Love me, love me, say that you love me

Whenever megastars, often American, visit Sweden, may they be recording artists or actors, we need to hear that they have enjoyed their stay here and that love the country. It doesn't matter whether the visiting Messiah is Bruce Springsteen, Britney Spears, Al Gore, Merryl Streep, or as was the case this weekend, Lady Gaga. I will not dwell further on the.. phenomena and freak-show that is miss Gaga; that will likely be a topic for future considerations. I will just point out how far Swedish tabloid journalism will go to get a comment on the stars' approval of Sweden. Yesterday one of the superstar's bodyguards had to do, when he stunningly reported that "Lady Gaga like it very much here". Stop the presses.

But we, or at least tabloid journalism, need those headlines. They are present every single time when a very famous person visit Sweden; each story is a carbon-copy of the previous. The question is it is only a feature of our mass media, or if it represents something deeper within Swedish culture and psyche? It has been said that Swedes are never shy to harshly criticize their own country and its system, but whenever a foreigner enters the conservation the tone swiftly changes. We are rarely proud of our nation, except for when the national team in football or ice-hockey is playing, but even then flag-waving is modest; it has instead been claimed by racists and right-wing extremists. We can however not stomach criticism to the Swedish way of life from the outside, then our pride and defense of the Swedish steps in and turns on like a light-switch. I follow this pattern myself and always tend to the defend the Swedish system more in conversations with non-Swedes. We need to be loved and admired by the world; another example of that is that we always feel pride whenever we are mentioned in American media or popular culture; even we are ridiculed or made fun in The Simpsons or Family Guy we love seeing it. Why is this? I don't really know, but an attempt at an answer leans me towards the Swedish tendency of insecurity. We need to know that we are doing is the right thing, whether it is the policies of our welfare state, foreign policy, or popular culture. It seems as if if other nations do not see the same quality in the Swedish that we do ourselves, we will start to question their validity, and then the whole foundations of our society will start to come down. It is a peculiar behavior, but perhaps understandable coming from a small country on the outskirts of continent, who with quite an own way of doing things has larger ambitions and will to be seen than its actual size and reach. Sweden is Lionel Messi in Barcelona, the little kid who no one thought would amount to anything, and so need to show the world that he can do it on his own.

The song quoted in the headline says a lot about this - Lovefool.

Negative campaigning and American influence

The hottest debate the last week in Sweden regarded what is almost exclusively considered an American phenomena. Negative campaigning and smear-tactics have entered Sweden's election race, and as commonly done it is blamed and depicted as an example of Americanization of our society. Surely, not all view it as something despicable, but rather as something that can spice up the political debate, create clearer political alternatives; things which in the end will increase peoples' interest and participation, even furthering democracy.

To be sure, negative campaigning and foul play are a present part of American elections from state to presidential. The latest run between Barack Obama and John McCain had it's very low moments, such as when McCain and Sarah Palin tried to align Obama with former members of Weather Underground, trying to make him seem to side with terrorists, hence being un-American and unfit for presidency. However, Swedes tend to overestimate the spread and impact of these tactics, giving the image that that is what American elections are all about. The Swedish mainstream media can in large part be blamed for this. Their reports of American elections consist in large part of the negative side of the campaigns and debates. It raises a lot of attention and draws viewers and readers to the media-outlets, hence raising profits. People want drama and conflict in politics (and at the same time they are tired of political squabbling...) which negative campaigning sometimes draws to its outer limits.

So far Swedish political life has been minimally influenced by American conditions, in part because American realities can not easily be translated to the Swedish as the political history and system of the two nations are quite different. However much people might like more conflicts and attention-raising debates, the larger part of Swedish society will continue to resist American influence and dub it as negative.

What's It All About?

Why write yet another blog about the United States? It's been done, we've heard it, we've read it. No, you haven't.

There are special reasons for writing the story of American influences and presence in Sweden, and Sweden's existence and impact on America, as well as the special relationship between the two countries.

In relative terms, Sweden had the third highest immigration rate to the United States from the middle of the 19th century up until World War II, only surpassed by Ireland and Norway. The gives Sweden a special place in the creation of American life and society, and it puts America close in the "mental map" of many Swedes as personal and biological ties are created between the two countries by immigration. I would argue that the US are closer to Swedes than are many European countries. American influences are also heavily present in Swedish society and everyday life, perhaps mostly in the form of popular culture such as TV-series, movies, music, and clothing.
On the other hand Sweden and the United States are in many characteristics very different nations; our history of political and societal ideas vary vastly in certain aspects. Today it is perhaps most visible in the differentiated views on religion, welfare and taxes, and our relationship with the rest of the world.

The US and what goes on "over there" interests us and attracts significant media attention, not only in the field of politics but also sports, culture, media, religion, and "everyday life". These days Swedish mainstream media are occupied with the oil disaster that might come to threaten wildlife and nature on the Southeast coast of the US.

All these subjects and more will be explored and analyzed on this site. So stay tuned.