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I find the whole wapo and others not "endorsing" anyone in the pres race quite laughable. Or endorsing anyone. Why the f are newspapers et al in the business of endorsing politicians anyway? Well, they are often megaphones, so there is that... They have their endorsal fins signalling the course 😜

@inscius

That was hard for me to understand when I moved to USA, why who endorsed whom would matter to any thinking being.

I guess caring about endorsements is an area where Americans are more collectivist than Scandinavians.

@viking Hmm... that is an interesting observation! Maybe politics and corporations are generally more "integrated" in the US?

@inscius @viking
Corporations…. I guess they are promoting the celebrities, but it’s more about Americans being obsessed with celebrities.

Has ABBA ever endorsed a politician….

I guess they have publicly asked Trump to not use their music. But that’s not going to move the needle

But you are talking about the newspapers… I think that’s strictly a leftard thing. So is the celebrity thing, now that I think about it.

@inscius @viking
It’s very possible that the US left is further left and more collectivist than Scandinavia. Actually, I come across Americans all of the time that believe Scandinavia is an example of socialism working. But in reality I don’t think Scandinavia is as left as they dream in their heads. They like the social programs but they want control over the distribution of wealth and the economy also and that failed decades ago in Scandinavia, right?

@justinerickson @inscius

Hard to tell, but as a Norwegian growing up in the 70s, I know there was no such thing as school lunches, and if welfare recipients were too defective to feed their children, I think they would take the kids away from them, and rightfully so.

So that was an area where mainstream USA was to the left of Scandinavia, allowing defective parents to skimp on their responsibilities.

Lately I believe Norway has experimentaed with school lunches.

@viking @inscius ya. Adam Corolla’s (celebrity) big thing for awhile was “you can feed a child for $5 a day. You can give them an egg or two and a piece of cheese for breakfast and that’s better than what most parents are doing. If you are failing to feed your kids, then you are failing as a parent and shouldn’t have kids.” I hadn’t heard that brought up before so bluntly and I realized he’s absolutely right. Welfare for parents just excuses really bad parents.

@justinerickson @viking We had free school lunches for a very long time in Sweden. In my fathers time (30s), they had not, except for the poorest children.

@inscius @justinerickson

After a little research, I found that Norway used to have school lunches, and perhaps pioneered the concept, but abandoned it after we were no longer a poor country:

"The tradition originated in the 1930s with the Oslo Breakfast. Back then, Norway was poor and this government programme aimed to provide all school children with a free meal each day. It was an unmitigated success, and later copied around the globe. "

bbc.com/worklife/article/20190

BBC · The Norwegian art of the packed lunchBy Zaria Gorvett

@viking @inscius
So you guys are to blame after all. 🤣

@viking @inscius
Are there slurs that Swedes and Norwegians have for each other? I know Danes think Swedes are all a bunch of drunks because they drink the tax free liquor on the boat ride over and always show up drunk.

@justinerickson @viking There used to be ethnic jokes back and forth, but I haven't heard any in decades. They were kinda of lighthearted.

@inscius @viking
I’m sure they were lighthearted. That’s why I feel safe asking.

Those countries definitely share an identity and there isn’t a stark contrast between them, as far as I can see, except for Norway having all of that oil.

@justinerickson @viking There are differences, but it is getting a bit late here hehe. I can say that when I was young quite a few Swedes, especially if they did not live bordering to out neighbors had a little superiority complex and looked down on Danes, Norwegians and Finnish. Oil changed that, And the Danes are really good in business.

@inscius @justinerickson

I would say Denmark and Netherlands are really customer oriented, during my limited time in Germany, I have seen enormous amounts of bad service.

@viking @inscius I need to go and tour Scandinavia. I have always wanted to. But we live in Alaska and my family always wants to go to somewhere warm if we spend the money to leave the state…. Maybe I’ll just leave them home.

@justinerickson @viking Alaska?! That sounds exotic to me :D Scandinavia is far north, but due to the Gulf Stream, it is far more livable than other places on the same latitude.

@inscius @viking Our climates are very similar, I believe.

Is Sweden windy? Where I live in Alaska is not very windy. I grew up in a windy place and it is the worst. Hate the wind.

@justinerickson @viking Prevailing winds are from west/southwest. So west coasts get more. Lately we have had wind from south quite often. Not strong. But very unusual. Odd.

@inscius @viking
Ya, the west coast is totally exposed to the Atlantic. I bet it gets a wind that cuts to the bone.

Our weather patterns vary a ton. I’ve heard it’s one of the hardest places on Earth for predicting weather. Everything is odd here. Especially the people.

@inscius @viking are you in the interior of Sweden? I bet Sweden has a real difference between the North and the South. Rural vs urban.

@inscius @viking I imagine the people are very different. Urban vs rural. Rural people end up not liking the government that gets sent to them by urban people.

There are small "urban" places too. Before the war, most people lived in rural areas, or small communities. Means my generation often had at least one parent who had grown up in the country. Grandparents to visit. Some people move to country side (I did for 23 years), but we also have lots of immigrants who really has no connection to rural living. I think most of them were urban already in homeland. It is a bit complicated. And farmers are much fewer (and a lot bigger than say in the 1960s).

@inscius

Which part of the Sweden were Albert and Herbert from?

@viking Göteborg! (Gothenburg)

@inscius @viking
So you are saying that everyone used to have a connection to what it is like to live in the country side.

10 million people. Belgian has 11 with much less land and Germany has 8 times more people. So I can understand that.

And I just looked it up. The only real metropolitan areas are Stockholm and maybe Gothenburg. The rest of the cities are 350,000 or less. The majority don’t live in big cities. That’s appealing to me. Too bad they decided to let in so many…

@justinerickson @viking It's real Gothenburg dialect. But not hard. Some dialects are hard to understand except for the locals 😂

@justinerickson @viking I havent seen them in decades. Just watched aome. I think they were inspired by British humour. The more unpolished style.

@inscius @viking
I read up on it a bit. It is an adaptation of something British. You are right.

@inscius @viking can you think of any Swedish comedy movies or tv shows that are worth watching that could work in a different language? I don’t think I have seen any comedy that came from Sweden or any Scandinavian country.

Don’t worry. If it is really bad, I will bluntly tell you that you have horrible taste and will think less of you.

Inscius

@justinerickson 😂 Sweden is not famous for humor. And humor often does not work across cultures. Or even across time. I can only recall one group who did a show in English. Which won the Rose d'Or in 1986. "The Prize" I think some of it is still funny, if one knows the stuff they made fun of. @viking

@inscius @viking
Hmmm. I can’t find those two you referenced. I agree. It’s rare that comedy works as it ages and across cultures. But there is still stuff that works still to do this day. Maybe because I lived through it though...

I think comedy gives details about a culture that are difficult to describe. And it’s funny to witness how absurd comedy is in another culture…

Anyway, I’m always looking for interesting stuff I haven’t seen before. And I am aware Sweden is known for its Cinema.

@justinerickson @viking I referenced only one thing "The Prize". The comedy groups name was "Helt Apropå". Can be found on youtube, but seems to be only vhs copies of vhs copies 😅 Here is one clip youtu.be/7Dj1MxMW0QQ?si=P56X7m

@inscius @viking
That is amazing. Not too fond of the commies. 🤣🤣

@justinerickson @viking In the 70s telly was quite leftist. Some otherwise-thinkers managed to sneak in in the 80s. Foremost it is a megaphone for establishment.

@inscius @viking I can imagine. Does Sweden have a lot of state run, I mean “public” media?

@justinerickson @viking We have state television and radio. It used to be license, like in UK. Then when fewer people had television, they tried to demand license for computers with internet connection. So they unilaterally imposed a license fee on everyone. Thousands appealed to courts, myself included. ...

@justinerickson @viking ... Many of us appealed again. Was struck down in both instances. It was an insight into how administrative courts work. They seem to not read the appeals and/or not read the law. I gave up but a bunch appealed to the highest admin court. And won. After that they changed into earmarked tax (a rarity in itself), with almost all parties voting for it. So I pay tax for tv tho i haven't had one in 11 years. And hardly watched it years before that.

@inscius @viking
That’s wild. An example of why bureaucracies should not be justice systems.

@justinerickson @viking Here is an insight I got recently. I heard a interview on a Swedish podcast (I listen to very few of those) where they discussed animal welfare and security. It used to be based in the municipalities, and if they found abuse of animals they had to turn to the police to interfere/save etc. It came to criminal court, where "govt" has to prove their case. But...

@justinerickson @viking .. animal welfare was chnaged to be run by govt run provincial oversee instance (Länsstyrelse). That means it goes to administrative court system instead. Where you appeal decisions from agencies etc. These courts have in practice reverse burden of proof (if that makes sense). The citizen has to prove his innocence. Even if he wins appeal, the animals might already be gone and sold or slaughtered. Disgusting.

@inscius @viking …for the purpose of animal welfare. It’s amazing how often agencies do the opposite of what they say. Like the “Ministry of Truth”.

@justinerickson @viking It put power into un-elected bureaucrats that can make unilateral decisions. Even in practice set policy. The technocratic nightmare. Technocracy is a vehicle for globalists. And big corporations.

@justinerickson @viking British televison (incl humour) has always been popular in Sweden. US less so. Before the 80s, there was few US telly shows here. But when I was a kid there was Lucy. And Bonanza was one of the most popular. How the West Was Won is one of the most popular tv series ever. But not much comedy (cinema is another matter).

@inscius @justinerickson

"How the West Was Won" had a special place in the heart of Norwegians.

We counted James Arness as one of our own.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ar

His family came from Aursnes, a small town not to far from my ancestral home of Ålesund.

google.com/maps/search/aursnes

The father of James immigrated to USA and anglicized his surname from Aursnes to Aurnes. James further anglicized his name to Arness.

I remember How the West Was Won, and older Norwegians remember Gunsmoke.

en.wikipedia.orgJames Arness - Wikipedia

@viking @justinerickson I think every Swede above 20 knows Zeb Macahan. Iconic character.

@inscius @justinerickson

Another series I remember from the late 70s is Centennial!

@viking @inscius I’m bookmarking this. I’ll probably never find anything with English subtitles but maybe.

@viking @inscius I already tried to find Albert and Herbert. Did find full episodes on YouTube but they don’t have subtitles. I might try some more. But I’m curious about Zeb and Centennial.

@justinerickson @viking Centennial I don't think I have seen. Looks unfamiliar. One series I enjoyed was Rich Man, Poor man. At least the original mini-series with Nick Nolte.

@justinerickson @inscius

We Scandinavians don't really make much adult TV worth watching, we typically get it from abroad, where the lion's share is from USA.

@viking @inscius
oh I see.
One thing that I have really noticed about many Scandinavians, mostly Swedes, is that if they speak English they speak it better than most Americans and with nearly no accent. Wonder if watching American tv would explain that.

@justinerickson @inscius

There is the small country effect, where it becomes too costly to dub foreign movies into the local language, so they go the cheap way, with sub titles.

Some people claim that because of this, the Dutch and Scandinavians have better English.

But with respect to Swedes having no accent, I would claim that some people from North Dakota speak with a terrible Swedish accent.

@viking @inscius
Haha. Yes they do. Same in Minnesota where my Swedish grandfather grew up.

It’s rather comical, especially because a Sweden Swede will have less of an accent. It’s hilarious. It’s all their own now. “Don’t you know.”

Fargo is hilarious purely because it plays with the culture and accent.

youtu.be/2vjB3wiZKAA

It makes perfect sense for small countries with their own language to be exposed much more to other languages, English being the obvious one.

@justinerickson @inscius

My experience was that I spent the summer of 1990 at Goethe Institute in Berlin for intensive German education, and there was one Swedish student there. Some Americans there remarked that this Swede was speaking English without an accent.

Two years later, a graduate student from North Dakota arrived at the department I was studying, and I thought he sounded just like a Swede.

@viking @justinerickson No dubbing helps a lot. We are exposed to a lot of English from quite early age. Childrens' programs and films are dubbed.
And in generally I think we are good at bork bork bork English.