If you talk to people in the north countries, they are more economically and socially egalitarian than…well…everyone. That Sweden mandates how many women must sit on the Boards of companies is a sign of diversity, they claim, whereas everyone else notes that if you have to mandate it, it isn’t actually diversity. And they have 1.5 years of maternity leave! And terrific welfare!
Yet outside wealthy Swedish travelers you meet abroad, that consensus is lacking. Instead, those not living the Swedish dream are concerns about segregation, neglect and poverty.
Immigrants come to Sweden, sure, but the promised land is not available to them. They aren’t going to get those jobs with 1.5 years of maternity leave, they are going to get menial jobs in order to pay taxes for the social services of real Swedes. And all they get in return is police harassment, racial taunts and no opportunity to ever be Swedish.
Who gets the blame? The right wing, in left-leaning Sweden, of course. But the Swedish economy, which survived while Europe and the US faltered, was brought about by cutting taxes and services in order to promote business, is also a source of pride for Swedes. Yet the wave of angry, young immigrants is marginalizing the feel-good beliefs of the left. More and more people want to reduce immigration but Swedes worry that welfare will be unaffordable if that happens. Real Swedes don’t want to do the menial jobs immigrants from the Mid-East can be forced to do. Without immigrants, the welfare state collapses and the economy goes into the tank.
“My daughter comes home from school and says the kids say they can’t play with her because she’s dark,” Maria Petersson, a 39 year old Ethiopan-born nurse, told Reuters. “I am both Ethiopian and Swedish but I will never be considered Swedish by the Swedes. To them, I am just another immigrant.”
You’re also a chance for journalists in other countries to engage in a little schadenfreude. Just like you shouldn’t be too convinced when Swedes brag about their perfect system, you shouldn’t get too down on them when riots are happening and being fed by media attention.
Sweden riots expose ugly side of ‘Nordic model’ by Niklas Pollard and Philip O’Connor, Reuters