A Class System In Early 1880's Sweden

Historical Background
In the Early 1880’s Sweden was a class system with a high concentration of capital within a tiny group of wealthy families. There existed a small middle class, and a mass of peasants living in the countryside. Poverty was widespread. It was in this environment that the Swedish social democratic labor party (SAP) was formed in 1889. In the beginning, the party was formed on two goals, universal suffrage and the eight-hour workday. By 1911, the SAP was becoming an important political force in Sweden but was still incapable of achieving its own political goals. The SAP achieved this power in 1932 during an economic depression. The depression became the SAP’s central theme of that election year. The SAP proposed
This prosperity was facilitated by favorable economic cycles. Sweden produced paper, wood steel, and ships because the war did not affect the country’s production. During this time the SAP created a number of political reforms, which eventually became the cornerstone of the parties policy of social welfare for years to come. The most important of these was the Universal child allowance, universal health insurance, and the national supplemental pension.
During the 1970’s, the SAP proposed additional reforms, which were aimed at increasing both equality and industrial democracy. The “law on employment protection (1973) was created which guaranteed wage earners protection against unwarranted dismissal and the “law on co-determination (1976) which gave trade unions the opportunity to participate in important decisions in companies.
The SAP’s proposal to create a wage earners fund was the most significant. This transferred a portion of a company’s profits to a government-controlled pool that, via the purchase of stocks, would place wage earner representatives on company boards. The goal was to transfer power into the hands of wage earners. Naturally, capitalistic minded politicians, as well as big corporations were against, this proposal. They fought it for years. The Riksdag finally approved the proposal in the 1980’s and created 5 investment funds for this
It got its start however, in the agrarian societies of the 1880’s. During this time poverty was widespread. As a survival tactic the agrarian societies began a tradition of collective self-organization. This gave them a feeling of independence in relation to the powers that be. These communities established labor communes, which began exhibiting socialist behaviors. They established libraries, put on plays, and even organized bazaars. The well-being of its members was their focus. They would raise funds for members when they became ill or unemployed. Eventually, these groups began providing formal education to their members and families as well. These lessons mostly consisted of economics and science lessons to begin with but eventually moved on to more diverse