Sweden used to pride itself on moderation – until US-style culture wars poisoned our politics | Martin Gelin
by Karthak_Maz_Urzak
Sweden used to pride itself on moderation – until US-style culture wars poisoned our politics | Martin Gelin
by Karthak_Maz_Urzak
14 comments
An excerpt:
>As a Swedish correspondent in the US, I have sometimes braced myself on trips back home for some drastic societal change I’d heard about, only to return home and find that things were in fact exactly as they’d always been. Drivers still followed the little white arrows on the road – government recommendations for maintaining safe distances between cars and a symbol of Swedish society’s strong adherence to rules and compliance. On the evening news, bureaucrats would have heated debates about such things as infrastructure and highway tolls. Politics was reliably boring; a sure sign of a healthy democracy.
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>But over the past few years, something has genuinely changed. The political discourse is aggressive, focused on the culture wars, and seems stuck in a constant mode of outrage. The shrill vocabulary often seems to be lifted straight from American cable news. Gun violence and gang crime is at record levels – September was the most violent month for shooting deaths on record – and has helped stoke a culture of fear and an ever-escalating political blame game over immigration and asylum policies.
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>Dehumanising immigrants is nothing new for Sweden’s nationalists and far-right groups. Now they and rightwing pundits’ attacks have broadened to encompass LGBTQ+ people, journalists, scientists, environmentalists, civil society, gun laws and an alleged cultural elite of educated urbanites failing to protect Swedish values.
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>Björn Söder, a member of parliament for the far-right Sweden Democrats who is notorious for insulting Jewish and Sami Swedish people, this year turned his fire on the Stockholm Pride festival, an event that has been uncontroversial for two decades. He accused the prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, of “legitimising paedophilia” by participating in the event.
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>As the recently appointed chair of the Swedish delegation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Söder is not a marginal figure. His party is not formally part of the conservative governing coalition, but with 20.5% of the vote in the 2022 general election, the government needs its support to survive – it in fact directs much of the coalition’s actual policy.
Be real, you were “moderate” as long as you were unchallenged and off in a cozy little nook, far from most world affairs. The DAY those affairs found your doorstep, you flipped like a goddamned light switch.
That isn’t principle, that isn’t moderation, that’s just being a homogeneous little hobbit village.
Some can argue Europe is a bunch of American vassel states. Europeans care about American politics but its not the otherway around. I have only really seen the American right care for European politics but only so far as it reacts to if Europe is doing or not doing American things.
Funny how there were people who warned against this before it happened but they were being called names – “xenophobes”, “racists”, “conspiracy theorists” and so on. Now you got what you wanted.
Yeah, its the american culture war and Trump that shiftet the swedish mindset on immigration and not the **literal daily** Bomb Attacks…
There still is a lot of moderation though – the coalition system ensures it as the parties can’t govern alone.
And the worst steps of Americanisation were made before – abolishing inheritance tax, privatisation, practically abolishing property taxes, etc.
When in doubt, blame the US. That’ll fix your problems.
Sure, blame the Americans when Sweden get daily guns and grenade attack which comes from a certain religion.
its the same in Finland plus immigrant/refugee crisis is getting out of hand
Nothing to see here only daily bomb attacks and gun murder rate in Stockholm 30 times higher than London.
Why is Sweden so whiny? Literally the rape capital of Europe. Literally discriminating people based on gender. Literally a war zone – even has more bombings than Colombia.
And yet, who is to blame? Everyone but NOT Sweden. Yeah, that makes sense. Those evil Americans, Germans, French, British, Aliens, Muggles, Jellicle Cats.
Even this Turkish newspaper says it: Sweden is the European Terrorist Guesthouse: [https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/finland-and-sweden-guesthouses-for-terrorists/2588041](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/finland-and-sweden-guesthouses-for-terrorists/2588041)
But maybe Turkey just hates Muslims. /s No, just kidding, Swedish politicians had coitus with terrorists and ignored them terrorizing. Called everyone who pointed it out racist. See who calls you out now: everyone, especially Muslims call you out!
Looks like the crops aren’t growing this year. Must be the Americans!
Everything I Hate is Americas Fault 🤡
It’s simple. If you make US level mistakes (unrestricted immigration), then you get US level problems.