Political Happenings #3of3

Year after year in many countries, I conduct a Humberd Poll. One year the Swedish question was, “Since people who don’t work are provided all of the necessities and many of the frivolities of life by the Government, when are the people who work and pay taxes, going to get tired of paying to support that way of life?” I asked about 32 people this question. On the subway I asked a man to please put down his newspaper and talk to me. In the sauna at the campsite, I had a heated, in more ways than one, political discussion with several men. On the street, at the edge of political rallies, and at a street corner waiting for the light to change, I would ask my question.

Anyway, about 25 answers were, “We are already sick of this mess and want to change it, a little.” The people at the Communist party rally thought they deserved even more free goodies from the working class. However, all agreed that even if the most conservative political party in Sweden wins the election, not much will change. We were told that only about 30% of the businesses in Sweden are owned by the government. Some people thought more Government owned businesses would be great, others said, “… enough is enough.”

There is a story told to us by a dozen former members of the German military (and confirmed by a couple of Danes), that it was unbelievably easy for the German Army to capture Denmark at the start of the war. Several Germans commented on the almost complete lack of concern or resistance, on the part of the Danes. When the war ended, there were many Germans stranded in Norway. As these Germans tried to get home, dozens, or hundreds (depending on which story you want to believe), were shot and killed by the Danes, as they tried to cross Denmark, on the way to their home in Germany.

We visited the Lego Company’s version of Disneyland, in Billund, Denmark. It’s a miniature city, somewhat like Maduradam at The Hague, Netherlands, and Swissminiatur, the museum of scale-model buildings found in the Swiss town of Melide. They have small versions of the Taj Mahal, Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, the US Capitol building, and many, many more, all built with Lego blocks. The man who ran the in the observation tower had recently visited San Francisco. He had been offered a job by the Green Peace organization, but since he did not have the needed official immigration papers, they said they would forge any needed documents for him to stay in the USA. Nice organization.