The Sweden Democrats are not part of the new government headed by Ulf Kristersson of the Moderate Party that took office on October 18, but the component will have a major influence on government policies, which have been negotiated between the ruling components and the Sweden Democrats. This is an alarming change. The Sweden Democrats were founded in the 80s through the Swedish Nazis and their existing leaders, plus component leader Jimmie Åkesson, became members in the 90s in the most radical years of the component. September 11 became, for the first time, the moment However, the explanation for why their new position of influence is not that they have won many new voters, but that the main right-wing components have replaced their position of promising to keep the Sweden Democrats out of the force to their active inclusion. The component is not officially part of the new coalition government, but the 60-page negotiated political platform makes it abundantly clear that it dominates Swedish politics.
Among other things, the platform undermines climate policies and targets. Surprisingly, the Ministry of Environment was eliminated and climate policy was incorporated into the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. One of the coalition’s promises is to reduce the amount of biofuels that are wanted mixed with fuel to reduce fuel prices, which makes it meet the country’s goal of reducing shipping emissions by 70% by 2030, experts say.
The platform also proposes drastic relief in the target number of refugees accepted into the country, the elimination of the permanent apartment permit formula and plans to “encourage” other “non-integrated” people to leave. It also includes measures to introduce stricter needs for Swedes. citizenship and reduces the right to reunification of the circle of relatives. International aid will be reduced and the aim is to abolish the right of non-Swedish-speaking citizens to an interpreter when seeking medical care, in opposition to the wishes of doctors and nurses. Also a disturbing clause that points out that it deserves to be imaginable to deport immigrants because of “lack of morality,” a fascist-sounding proposal, potentially giving a political entity the right to delineate and control how non-blue-eyed Swedes deserve to behave.
In recent decades, Sweden has experienced major demographic adjustments brought about by the influx of refugees. This substitution has been a credit to Sweden’s democrats. Both conservatives and social democrats have adopted the concept that ethnicity, rather than elegance or integration politics, is the main motive. The strength of building brutal gang violence as well as most other social problems. This myopic focus on immigration and crime has obscured other important, but equally vital and problematic, changes in Swedish society.
[See also: Sweden’s socialist utopia collapses]
The fact is that in what was once the most egalitarian country in the world, inequality has grown at an alarming rate in recent decades. Inheritance, gift and inheritance taxes have been abolished, partly under the supervision of the Social Democrats. capital tax is lower than in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sweden is a tax haven for the rich, comparable to Luxembourg.
While Swedish billionaires have doubled their share of national wealth since 2016, the percentage belonging to the poorest part of the population has declined. In recent decades, neoliberal privatization has reached the roots of Swedish society. The school formula, for example, has been deregulated to such an extent that it escapes the democratic matrix. The Social Democrats abolished the public school formula in the 1990s, giving municipalities responsibility for running schools and allowing privatization. The result is that large for-profit firms, much of the Swedish school “market,” have seized the opportunity to make unlimited profits by reducing the number of instructors and overall quality. The Swedish school formula that was once one of the pillars of the country’s policies in favor of equality, is now an engine of segregation. Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, used to “regard Sweden as the reference point for schooling. “Now, he writes, “the Swedish school formula turns out to have lost its soul. “
Lobbying remains largely unregulated, creating fertile ground for corruption in the grey domain between politics and tax-funded for-profit companies in the welfare sector. It is no coincidence that the market price of personal education providers increases after the announcement of the appointment. of the new Conservative Minister of Education, Lotta Edholm. He recruited directly from the board of directors of one of the giant for-profit educational corporations and has reveled in one of the top lobbying firms. The new administration is not only signaling hard times for immigrants and the poor, but a big prize for those corporations.
Sweden is more divided, more segregated than most foreign observers think. The country also suffers from a huge lack of investment in social services, fitness and care for the elderly, not to mention affordable housing. cohesion.
Yes, it is the centre-left Social Democrats who have governed the country for the past eight years, but they have governed from a weak minority position in parliament and without a progressive agenda. Tragic, but true, the vision to replace came from Sweden’s democrats: to channel open racism and valid emotions of loss and worry.
Sweden, like the rest of Europe, is facing a difficult winter. Inflation is rampant and poverty is rising. These times deserve to talk about the concepts of the left since market liberals have nothing to contribute in the face of today’s wonderful challenges: the economic and climate crisis, and the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The bad news is that the Social Democrats, now in opposition, seem on the verge of repeating the mistakes of the election campaign: accepting the Swedish Democrats’ timetable of repression and weakening of immigrants’ rights, rather than formulating a progressive alternative.
Internationally, Sweden is hailed as a social-democratic society, famous for its openness and progressivism. The fact is that Sweden has been darker and more confused for a long time. Now things will get even worse. As political scientist Lisa Pelling pointed out in a recent essay, the sum of the policies of the new ruling majority will fundamentally replace Sweden, making it more repressive and authoritarian. Unknown, however, it is already clear that the outdated concept of Swedish exceptionalism has been destroyed.
[See also: Andreas Malm Q