Sunday, September 19, 2010

Swedish Elections in the US

Well that was disappointing. Twenty seats disappointing. Five point seven percent disappointing. Sverigedemokraterna disappointing. Because suddenly, an extreme rightwing party will be sitting in Stockholm.

Because I am a nerd, and have a strange affinity for watching election results from foreign countries, I turned on my computer, got myself a projector, surrounded myself with a few other Swedophiles, and watched the election results live. From the US.

I did a lot of head shaking. I shook my head at the fact that an anti-immigration party could gain so much support. I shook my head at the awkward position that all the other parties find themselves in with no clear majority. I even shook my head at the reaction of Lars Ohly trying to blame Sverigedemokraternas support on a social infection carried from mainland Europe.

It came as no surprise that SD grabbed some seats. It came as a surprise though that they grabbed so many. The results suggest some serious underlying issues in Swedish society. Fearing the other. Whatever the other may be. Clearly, immigration is an issue that must be dealt with in Sweden. It probably should have been dealt with long ago, but wasn’t. At least not satisfactorily if you judge by the election results. Now there is no excuse.

Unfortunately, I fear that comments like Ohly’s will do nothing to resolve the issue. Instead of confronting the problem as something Swedish, because it is. It is Swedish when Swedish people are voting in a Swedish election for a Swedish party that wants to preserve Swedishness at the expense of non-Swedes. Ohly wants to blame Europe. He wants to blame the others. He wants to blame the non-Swedes. It’s time to step up and realize that blaming the other only sows more distrust. More stereotypes. More hatred.

I’ve written about immigration in Sweden a lot. I think it is a broken system that must be fixed. I do not think this is fixing anything. I think this is a sad referendum on the state of Swedish politics. Even if I am only in Swedish-America.

Welcome to Swedish-America. And Swedish election results.

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40 comments:

  1. I wanted to get your opinion on the elections... As I spend the summer over there and now Im back in the States waiting out my papers... Im not that informed about how politics work there.. what party means what and who is who... etc.. So I wanted you view...

    I did understand that the SD are trouble... I also understand that what's considered right there is center left here... etc...

    But I guess this election was not a good thing?

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  2. usually, the right is considered center left here. Moderaterna for example are considered conservative in Sweden but would be considered pretty liberal in the US. SD is extreme right no matter how you look at them.

    in terms of good or bad, I suppose that depends on who you voted for. and whether you believe that events like this can act as a catalyst to change. it is of course possible that SDs success opens the eyes of Swedes and forces them to confront the underlying issues that led to an openly racist party being elected to parliament. I hope that is the case.

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  3. Måste bara lägga till att SD faktiskt inte är ett högerextremt parti rent tekniskt. De står till höger om sossarna men till vänster om moderaterna. Deras invandrarpolitik är högerextrem och de är rätt värdekonservativa, men i nästan alla andra frågor står man rätt nära socialdemokraterna. Man vill ha höjd A kassa och sånt. Sen är väl frågan om det egentligen kanske är mer röstfiske än riktigt politik egentligen...

    Trist att inte Alliansen fick egen majoritet iaf. Sorry för ett helt svensk inlägg här, mitt andraspråk är Spanska inte engelska :)

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  4. Hairy Swede,
    It almost feels like you are confusing the Swedish Democrats with the National Democrats.
    The Swedish Democrats are pretty close to the center by Swedish standards, and thus pretty far to the left by American.
    In what way do you think that SD is openly racist?

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  5. I feel sick, I haven't had the energy to reflect upon it yet - I need to calm down first and then think about it. IT is SCARY and EMBARRASSING!!!

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  6. I totally agree with Ann-Katrin - this comes as a shock. I would never have guessed some 330 000 Swedes thought this way...that they're so, well - xenophobic.

    And @DJ - the fact that the party sprung from the movement "BSS - Bevara Sverige Svenskt" (Keep Sweden Swedish), and that 1/8 of their representatives have connections with Vit makt groupings makes it pretty damn obvious that they're openly racist. And if that's not enough, read about the SD guy who claimed he'd been attacked and had a swastika cut into his forehead, but who the doctors now think actually cut the symbol himself. Yeah, that's the kind of people we want representing us in Riksdagen...

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  7. Some very scary stuff indeed. But that is NOT a number you can ignore...330,000 people..damn. Sweden needs to take a long, hard look at itself and address this very big issue.In this day and age, it boggles the mind that an openly racist party could be elected to parliament. And they didn't just squeak in either. Though many today are hanging their heads in shame, quite a few are celebrating and that's cause for concern.

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  8. I was afraid this would happen sooner or later. It's a serious failure by the political establishment. The tactic of simply ignoring SD didn't work. SD's politics is built upon economic assumptions so wrong they could easily be hacked to pieces. They should have been confronted and forced to show their true colors.

    Even if the environmentalists will be talked into forming a majority with the liberal-conservative alliance that effectively blocks any SD influence, I can't feel anything less than disgusted with SD getting into our parliament. Their politics is built on ignorance, fear and malice. They have no place in the legislative process.

    This is a sad day for Sweden. I feel angry and embarrassed.

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  9. Oh please, Swedes are acting so "surprised" that so many people are xenophobic is ridiculous. I hear Stockholmers say racist things ALL the time and they don't even realize how racist it is.

    Do this next time you're at a party. Tell everyone you got a 100kvm place in Rinkeby and will host a housewarming party soon enough. See the reaction on your friends' faces when they hear "Rinkeby."

    I'm tired of Swedes acting like SD is the end of the world. Ever since I moved to Stockholm I hear the same stuff over and over. "Don't move to Kista, too many immigrants" "The suburbs are full of immigrants" I even had an interviewer at one of Sweden's large telecoms tell me: "Yea, if you write you live in Rinkeby/Tengesta/insert a suburb, recruiters probably won't call you back."

    That's racism.

    And then these same people tell me they vote for M, S, V, whatever. But nooooo, they would never vote for SD. They prefer to remain closeted bigots.

    You really want a democracy? Then grow and start accepting the dirty side to it. Few people in America would agree with the National Social Party but you know who did? The United States Supreme Court. NSP vs Skogie 1977. As disgusting as the party is, they had a right to peacefully assemble. That is democracy; letting people you may hate, voice their opinions peacefully.

    Sweden, I am ashamed you cannot admit your problems. It's time to make change, not whine about the 330,000 people who voted SD.

    How about we solve Sweden's broken immigration?

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  10. @sapphire: Very well said. Brutally honest, but very well said.

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  11. I still have not seen any basis for calling SD racist. From what I understand they want to lower the immigration to a level similar to Denmark's. Does that make all Danes racist?
    Obviously, you can go back and find incriminating things in the history of all political parties. But to be fair they need to be judged by their current political platform.

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  12. They dont want to lower the the immigration to a level similar to Denmark's. They want to reduce immigration with 90%, and they are especially targeting muslims...

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  13. From the SD valmanifest:

    I Sveriges riksdag kommer Sverigedemokraterna arbeta för en begränsning av asyl- och anhöriginvandringen till en nivå som den i våra grannländer Danmark och Finland.

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  14. Konstigt att Il Duce Åkesson samtidigt säger att de vill sänka nivån till 5000 invånare, alltså en minskning med 90% samtidigt som Danmark tar in 50,000 varje år...

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  15. Just to point out a technicality: you either get a fair chunk of seats or no seats at all. I think the minimum number of seats a party that makes the threshold can get is 14. Read more at val.se

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  16. "Ohly wants to blame Europe."

    Not necessarily, He's pointing out that this is a phenomenom that's occuring throughout Europe and that we aren't immune from influences from abroad. Not only Sweden needs to handle this, but Europe as a whole.



    "I’ve written about immigration in Sweden a lot. I think it is a broken system that must be fixed. I do not think this is fixing anything. I think this is a sad referendum on the state of Swedish politics."

    "How about we solve Sweden's broken immigration?"


    How about some actual suggestions on how and what to change instead of just complaining about swedish politics?

    Perhaps we only should accept educated and/or wealthy immigrants who wouldn't need any taxpayer money? That would probably make some of the SD voters select other parties, but it might also scare others that a foreing elite will take over the country.

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  17. Mazui and Sapphire... well said !

    " I'm tired of Swedes acting like SD is the end of the world. Ever since I moved to Stockholm I hear the same stuff over and over. "Don't move to Kista, too many immigrants" "The suburbs are full of immigrants" I even had an interviewer at one of Sweden's large telecoms tell me: "Yea, if you write you live in Rinkeby/Tengesta/insert a suburb, recruiters probably won't call you back." "

    I was told that same same thing by swedes AND immigrants... I have been told various times, I like living in Taby... because my teenage daughter can come home at any time and I feel ok.. yet in Kista she would not make it home after 11pm.

    " Perhaps we only should accept educated and/or wealthy immigrants who wouldn't need any taxpayer money? That would probably make some of the SD voters select other parties, but it might also scare others that a foreing elite will take over the country. "

    I don't know about swedes.. but I kinda understand that point of view... Immigrants are always welcomed if they bring something to the table.. and I kind of understand that... but in my experience in the USA immigrants take advantage of benefits a lot less than some other lazy US born citizens... bleh!

    Interesting changes going on... Racism will always exist and will exist everywhere... it's a sad reality...

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  18. @Mazui - How about let's start with SFI. It's a complete failure. The government even recognized it's a failure. Barely 50% of "teachers" at SFI are even qualified to teach (either with teaching credentials or foreign language (ESOL for example)). How about we don't get some shit class for 6 weeks where no one understands English or Swedish and no one bothers doing any homework.

    How about let's reinforce heavy immigrant schooling with good teachers and more real life opportunities? Get companies involved to sponsor computer education or nursing. And to immigrants who want to have gender separated sex ed classes, no sports for young girls, etc, then tough shit. You're in Sweden as an immigrant, you cannot change the entire school board curriculum because of your religious views. That is as crazy as the Texas School Board modifying its history textbooks to eliminate MLK and the civil rights movement (it happened, that's why Texas is crazy).

    How about we instill some national culture in Sweden? Getting citizenship here is dreary. You get a piece of paper and then you become Swedish. How about administering citizenship tests? How about making people who want to become Swedes to work for it? There is a reason why Americans are so proud. They go through the entire hoopla and tests and then, at the end, have the opportunity to participate in a ceremony. I got to swear my allegiance to the US. There's nothing more patriotic and proud to become such a citizen. If I get the opportunity to become a Swede, there better be a ceremony, because I should damn proud of my achievements to enter citizenship.

    Let's start there.

    "Perhaps we only should accept educated and/or wealthy immigrants who wouldn't need any taxpayer money?"
    And how are you going to enforce that? Start looking through people's bank accounts? Are you suggesting we kick out other Europeans who are too poor in Sweden and a burden to the system? Please, if you're irritated about me complaining then offer some rational solutions.

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  19. @Sapphire - you're ashamed of us? The 95% of Swedes who are openly against racism? That's the worst piece of BS I've ever heard.

    If you're saying all those 5% wanted was better immigration policies, then why didn't they vote FP instead of the openly racist SD? There's a huge difference between the two, and obviously there's something else they're after. And it ain't pretty.

    Oh, and it's Tensta. I grew up in that area and know full well what I'm talking about.

    Per is worth quoting: "This is a sad day for Sweden. I feel angry and embarrassed."

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  20. It is a sad day - although not unexpected. SD has had it's foot in the door in Skane for some time now, and they have really made a terrible go of it (unfilled seats, little getting done) i don't know why more wasn't made of their ineffectiveness. I think the big mistake has been ignoring them rather than taking them to task.

    And I call SD a racist party mostly because of what I read on their website- their take on assimilation vs. integration, their ideas of what a Swede is, etc.

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  21. @Saphire

    Those are all reasonable suggestions, but will they stop the xenophobia? I'm not so sure.


    "Getting citizenship here is dreary. You get a piece of paper and then you become Swedish."

    That's a luxury problem for those who come from safe countries. :) For those who risk being sent back to countries where their life is at risk, being handed a paper is ceremony enough.
    I'm not saying that there shouldn't be tests or ceremonies, if that helps immigrants feel more like a citizen I'm all for it.


    "Are you suggesting we kick out other Europeans who are too poor in Sweden and a burden to the system?"

    I was trying to second-guess what kind of fix you were talking about. I was inspired by this flow chart (the brown-ish flow):

    http://uploaded.joskar.com/lucidor/IMMIGRATION.jpg

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  22. The success of SD in the elections is nauseating and disappointing to me. But paradoxically, it brings me some hope in the sense that mainstream Sweden will have to finally examine its own prejudices and biases. I hope that a civil rights movement of sorts will emerge as a reaction to SD's successes.

    Swedish people like to think of themselves as open-minded and unbiased, yet there are so many stories about people who cannot even get a job interview just because they have a foreign name.

    This and the many other everyday nuisances that face non-Swedish-looking/sounding people in Sweden rarely crosses the mind of native Swedes, because they never face it themselves.

    When I met my wife-to-be, I started to picture what her life would be like if we lived in Sweden, and I quickly concluded that it would present her with so many challenges and injustices that I volunteered to be the emigrant instead. California presents its own challenges but I still believe my decision was the right one.

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  23. sapphire: "Racism is the belief that the genetic factors which constitute race are a primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."
    Nothing you said has anything to do with racism.

    So people have to want to go to a housewarming-party in a dangerous neighboorhood otherwise they're racist? That's BS.
    But you go and do that. Park your expensive car there over the night to prove your point.
    Got NOTHING to do with racism.

    And the reason people vote for SD is probably because nobody wants to talk about the immigration because they're afraid of being called racist.
    So now in Skåne where there have been the most problems with immigration in some areas SD get 22% of the votes.
    That's clearly the people wanting something to be done, and when there's no other options they vote SD.

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  24. I don't believe for a second that this is a problem abbout immigration, it's a problem of integration.

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  25. @terander, you really think 95% of Swedes are openly against racism? I don't buy that. Good luck finding any country where the populace is THAT enlightened. Just because 95% didn't vote for a far-right party doesn't mean there isn't more than 5% of the populace that doesn't hold some sort of prejudicial or racist views.

    I think, first of all, that people need to realize that everyone is capable of racism. Not just white people, but minorities too. A lot of the racial problems result from there being tension on all sides of the equation. I have had several encounters with racist minorities who then felt that the racist garbage they were spouting off was legitimate, like racism was only some white man's burden. Not true. A lot of the problems brewing in these countries are due to distrust and lack of integration on the part of immigrants as well, who don't want to become acclimated to the evils of western society.

    This honestly is a problem plaguing most of Western Europe right now. You're going to continue to see a rise of far-right parties as the mainstream politicians continue to dither about what to do regarding immigration. It's not unreasonable for even the average European to become alarmed when the percentage of immigrants in their country starts hitting well above 10%. It doesn't even necessarily have to do with racism, which is why a lot of those who aren't racist but are concerned about out-of-control immigration didn't vote for the SD, or the BNP in the UK, etc. But many, many Europeans are fed up with the lack of integration, the rising crime rates coming from the immigrant areas, and the fact that many politicians prefer to just sit on the sidelines and twiddle their thumbs while more keep pouring in.

    I definitely think immigration can offer benefits to a society, but not at the current levels, and not when it just forms ethnic enclaves within a society. Please note I'm not saying that every immigrant in Sweden doesn't wish to become Swedish. But there is a huge problem in Europe of integrating immigrants into the overall society.

    Islam is often targeted because many principles of Islam are quite in conflict with principles of western society. Cultural relativism can get taken out of control and it gets to the point where it's just too much. If a person doesn't like the liberal nature of a society like Sweden or Britain, then don't move there. It's honestly that simple. Nobody is packing them up on planes and forcing them to settle in Scandinavia against their will.

    Anyway, the reason you're seeing these extremist parties rising in popularity is because the mainstream parties have for far too long refused to tackle any issue which seemed controversial and weighty. Immigration and integration are among them. So these extreme parties can hijack these issues and win by targeting many fed-up voters who might otherwise not vote for them.

    Eventually the floodgates are going to have to be closed in these countries. Unrestricted immigration helps nobody, including the immigrants, many of whom then have to compete with an overabundance of immigrants for unskilled jobs. A Somali refugee is not competing with a middle aged native Swede for a job, he's competing with the tons of other unskilled workers in the country.

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  26. Furthermore, I certainly am not racist. I come from a diverse background and I have friends and family all around the world. I truly appreciate every single culture on this planet. At times I do experience prejudicial feelings, but if you can honestly claim to never have prejudicial feelings you're either Jesus Christ or you're full of it. But what I do think arouses a lot of prejudice is societies which have for centuries been more or less pretty homogenous suddenly, within a few generations, being pretty heterogeneous. And the fallacy is that diversity is not always a great thing, particularly when it just causes people to splinter off and stick with "their own kind." Then, all it does is foster mistrust and an "us vs them" mentality which never existed in these societies before.

    You're seeing this across Europe now because while Europe has always had movements of peoples, Europe is now experiencing an influx of non-European peoples in numbers that are more or less unprecedented in history, unless you go pretty far back. A German in Sweden doesn't visibly change the makeup of society. A Somali in Sweden does. And everyone can see things are changing. And when this is accompanied by kids burning down schools and throwing rocks at police and stuff that has honestly never been experienced in these countries before, it freaks people out.

    Anyway those are some of my thoughts on the matter.

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  27. Anonymous 12:55 PM & 12:57:

    I'm impressed with your thoughtful views, and despite not being a white male myself, agree with *some* of your analysis and reasoning.

    While a blog post is hardly the forum for such a complex discussion, I appreciate and respect your attempt to explain your viewpoint :)

    Whatever you do, I hope you keep an open mind, as we all should. And I agree: everyone is capable of racist thoughts, tendencies and actions. And yes, you can be an ethnic minority and still be racist (against whites and other groups as well).

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  28. Another perspective:

    Soran Ismail:
    Det är svenska medborgare som är missnöjda med integrationspolitiken. De är missnöjda med debatten kring den. De har upplevt ett problem, och de har upplevt hur det här problemet har ignorerats av de etablerade partierna. Då försvinner förtroendet för dem, och man ser sig om efter ett annat parti. De hittade Sverigedemokraterna.

    Quick translation:
    "These are Swedish citizens who are dissatisfied with integration. They are unhappy about the debate around it. They have experienced a problem, and they have experienced how this problem has been ignored by the established political parties. This causes them to lose faith in the established parties and to look for a different party. They found the Sweden Democrats."

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  29. I was thinking the other day that if you are in the T-Bana and there are 20 people in one car , then 1 of them there does not appreciate you being there .

    But this wasn't something that came into one day. So there is no reason to be so astonished .

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  30. All isn't doom and gloom about SD, sometimes they provide good entertainment too. :)


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUPlsm4A1QI

    Quick translation:

    (Journalist has just asked how they are going to handle the unemployment)

    -Well, we would.. like to, make it easier for companies.. and make it more attractive for them... make them interested.. in coming to Filipstad, and establish themselves here.

    -How?

    - ... ... ... um... ... Well um, the plans are there, they just aren't fully worked out yet.

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  31. Well one form of extremism usually breeds the opposite. Sweden has been taking in more refugees/immigrants than most other countries, correct? And there have been growing complaints about it. Maybe if they would have realized this and backed off a little, things would have calmed down. Instead immigration went barreling forward and as a result SD has become such a reality. Sweden's immigration policy is messed up. For sure. But at least in the US most immigrants now are coming from South America. They are Christian and have similar values to most peoples' in the US. You'd have to see that part of the problem is how different the culture (esp towards women)of most of Sweden's immigrants are. While many may not care, a good policy looks at all sides of the issue to decide what is safe for a healthy population.

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  32. @terander "The 95% of Swedes who are openly against racism? That's the worst piece of BS I've ever heard."
    Ummm....just because you say 95% of Swedes are openly against racism because of a party they voted for is utter crap. 1. People are never "open" about being racist, they either say or do things that constitute racism. 2. No one is immune to being "against racism." That's very saintly of you to believe all that 95% of people are not racists whatsoever.

    3. Haven't you heard the song, "Everyone's a little bit racist?" =) Find it on Youtube. Brutal truth about society from sock puppets on Avenue Q.

    @Anonymous - Since you won't give your name, I won't give an answer.

    @Mazui - Definitely those ideas won't eliminate xenophobia. As long as immigration exists, so will hatred towards it. These ideas are meant to be a way to ameliorate integration issues.

    As for the citizenship test. It's more that paper. Citizenship to a country mean pride and entry into a country. It is a very important step for an immigrant (be it from America or Eritrea) that they value this newfound responsibility and freedom. We need to give immigrants the opportunity to be proud they became Swedish nationals. And being proud of one's nation is one step towards integration.

    And btw, just because I came from the US doesnt mean my life was great. My parents emigrated from India and after living 20 years in the US, it took 5 more years before the US gov't gave me citizenship. And it's the best thing since sliced bread. I have never been so happy and "American" than when I was at my citizenship ceremony.

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  33. @sapphire Not even the Swedes are proud of being swedes, so why would the immigrants?

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  34. @Saphire

    "No one is immune to being "against racism.""

    Is that really what you meant to write? :) I can honestly say that I think that no 'race' is better or worse than any other. Some cultures however, are partly diametrically opposed to my beliefs.


    If I understand you correctly, you think that there should be a give and take on parts of both immigrants and swedes? That is probably right. I think the main thing immigrants will have to let go of if they want to be accepted by swedes are the authoritarian streaks. No more forced weddings, circumcision of children(that will have to wait till they are adult and can make the decision for themselves), violence in the name of family honour.
    There's probably a small minority of the immigrants who do these things, but they are enough to scare swedes.
    Another thing that will have to stop is the throwing of rock on buses, burning cars and schools and then blame the police. That doesn't win any sympathies, rather the opposite as can be seen in this election.

    I'm not quite sure what concessions immigrants wants from us, but I'm sure there must be plenty.


    @Anonymous

    We are quite proud of what we have, even if we don't want to admit it openly. I think it has to do with the fact that we are extreme individualists here. We don't want a land-lot to be part of our identity, just as we don't want our work to be part of our identity. You'll never hear someone say 'I am a nurse' or 'I am a carpenter', they'll say 'I work as a nurse'. Soon it'll be rare to hear people say 'I am a swede', they'll say 'I am from Sweden' or 'I live in Sweden'.

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  35. @Profesional Pro – no worries about it being in Swedish. And true, certain policies aren’t extreme right, its just that the one that is extreme right is extremely extreme right.

    @DJ – really DJ? Come on now. A little research will turn up some seriously racist elements to the party.

    @Ann-Katrin – it came as quite a surprise that it was such a high number.

    @terander – good work on the examples.

    @SwedishJenn – agreed. And its something that has been festering for quite some time.

    @Per – also agreed. For too long immigration and integration was ignored letting this sort of thing grow.

    @sapphire – there is a lot of latent racism in Sweden here. You and I have discussed it before. We’ve both written about it before. If anything, as you say, this has forced the issue out into the open.

    @SwedishJenn – she is brutally honest. That’s why we keep her around.

    @anonymous – really? Still? Really?

    @uniumbri – thank you.

    @anonymous – please see the comment right below yours.

    @anonymous – indeed.

    @anonymous – true. But I was expecting the number to be much closer to the cutoff point. 5.7% is quite a bit above.

    @Mazui – it is a problem that is occurring throughout Europe. The problem was that Ohly claimed that this had come from Europe and infected Sweden. I didn’t like his choice of words at all. That being said, I will absolutely agree that it is a problem that can be found throughout Europe.

    And finally, I never buy this argument. Discussing it, debating it, is doing something. Words have power.

    @dax – it is a sad reality, but I would much rather have that on the fringes of society rather than potentially making decisions in government.

    @sapphire – youre talking about integration. And I agree. Immigration will never succeed without some form of integration.

    @terander – the question will be what the government does in terms of immigration and integration policies now that the voting has ended. Because youre right, some parties do have stronger policies and are nowhere near SD.

    @mittlivpasvenska – very good points.

    @Mazui – nope. Nothing will ever completely stop that. But integration is key to mitigating those sorts of problems.

    @eklandisk – the silver lining.

    @anonymous – I think you nailed it with your comments about why people voted for SD. Unfortunately, for too long it has been taboo to discuss.

    @gabriel – good call.

    @anonymous – well written.

    @anonymous (cont.) – good continued post.

    @Samantha – couldn’t agree more.

    @eklandisk – thanks for that.

    @Durotto – good visual.

    @Mazui – they are well-spoken aren’t they?

    @m8 – very good points.

    @sapphire – also good points.

    @anonymous – that might be part of the problem.

    @Mazui – and also, again, good points.

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  36. Oh please. The Sweden Democrats are not a racist party - they're a xenophobic party. To compare to American parties their economic policies would be that of the Democrats, their social policies that of the Republicans, and their immigration policies that of the Constitutional Party. So please lets not throw stones in glass houses.

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  37. This quote from a post above
    "I like living in Täby... because my teenage daughter can come home at any time and I feel ok.. yet in Kista she would not make it home after 11pm"
    exemplifies the racism against Swedes. There are lots of racial crimes (rapes, robberies, assaults) against Swedes, but they are never labelled that way in the press. For them, it's only racism if it's directed towards someone coloured.

    The leaders of the "accepted" parties and the press people all live in places like Täby. And they don't care one bit about the situation for Swedes living in problem areas. Now there is finally one party that does, so it's no wonder people vote for it.

    I've looked at US immigration data and none of the top-ten countries is a Muslim country. Swedish immigration is quite different. A suburb of Stockholm, Södertälje, has by itself accepted more Iraqi refugees than the whole of the USA. And many come from other Muslim countries and this growing minority is now making demands on Swedes to adapt to Islam in various ways.

    I don't think the US people is more tolerant, the US has only filtered its immigration such that the tolerance is less put to test.

    Segregation is very much a fact in the US too. Chicago:
    http://www.uriasposten.net/pics/Chicago-1.jpg
    http://old.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/derbyshire082802.asp

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  38. First of all, get a fucking life. And second, sd is a solidly left-wing party. 1930s, Myrdal, folkhem, social democrat, pre-fascism, protectionist, national socialist left-wing. Moron.

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  39. Swedes are awesome, immigrants in sweden sucks. That is the problem. the US should invade and kick out non swedish people from sweden: (

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  40. Sverigedemokraterna are incredibly racist anti-immigrant, and right wing. Still.

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