A Matter of Flexibility.

I was reading a short article earlier about a 78-year-old British woman who has lived in Sweden for the past twenty two years. She moved there with her husband, who has since died, and settled there, but now the bureaucrats and the government say she is no longer welcome because the UK is not a member of the European Union. I found my good opinion of Sweden and the Swedes fracturing a little when I read the piece, but I don't suppose I should. Rules are rules, after all, and bureaucrats will be bureaucrats wherever they may be unearthed.

And I think it likely that most Swedes would sympathise with her predicament and want her to be allowed to stay. She has friends there, and activities, and her husband's grave to visit and tend. Even some government ministers are given to expressions of understanding and sympathy, apparently, and are seeking to find a solution in the woman's favour. I have developed the impression that the Swedes are a caring and compassionate people, so maybe they will.

But of course, there remains the the primary argument. How can the the rules be applied to make an exception for one person and not the rest? Where should the line be drawn? The tyranny of the line is, after all, the bureaucrats' principle guide post. How can any system be properly managed without a line to lead the way or place the barrier in the correct position? I occasionally came up against this problem when I was a bureaucrat, and had to rely on ingenuity to make exceptions -- under the radar so to speak -- in deserving cases. (Surprisingly, I always got away with it.)

But maybe the answer in this case is simpler and above board. Why not simply enact a law which states something along the lines of:

If any person has made Sweden their main place of residence and one of their loved ones has died and been buried there, they may be allowed to remain for the purpose of tending their loved one's grave.

 

No doubt they would argue almost interminably about the definition of 'loved one', but with a little goodwill I expect they could manage it.