Spot the American, part II

This tweet thread, from an American designer working for Spotify in Sweden in a curious read. She’s essentially saying that Sweden is a fascist country, full of racist and an impossible place to live.

I’m highly skeptical of her claims as she opens by saying “I’ve been subject to countless microaggressions”. For a lot of these types, the most mundane things in the world are some racist plot that’s part of a vast right-wing conspiracy. Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.

I’m more interested in the cultural phenomenon of Americans abroad and their failure to integrate into other cultures. My guess is that the author of this tweet rant doesn’t speak Swedish and based on her Twitter sees everything through the prism of her California politics and worldview. Luckily for her, if she doesn’t like Sweden, she has the privilege of a great passport and an in-demand skill set — she shouldn’t have trouble finding a high-paying job almost anywhere in the world.

This is another case of a hyper-woke American who probably had some dreamy vision of Scandinavia as the socialist paradise. Lo and behold, these “socialist paradises” of Northern Europe, of which I’d include the Netherlands, are real societies with struggles, problems, imperfections and raw humanity. But I see this all the time: Americans who know everything about healthcare shocked to find out the healthcare system in the Netherlands isn’t what they expected or that life isn’t one giant pride parade. Then these Americans have the gall to lecture the locals, in English, how they ought to live in their own countries. And then these Americans are shocked that nobody likes them.

There’s another thing going on as well: European cities are very class and political-affiliation diverse. In a relatively small space you’ll find construction workers, office workers, teachers, retired people all living. Partisan politics aren’t really a part of daily life either. If you tell me someone is a tech worker in San Francisco, I can tell you with near certainly all of their political opinions. It’s also almost certain that the only time they see working class people is when they are subserviently masked and hidden from view in the service industry. And hence Europe is shocking for the hyper-woke Americans that never leave their bubbles: you’ll be exposed to people different than you here, and you’re expected to be tolerant of them.

Anyway, since Sweden is fascist dictatorship, I hope she finds what she’s looking for somewhere.