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Great post.

I have on thing to complain about though.

"The Sweden Democrats (a nationalist, racist party that have tried to clean up just a bit to be more appealing) also look to make their best election ever. They get 2.9% now, and with uncertainties of polling it is not inconceivable that they might sneak their way over 4% and, shudder, get some seats."

I wouldn't call them racist. Nationalist, yes. Anti-immigration in general and anti-islam in particular, yes. But racist? No. They were a racist party ten years ago and maybe even five years ago, but not today. They are like a light version of Front National or Dansk Folkeparti.

The thing is that political correctness in Sweden is so pervasive when it comes to immigration that anyone being the slightest critical of the elites current immigration policies is immideatly labeled as a racist.

For example in 2002, the Liberal party said no one should be able to get a Swedish citizenship without being able to read and write and speak basic Swedish, a very reasonable demand and something that exist in what, 90 % of all EU countries? But they were immideatly condemned as racists by all other parties, including their brother bourgeois parties.

The "language test" proposition tripled the number of votes for the liberal party in the last weeks of the campaign.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid (arvid.hallen at gmail.com) on Tue Sep 5th, 2006 at 04:52:41 PM EST
They are like a light version of Front National or Dansk Folkeparti.
Really reassuring.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Sep 5th, 2006 at 04:56:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, at least they are not in the "gas the nigger monkeys" league like was implied in the article. We have some of those parties though.

The National Democrats are the racist bunch in the Sweden Democrats who split with the SD after they decided not to be racist anymore.

And then, and yes this is true, we have a party called NSF, National Socialist Front. Nazi Front.

And they have been elected in the commune/county of Karlskrona, probably because that city is a poster boy for the failures of multiculturalism.

But still, fucking real nazis, elected?!

That really makes one feel shame for being Swedish.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid (arvid.hallen at gmail.com) on Tue Sep 5th, 2006 at 05:03:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I hesitate to ask, because it's likely just the way the comments have fallen, but it appears that you view "gas the nigger monkeys" as "real racism" and lesser things as mere "politcal correctness" ?
by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Tue Sep 5th, 2006 at 05:45:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Of course not. Racism comes in many sizes and flavours, and not all are so blatant as the one I exemplified with.

But that doesn't mean that all possible criticism against immigration policy qualifies as racism either.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid (arvid.hallen at gmail.com) on Tue Sep 5th, 2006 at 06:09:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I agree with a lot of what you have to say with respect to the difficulty in having a discussion of immigration in Sweden without somehow ending up being called a racist. This is stupid as there are some problems in this area and it is not helpful to any possibility of progress.
As for the Sweden Democrats they still strike me as a basically racist party that has cleaned up a bit to be more presentable. They offer an alternative to people who think and say: "I am not racist, but get those welfare sucking foreigners out of our country." I don't think that by calling them racist I implied they are of the "gas the nigger monkeys" variety. They are of the "darkies are okay, just not in our country" variety.
by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Wed Sep 6th, 2006 at 03:04:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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