I’m still limping my way through life,  but I’ve come to understand that the sciatic nerve is the largest in the body, and when it gets pinched, there are plenty of places where it can cause some serious pain. Saying it’s better might be a stretch, but I convince myself that things are slowly heading in the right direction.

However, the relatively normal steps to the grocery store still turn into uneven, jagged ones on the way back. Kind of like walking home from the bar in the old days. Quasimodo walk, if you will. I know friends who have it much worse, so sometimes I feel a bit guilty for being so whiny. If my Aunt Lillemor were alive, she would have said, “such misery, poor child, better to be dead.”

Today is the day. The election. The American in me, as usual, has found it hard not to get involved in the process. It’s been like waiting for a slow, sweet-and-sour syrup to finally finish dripping. It has undeniably been fascinating to follow – albeit with a mix of horror and delight. So many experts filling my feeds: Bill, Ben, Harrison, Bob, Barack, Michelle, Joe, John… opinions are like buttholes, everyone has at least one.

I feel quite weary and tired of all the speeches. It’ll be nice when it’s over.

I once studied political science and political history, and even back then one of my lecturers (brilliant Swedish journalist and author Britt-Marie Mattsson) explained that when it comes to American society, the real threat to democracy isn’t the rising nationalism/patriotism or the increasing polemics that President Reagan at the time liked to revel in. Instead, the threat was well-camouflaged in the power that corporations, through their lobbyists, hold over elected officials.

She argued that corporations influence jobs, schools, healthcare, and living conditions far more than presidents or members of Congress could ever dream of. I remember thinking: then representative democracy is just an illusion, a show designed to keep the public in line and under the delusion that their participation in elections matters.

Perhaps it’s not so surprising that only about 65% of eligible voters in the U.S. bothered to make their choices last time. In the most recent Swedish parliamentary election, the figure was just over 84%.

Both of today’s American presidential candidates solemnly promise to reduce inflation and lower the cost of living. Swedish politicians do the same. Big promises, little follow-through.

But who really bears responsibility for inflation and the rising cost of food? I’ve actually looked into this a bit.

In 2023, food giants like ICA made a profit of 6.4 billion SEK. Another one, Axfood (including Willy’s/Hemköp) earned 3.35 billion SEK, and COOP brought in 109 million SEK.

So why is everything more expensive and the contents smaller (= shrinkflation)?

And what about housing costs? Why haven’t interest rates dropped more? Did the poor banks have a tough time in 2023?

• Swedbank: 43.6 billion SEK in profit. • Handelsbanken: 24.3 billion SEK in profit.
• Nordea: 90 billion SEK in profit.
• SEB: 21.7 billion SEK in profit.
• Danske Bank: 106 billion SEK in profit.

How did our darling energy companies fare in 2023?
• E.ON Sweden AB reported a profit of 1.6 billion SEK.
• Vattenfall had a profit of 10.4 billion SEK.
• Göteborg Energi made 373 million SEK.

• Öresundskraft AB brought in 1.2 billion SEK in profit.

And how did the insurance companies do in 2023

• Folksam: 3.2 billion SEK in profit.
• Trygg-Hansa: 2.5 billion SEK in profit.
• If Skadeförsäkring: 4.1 billion SEK in profit.
• Länsförsäkringar: 3.8 billion SEK in profit.
• Skandia: 2.9 billion SEK in profit.

Even though we don’t have the same level of corruption as in the U.S., I suspect we’re heading in that direction, which is, feeling increasing powerlessness and despair.

Politicians are dancing to the tune of corporations.

In case you didn’t know, Sweden also has a lobbying industry, and it’s growing. But unlike in the U.S., there is no mandatory registration for lobbyists in Sweden, which makes the extent and costs of lobbying harder to map here.

Still, I hope Kamala Harris and her team win this election. Even though I don’t believe there will be massive improvements for my American compatriots, I do have more faith in her ability to tackle the country’s long-standing problems than in the alternative, who has more or less made it clear that he plans to do the opposite. Ignore them.

Additionally, I seriously believe Kamala can grow into the role of a tough but peacekeeping world leader.

The photo above is of me tending the rickety bar at Cantina in Riksgränsen 1989. Cantina is a repurposed old WWII bunker.