Whatever else has gone on, and whatever government gets power, Sweden still has a strong socialist backbone and it is that that has given the people of this country the rights and freedom that they have. Capitalism only serves big business, giving the rest of us the myth that the economic effects will trickle down to us. History has proved that this just doesn't happen.
I would guess that it is not a socialist backbone nor unfettered capitalism that results in a free and open and prosperous society. I think it is common trust and honesty among the general population along with the people maintaining a constant check on hierarchical centralized power.
It is easy to get caught up in defending or attacking ideologies with certain labels that have so much baggage attached to them. From browsing the thread here, I think it would be best to do away with labels altogether and evaluate each proposed solution to a problem individually so that there will be more clarity.
As I keep saying over and over again (hoping the concept will put down roots elsewhere), the problem is not government or individualism or collectivism in general, but human nature combined with the hierarchical organizational structure which centralizes power and creates a feedback loop that over time tends to amplify the worst aspects of human nature leading the hierarchy to become tyrannical and oppressive.
In the capitalist system, if corporations (hierarchical organizations) are not limited in size and power, they will grow and grow and eventually subvert or co-opt government leading to a collapse and dystopia. In the socialist system, if the governmental power structure is too hierarchical without enough checks and balances, the same thing will happen: corruption will grow until collapse.
There are some reasons that socialism evokes such strong reactions from people: 1) the worst democides and betrayals of justice to the common man in the 20th century came out of nominally communist or socialist nations, 2) the involuntary confiscation of the fruits of one's labor under threat of violence is legalized theft, and 3) socialism requires relinquishing some individual rights for the good of the state or collective, and this is typically not a one time event but a process that continues and snow-balls because the tendency is for centralized hierarchical power to grow at the expense of those at the bottom of the power pyramid.
Socialism works wonderfully for a while and capitalism works wonderfully for a while and monarchies can also work wonderfully for a while. But nothing is static. We have to consider the dynamics of how the power structures will evolve.
Going with the "as above so below" hermetic fractal philosophy, I believe that political power structures are an iteration of pattern that is repeated on smaller scales in the dynamic between man and woman in marriage and also between "left-brain" and "right-brain" mental structures.
Right brain feminine organization is chaotic, networked crowd-sourced, and better at gestalt pattern recognition (which is why the internet alt-media is better at seeing patterns aka conspiracy theories). Left-brain sequential hierarchical organization is more efficient at specific actions and so is more powerful and tends to dominate.
Creating a prosperous free and open society is no different than becoming a stronger individual of sound mind or no different than strengthening a marriage. The same steps are required because the same masculine/feminine or hierarchy/network structural dynamics is in play.
The masculine hierarchical aspect must be kept benevolent not allowed to overpower the feminine aspect which must be allowed to freely network and speak.
The anarcho libertarians (who I strongly resonate with) will have another failed utopia if they succeed because they are essentially advocating a completely feminine form of organization which will result in being conquered by a non-benevolent hierarchy. To keep things stable the masculine and feminine organizational structures must keep each other in check and there must be pervasive honesty and trust. This is true no matter what label is attached to the governmental system.