Alla har lika värde. Everyone has equal worth.
In Sweden most people take this as a universal truth. Everyone has equal worth. We should all be treated with respect as human beings.
As a Britisher I sometimes feel a knee-jerk reaction against this. Nice sentiment, but what does that have to do with the harsh reality?
The Swedish, on the other hand, reel off their values about human rights and equal worth as if they are physically existent. As if they were as real and solid as their own bodies.
And what does it matter if the reality doesn't match the ideal, they claim. It SHOULD, that's the main thing. It SHOULD.
As I've already mentioned, to my British heart this attitude can sometimes seem obtuse and childish. The British are far too realistic (cynical, some might say) to listen to such idealism without referring to the ever-present cold, cruel reality: the ultimate arbiter. In fact, gleefully crushing what is seen as misguided optimism has become a sort of national sport. It allows you to elevate yourself by asserting your own wisdom and seniority. Grow up kid, the world is hard. Deal with it. Game, set, match.
Yet the Swedes stubbornly maintain their idealism. Things SHOULD be better. They SHOULD.
The British do not get as far as SHOULD. They are stuck on what IS. What IS is what IS is what IS. That's just the way it IS. End of story. Forever and ever, Amen.
Even the leftists in Britain don't have a true faith in what SHOULD be. They seek change, yet ultimately most of their energy is locked into an all-consuming rage against the suffocating, omnipresent, immovable, unconquerable, undeniable weight of what IS. After all, they live in Britain.
I have left Britain. I have left the land of "That's the way it IS". I live in Sweden. Childish, obtuse, hopeful Sweden. The land of "That's how it SHOULD be".
You can call me a fool, but I prefer it here.
