Lunch with Bo at the Busy Downtown Market

Bo Kjellberg is a high tech entrepreneur who lives in Goteborg. We joined him for lunch in a restaurant in a crowded market called called Saluhallen. All around us were shoppers picking out hams, fresh fruit, little lobsters, prawns and hundreds of kinds of cheese. The place has the bustle and energy of a thriving market, and we found a booth where we could ask him about Goteborg and life here in Sweden.

We wanted to know what he thought the biggest difference was between the US, where he once lived during college, and Sweden. “Empathy,” he said thoughtfully. He recalled some stories about when he lived here where people refused to help him, or to bend any rules. It seemed to him that people in the US were less able to relate or understand the poor and disadvantaged. Here, of course, the government is famously accommodating, no one goes hungry, and the state takes care of you no matter what happens.

He said the new government here might be tightening up the system, but for him he doesn’t mind the high taxes…he clearly sees the great value that paying so much provides him and others. While some of his coworkers said they welcome a chance to keep more of their own money, Bo said he thinks it’s fine just as it is.