During my travels abroad it is often a topic that comes up in discussions about Swedish society. A subject that fascinates and arouses curiosity, but also provokes to a certain extent. I am of course talking about the collective versus the individual. The basic idea in Sweden seems to be that everyone should take care of themselves. It fits well, as approx two million households consist of one person living alone without children.
Sweden’s approximately ten million inhabitants live in just under five million households. More than two million households consist of one person living alone without children.
If you can no longer take care of yourself, someone else must take action. Not necessarily relatives, friends and relatives, not at all actually. The one who should intervene is instead the Swedish state. Of course, what else are we paying all this tax for!? Right or wrong? Wrong or right? What do you spontaneously think?
The collective versus the individual: a recurring theme during my travels
I’ve had many discussions about the collective versus the individual, most recently on a trip to Uzbekistan last fall. One of our guides wanted to know more about how society is structured in Sweden, whether it is true that we are as individualistic as he has heard. Well, what does it actually mean to be individualistic? In Sweden, grandparents go to retirement homes and few seem to react with the thought that there is anything strange about that. Many probably wish they had the time and energy to help their aging relatives a little more, “but that’s not how society works”.
However, for our guide it is self-evident that elderly parents live together with children and grandchildren. ”Your parents have taken care of you all your life, now it’s your turn to take care of them.” Everything else is just weird! Or? Is there even good and evil in this discussion – or is it simply that we have different ideas about how things should be done in this small world?
Against the background of the Swedish position on World value studies Kulturkarta about values (this is based on surveys in over 100 countries) it is perhaps not surprising that we Swedes experience things ‘a little’ differently than, for example, people in Uzbekistan. My friend Linda has written more about the map and her visit to Nyhetsmorgon on the theme of culture clashes here:
Read more: Culture clashes in Nyhetsmorgon – charm or annoyance of travel
I have one myself older sister who, due to both our parents’ cancer diagnoses, moved to Sweden from the US to care for them full-time. We other siblings helped in our small way, but she had the main responsibility. The fact that she made that choice led to an article in the local newspaper. It might have become news in Uzbekistan if she had NOT moved!?
My siblings and I will forever be grateful to our oldest sister for the decision she made to move home to care for my parents. Would I have made the same choice myself? Actually, I don’t think so, and that realization makes me both sad and worried in a way. Self-realization versus self-destruction (?), individual versus collective. Where exactly is the border and how did we get here? These are questions I often think about, not least during my travels.
What are your thoughts on the collective versus the individual, have you had any exciting discussions on this topic during your travels? (Cover image: Uzbekistan).
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