Booze (like everything else) in Sweden is RIDICULOUSLY Expensive

Sweden costs too much money. As previously stated, everything here is too dang expensive, and there are just no compensating factors for that excess. I really can't understand what right Sweden thinks it has to charge so much money for everything. I am afraid that living in the modern communism is turning me into a bit of a conservative, or at the very least strengthening my love of the free market system. Here there is no competition. Prices are pretty much standard. You can go to a seedy, dirty pub and pay $9 for a pint of beer, or the nicest place in town and pay $9 for a pint of beer. It literally makes no difference. There's no such thing as drink specials either, mind you. And it's not just with alcohol, it's pretty much everything. Honestly the best, fairest ratio of what you pay to what you get is at McDonald's. (God bless the USA!)

We bought the above-pictured booze in London at the airport, and all I could think was, "Ha! Take that, Sweden!" Maybe it's the cold or the oppressive dark, but I am starting to feel a little belligerent and vindictive towards all things Swedish. I really can't wait to get home and really overdo it on all things "American". I'm gonna eat burgers and watch football (NOT soccer) and drink MGD and be real happy with myself the whole time. Ikea can count me out as a customer, and I sure hope that some other car manufacturer can step of their safety ratings, because Volvo is no longer an option for me. And if I so much as hear ABBA I'm likely to just up and start throwing things.

On a (vaguely) related note, I've noticed that Sweden is like the polar opposite of Latin America. And let's be honest, I LOVE Latin America. It's not just the weather that is so vastly different in the two places, but it's their very cultures. Swedes tend to be reserved and stand-offish, and Latinos are warm and open. Latin food is roughly 100000 times better than anything the Swedes can come up with (and about 1/100000000th of the cost). Religion is a big part of Latin American culture, and a large part of that population is Catholic. The so-called "Church of Sweden" is Lutheran, but religion seems to play a minor role at best in Swedish culture. Swedes are absurdly punctual, Latinos (and me) are not so much. Seriously, a Swedish train that leaves at 12:00 is already moving at 11:59. It just seems that overall here the culture is much more regimented (think assigned movie seats) and in countries where our experiences have been so much more pleasant (Guatemala) things are just more relaxed. I understand that some people might like the structure and efficiency of the Swedish way of life, but, as for me, I'll take the warmth (both cultural and climatic) of Latin America any day.