Sweden

I now think I have to move to Sweden. Given how fast these kind of plans change for me, I might think differently soon. Still, a neither necessarily complete nor ordered list of reasons why:

Sweden is a member of the European which means that I do not need to worry about work permits or visas.
It is supposedly an open and international society, welcoming to foreigners.
Swedes speak good English and speaking Swedish is not an absolute prerequisite for living or working.
There is a well-organized official website offering loads and loads of information for foreigners.
Sweden’s immigration policy is sensible and relatively lenient. You must have lived in Sweden for only five years to become a citizen. Double citizenship is allowed.
Sweden is well-organized, modern, clean and safe — something I do treasure, coming from Germany.
Sweden is innovative and has lots of high-tech business.
Swedish universities offer lots of graduate programs in English.
Swedish education is of high quality and cheap (if not free since government-subsidized). Swedish spending on education is the highest in the OECD — some 4.9% of GDP.
Swedish is related to other European languages (unlike Finnish, for example) and should be quite possible to learn. Furthermore, you are in a kind of “learn-one-get-two-free” situation since Swedish will also help you in Denmark and Norway.
Swedes value equal opportunity higher than other countries and egalitarianism has a strong tradition.
Smoking is not permitted in public places.
Sweden has an excellent welfare system and is very strong on social equality.
The Swedish state understands to maintain a very strong state — financing health care, social security, education and infrastructure with tax money — while still being an attractive investment location. The key seems to be financing these systems from tax money, therefore making the price of labor independent of the price of social security. Corporate tax is low while individual taxation is high. This draws in investors. The tax system is strongly redistributive, providing for social fairness. More info in this excellent ZEIT article in German.
Excellent childcare is available, actually making it practical for women to work.
Swedish politicians actually seem to “get it” sometimes. They actually adopt sensible reform (such as allowing double citizenship which used to be outlawed) and don’t just talk about it.
Sweden is near my home country Germany — making it easy for me to come back and visit.

I can only come up with a lot fewer reasons not to go:

The ridiculous policy on alcohol sale: it can only be sold in a government-owned monopoly shop, is insanely expensive and can only be bought during special opening hours.
I do not speak a word of Swedish. (This can be helped, though.)
I have never been in Sweden. (Something it seems I have to change soon.)

Well, let’s see. I will try to update this list as I find new points and ask some Swedish friends what they think about this idea.

More info: