As an American living and working in Sweden, I've come to see my home nation of America in a new light. People here are quite fair-minded about the USA - I'm much more of a critic. I can say that they are highly amused by the American Right's portrayal of Sweden as some sort of socialist hellhole. The Swedes are quite satisfied with their lives overall. Some things work better here than in the US and some things don't. Transit is fantastic, healthcare is OK...though slow, and the Swedish fetish for rules, structure, and security is truly hilarious...as long as you are not mired in it. They have lines and queues for everything. My favorite cultural artifact here is the organizational practice of "kitchen duty", a bizarre system by which everyone takes turns being a servant to the group for a week, washing everyone's greasy dishes and cleaning the kitchen up several times a day. God help you if you don't perform these all right on schedule! Heaven forbid each person would clean up after themselves. It's childish and insane, but they would have it no other way. Swedes tend to view the US as a sort of scary place where people have little of the security they enjoy here. So far, I think the security issue is a toss up.
Dr. Z
Sweden