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Living in brave new Sweden, recalling the 1930s - Pravda
Throughout much of Europe, economic reforms have brought human hardship, many blaming such hardship on other than the political leadership whose decisions brought it. Reports by the Swedish government have revealed pervasive 'structural discrimination' against both those of foreign origins and other minorities, discrimination from official sources posing a particularly difficult threat. Of course, history demonstrates too well what may occur when xenophobia enters the official structures of a state, the worst discriminatory acts finding seldom questioned legitimacy.
Living in brave new Sweden, recalling the 1930s
by Ritt Goldstein
FALUN, Sweden - There are no gas chambers or concentration camps here, though a Falun politician, Daniel Riazat of the Left Party, did make March headlines when he charged that what's ongoing in Sweden can be compared with "politics in Nazi Germany". Perhaps more telling, he was not without supporters for his statement.
Norway's ongoing Breivik trial emphasizes a disturbing perspective some today have. The fact that Sweden's Expressen reported Breivik formed a "large part of his political opinions" (translated) here, does serve to underscore some unsettling changes. That's further emphasized by the fact that on 14 May Swedish prosecutors began the trial of a 40 year old man charged with three murders and the random shooting of immigrants, a dozen being shot in the southern city of Malmö. These attacks were also recently saluted by Breivik.
Helping to cultivate nightmarish changes here, the increasing impact of what might be termed Swedish 'Social Darwinism' has been substantive. Many Swedes are unquestionably experiencing socioeconomic pain, Swedish xenophobia seeming to explode with the 'economic reforms' of recent years. And, perhaps this can be seen as part of a wider pattern.
Providing a notable parallel to Sweden's rightward drift, in late April Reuters reported Francois Hollande, France's newly elected president, describing the roots of his nation's far-right leanings as "economic despair among 'a suffering electorate'". The fact of 'austerity' stricken Greece's neo-Nazis winning about 7% of the vote in its election, rising from the .23% they had received in the previous vote, does make a further statement. Of course, if one ties the development of far-right feelings to economic privation, it would seem there's ample room to argue that a 'poison fruit' has grown from the branches of economic reform, and in Sweden 'the reforms' have proved particularly noteworthy.
Continue reading at http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/24-05-2012/121222-brave_new_sweden-0/
by Ritt Goldstein
FALUN, Sweden - There are no gas chambers or concentration camps here, though a Falun politician, Daniel Riazat of the Left Party, did make March headlines when he charged that what's ongoing in Sweden can be compared with "politics in Nazi Germany". Perhaps more telling, he was not without supporters for his statement.
Norway's ongoing Breivik trial emphasizes a disturbing perspective some today have. The fact that Sweden's Expressen reported Breivik formed a "large part of his political opinions" (translated) here, does serve to underscore some unsettling changes. That's further emphasized by the fact that on 14 May Swedish prosecutors began the trial of a 40 year old man charged with three murders and the random shooting of immigrants, a dozen being shot in the southern city of Malmö. These attacks were also recently saluted by Breivik.
Helping to cultivate nightmarish changes here, the increasing impact of what might be termed Swedish 'Social Darwinism' has been substantive. Many Swedes are unquestionably experiencing socioeconomic pain, Swedish xenophobia seeming to explode with the 'economic reforms' of recent years. And, perhaps this can be seen as part of a wider pattern.
Providing a notable parallel to Sweden's rightward drift, in late April Reuters reported Francois Hollande, France's newly elected president, describing the roots of his nation's far-right leanings as "economic despair among 'a suffering electorate'". The fact of 'austerity' stricken Greece's neo-Nazis winning about 7% of the vote in its election, rising from the .23% they had received in the previous vote, does make a further statement. Of course, if one ties the development of far-right feelings to economic privation, it would seem there's ample room to argue that a 'poison fruit' has grown from the branches of economic reform, and in Sweden 'the reforms' have proved particularly noteworthy.
Continue reading at http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/24-05-2012/121222-brave_new_sweden-0/
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