clothing is limited with quality favored over quantity.

U.S.-Sweden relations were in a deep freeze from the Viet Nam era but have warmed up since. Pres. Reagan received the king and queen of Sweden in April, 1988, and before that, in 1986, Sweden was removed from the U.S. export “black list”.

Newell talked of cultural differences between the two countries, saying that in Sweden, it is not desirable to stand out from the crowd. He said he was concerned when his children brought home report cards with mostly “c’s” and went to talk to the teacher. He said her comment was, “Your children are doing wonderfully well, they’re all average.” In his mind he was expecting them to be better than average.

A change in Sweden in the last 15 years is the acceptance of immigrants from around the world. A total of 12 percent of the population is now immigrants or first generation. This has created political problems in a couple of areas.

Newell is being replaced as ambassador by Charles Redman, familiar as the state department spokesman on television. Newell said that the Swedes do not show warmth to the Russians, they recognize where the real threat comes from.

Newell characterized Swedish medicine, almost all government-controlled, as good for emergency medical care but not for some other things, such as elective surgery. He said there are waits as long as a couple of years for this type of treatment.

Michael Arietti, political officer of the embassy, said the Swedes voted by referendum to phase out nuclear power by the year 2010. However, nuclear power supplies 45 percent of Sweden’s power and there has been no agreement as to how to replace this. Arietti talked of life in Sweden, calling the winters depressing. Daylight is only from 9 to 10 a.m., lasting until 2 to 3 p.m. Summer days are proportionately longer.

We were hosted to lunch by the City of Stockholm at a dining room in City Hall. There, Larry Gerber joined us. In conversation Gerber said a journalist in Stockholm with 10 years experience would earn about $3,000 per month. In Portland, OR., a similar situation, this journalist would earn about $4,000 per month. But the biggest difference is that, Gerber said, in Sweden, the take-home pay is only half of the salary. The rest is taxes. Also, Sweden has a type of sales tax called a “Value Added Tax”. This adds 23 percent to the cost of goods you buy.

Sweden has two television channels. They have no commercials but are financed by an annual tax on TV sets. The tax on a color set is $135 and there is resistance to any increase, so commercial programming is being considered. In addition to the two Swedish channels, 400 households are served by cable or satellite dish with 12-13 channels.

Working conditions are good in Sweden with fringes such as 5-6 weeks of annual vacation, a year of paid maternity leave for one spouse or split for two. We were told that the average annual pay is $19,375. However, take-home pay is only half of this. However, home ownership is only 35 percent of the population. Buying an apartment, we are told, costs one to three million kronur, or $160,000 to $480,000.

After City Hall, we toured the plant of the “Dagens Nyhetr”, Sweden’s largest daily newspaper. The U.S. still leads in newspaper technology. Our party includes publishers of small newspapers across the U.S., none are from big cities. Yet almost all of us, including the Curry County Reporter, are using technology superior to what this large daily is using. They are investigating, according to our guide. Incidentally, the Dagens Nyhetr sells for 65 cents a copy. This newspaper has 400,000 circulation, twice as much as its rival. Under the Swedish system, this entitles the competition to a government subsidy.

This is a nation of newspaper readers. Christina Jutterstrom, editor-in-chief, said what you get on TV is not enough.

We have lost another hour. Helsinki is 10 hours ahead of Gold Beach. Our ship is scheduled to arrive at Helsinki at 9 a.m. and we are to tour the city in the morning and be briefed at the U.S. Embassy in the afternoon.