A Sharp Turn in Swedish Politics
When we recently discussed Europe’s refugee crisis, we mentioned that a sizable political backlash was to be expected and that unfortunately, extreme nationalist parties were likely to be among the main beneficiaries. We also mentioned the situation of Sweden, where the mainstream political parties in an ongoing fit of political correctness bordering on lunacy have apparently decided to transform Sweden into a province of Mesopotamia.
Leader of the nationalist Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Akesson
Photo credit:
We now have an opportunity to draw these two threads of the narrative together, so to speak. In Sweden’s 2006 general election, the “Sweden Democrats”, a political party founded in 1988 and considered “right wing fringe” up to that point (it self-describes as “social conservative with a nationalist foundation”), managed to make large gains in a number of Swedish municipalities. In the 2010 national election, it finally crossed the 4% threshold needed to obtain seats in parliament, polling 5.7% (this gave it 20 seats).
In the 2014 election, the party received 12.9% of the vote, winning 49 seats (14% of the total). In Scania County, its share of the vote (22.16%) put it in the lead before one of the two major established mainstream parties for the first time. In the Riksdag, Sweden’s parliament, the Sweden Democrats are “isolated”, as the other parties refuse to cooperate with them in any shape or form. We suspect that this underdog role has actually solidified support for the SD as the “only alternative”.
Similar to France’s Front National, the SD’s (relatively young) leadership began “mainstreaming” the party by excluding members thought to hold too extremist views (back in the 1990s, a few members of the party were caught prancing about in Nazi uniforms, which is definitely not a sign of respectability). Without a doubt it has succeeded in creating a more moderate image. However, its old slogan “Bevara Sverige Svenskt” (Keep Sweden Swedish) remains in use.
“Brussels stay out of Sweden” – another sentiment that resonates ever more strongly with electorates across Europe.
Photo via makthavare.se
On August 20 of this year it became clear that “business as usual” is over for good in Sweden. This was the day when polls established for the first time that the SD was now the leading party in the country, receiving the support of more than 25% of voters (the poll question was: “which party would you vote for if elections were held today”).
Since yesterday, there can no longer be any doubt – as a result of their immigration policies, Sweden’s mainstream parties (the center-right and the socialists) are in danger of becoming “also-rans” real fast.
Swedish nationalist party, SD, score 27.3% in the latest poll making it the biggest party by a margin of 5.5% #winning
Oops! The former “right wing fringe” party that couldn’t even get into parliament is now beating the next largest party in Sweden by a 5.5% margin.
In spite of the fact that Sweden is an “extreme case” in a way, due to having been overrun by immigrants (mainly from Muslim countries), we believe that this poll is indicative of what is likely to happen all over Europe. Upcoming elections are going to be wake-up call that will likely invite a great deal of hand-wringing. Consider in this context that if France’s Front National were to win a national election, the euro would be dead.
Is it any wonder that the EU cannot agree on “refugee quotas”? Politicians everywhere know what is going to happen.
A Noteworthy Protest – the Social Mood Deteriorates
A few days ago there was a demonstration in Stockholm, ideologically aligned with the SD, but apparently not organized by it. The protesters called on the government to resign and call new elections due to its “mishandling of the immigration issue”. What makes it interesting are some of the comments made by protesters, which are quite informative with respect to the changing mood in the country. Apparently people in Sweden are really getting fed up by mainstream media propaganda and the top-down enforcement of political correctness in the country:
“A protest timed to coincide with the new term of the Swedish parliament has called on the government to resign in shame over their failure to manage mass immigration.
[…]
Jan Sjunnesson, local teacher and author who this year organised the infamous LGBT march through Stockholm’s heavily Muslim areas which rendered left-wingers worldwide furious was one of the speakers. Sjunnesson told Breitbart London that a cosy “gentleman’s agreement ” had rendered the Sweden Democrats the only opposition party in Sweden. He said: “what we now have is seven parties, who have made this left-right bloc in December to oppose the Sweden Democrats”.
SD were last week frozen out of cross-party talks on how to deal with the migration crisis, the only political party with members of parliament in the country to not be invited.
The placards and badges worn at the event convey the general mood – one tells the Prime Minister to “resign or go to hell”. Another mocks Sweden’s right-wing and centre-right parties for getting into bed with the left wing and coalescing over mass migration.
[…]
[…] many reacted with surprise to find a journalist at the event – the usual reaction of the Swedish media to such events is to smother them with a blanket of silence. When asked what must be done to save Sweden every response is the same – close the borders, and do it yesterday.
[…]
“The situation has gone too far. The old media lie about the ethnicity of rapists – recently there was a report about eight ‘Swedes’ who raped a native woman, but they weren’t Swedish. They didn’t even have Swedish citizenship, they just happened to live here. The media is lying, and I can’t stand by and do nothing any more.
“The government should resign their posts and let the people have a new election… the first thing a new government should do is to give more money to the police and the military, and close the borders.
“We should have more control over our borders, those people who genuinely need protection, who are fleeing from war, should be helped in Sweden. But if you take everyone, even the people who are violent to each other, you will start a war in Sweden too”.
[…]
“If you attend left-wing rallies you don’t run any risk with your employer, the media, your friends, nobody will complain. If you go here, you run a risk. If you are a member of a union, you will get fired if they found out you’re here. I decided a few years ago I’ve had a good life and I need to stand up for something that is about more than just me… it is time for the Swedes to fight for their existence.
“We’ve not been to war in centuries, we’ve not been threatened or invaded in a very long time. The Finns and the Danes were occupied only a generation ago, we never experienced that. It has made us complacent, cozy – we’ve had social democrats looking after us for half a century. But now these things are eroding”.
(emphasis added)
A protest banner in Stockholm: Merkel, Loevfen (Sweden’s prime minister), Juncker, “traitors to the people”
Photo credit: Oliver Lane
One question is of course why the popularity of the SD has soared so enormously and quickly between 2006 and today, and especially since the 2010 election. After all, Sweden’s liberal immigration policies have been in place for quite some time. There has always been an undercurrent of people grumbling about them, but it was our impression that Sweden’s citizens have by and large always been on board with leftist political correctness.
While Sweden has been forced to backtrack on the extreme socialist policies that were once in force in order not to suffer irreversible economic decline, many basic socialist ideas have remained ingrained in the national psyche. It is surprising to see such a sudden shift toward support for a party that essentially represents the country’s far right.
We interpret this as a symptom of a general “social mood” shift that is discernible almost across the entire developed world these days. Feelings of harmony, togetherness, policies of inclusiveness, etc., are all expressions of a “bullish mood” – in other words, they are generally associated with economic booms and rising stock markets. The strong reaction to the refugee crisis signals the opposite: the underlying social mood has actually turned negative/bearish. This has a great many implications, including for future financial market and economic trends.
Conclusion
If we look back over the past two decades, it seems obvious in hindsight that the introduction of the euro – which coincided with the top of the technology bubble in developed stock markets – truly represented a major peak in optimism. Ever since, things have been going downhill. This fact has been temporarily masked by massive central bank money printing, which has driven asset prices to new nominal highs.
The refugee crisis is in this sense merely a trigger event that is in line with the underlying mass psychological trend and reminds us of its direction. Not everything about a negative social mood trend is bound to bad by the way – but on the whole, history suggests that a lot of bad things are likely to happen while it is playing out.
There is no easy solution to the refugee crisis – after all, even the SD’s supporters stress that they are in favor of helping genuine war refugees. Their protest against Sweden’s extremely liberal immigration policies doesn’t mean they have lost their basic humanity. The fact remains though that there is a major backlash underway, and it means that Europe’s political mainstream is going to lose even more ground.
As we have previously noted, this would be perfectly fine from our perspective, if not for the fact that the parties in Europe most likely to benefit from protest votes are either of the extreme leftist or the extreme nationalist variety. We are rather doubtful that their ascent represents an improvement.
To close out on a slightly more optimistic note: things are not completely hopeless – as the many citizenship applications for “Liberland” show, a great many people do yearn for an alternative promising a restoration of liberty (“restoration” in the sense of the liberty that was lost with the advent of the 20th century’s total wars).
Pater tenebrarum, much like mike shedlock, are too smart of a guys not to read. But under the hood, they are just filthy globalists. A perfect analogy is the question asked of ron paul, ‘what should the central bank do?’ Pater and mish both fret about nationalism, but without nationalism nothing can be fixed. Altruism may be the mental disorder in liberalism. In the case of being overrun, as in europe, it’s suicide.
Keep Sweden Swedish – oh my God, such fascist. Sweden is overrun with Greeks and M.E. free shit army types, and it is killing their standard of living.
Good article, but the author should credit Robert Prechter and Elliott Wave International with his ideas about “social mood,” since they are the pioneers in this area.
I hope the white nationalist parties win across Europe. They are the only ones that will stop this madness .Either they win or Europe is lost.
Politics is circular, you go far enough left and you end up finding yourself going right without knowing how you did it.
True in Sweden or anywhere else.
Consider the important Danish government research study:
“Syrians least likely to get a job, Muslim Refugees “most criminal””
It was my acquaintance with Oriana Fallaci’s writing in the 60s, on the horrors of Islam and its treatment of women, that turned me into a hardcore feminist at the age of 14. It was at that age that I came to know Islam as one of the world’s most savage, backward creeds, and the enemy of everything civilized and decent.
Therefore, I have been at a loss lo these 20 years to understand why liberals, especially feminists and supporters of LGBT rights, support the Muslim cause, and are thereby working to undermine the liberal, classical, rationalist values that made their liberation possible. Do these people have any fucking idea what is in store for them in a regime dominated by Islamic values, and worse, Islamic law? And do they really believe that Muslims will ever agree to assimilate and tolerate other faiths and creeds that conflict with their own savage creed?
I was once more tolerant, and I once believed that “moderate” Muslims could be assimilated and “Westernized”, but I no longer believe that. Only in small numbers can these people be assimilated int the population. We long ago passed that number.
I’m long past toleration. I regard this faith and its adherents as a threat to my country, my way of life, my civil rights, and my life.
Nothing like committing suicide at the altar diversity, Elin Krantz. google it.
If the infusion of new blood was Christian, I’d welcome them as refuges from Islam. But when TPTB infuse the social body with Muslims, it is like giving an “A” person a half dozen pints of “B” blood.
@Chicago
— “Therefore, I have been at a loss lo these 20 years to understand why liberals, especially feminists and supporters of LGBT rights, support the Muslim cause…”
Because they are too stupid to realize they are being used, and are only attacking the very people sustaining the foundation they are using as a platform.
I’m in Berlin for a couple of days and a large feminism/LGBT parade was going down the street, with police escort… yelling at everyone just trying to have lunch. They really don’t realize they are yelling at the people who are the only reason they CAN have a parade… and the people who likely pay the most into funding the police they depend on for protection.
I witnessed some of the incoming people in the Berlin train station and I can confirm that they were almost entirely young healthy men.
Chicago, great post. I often wonder the same thing.
Went to my parent’s today to do the weekly shopping. Earlier this week my mom talked to my Tante Linde … who lives in the small mountain village of Durnberg, and she takes the cable car down to the main town Hallein to do her shopping.
Tante Linde said that this week in the open-air market section of Hallein, than the Muslims (Turks) put up a huge sign that said “We are taking over”.
Mom said Tante Linde was screaming over the phone … cursing mooslims and condemning shitfuk Austrian politicians. Do you think she’s alone? No! She said she doesn’t know of a single native Austrian, in Hallein or elsewhere, or doesn’t HATE the mooslims, and their filthy pigfuk lifestyle, and their shitfuk religion.
Just one anecdotal story. But, I have a feeling there is a seething undercurrent of rage throughout Europe against these 7th century cockfuk infidels. Shit will the fan at some point. It will be U-G-LY. And don’t forget, Germans are damned good at building ovens ……
Years ago I read a piece that has stuck in my memory ever since as it explained so much about the world. The writer noted that there were only a few places in the world where ‘the sinews’ of military power could be built. At the time those places were North America, the British Isles, Western Europe, Russia and Japan. If you didn’t control one of those places you couldn’t be a global power. Today we’d have to add China and, perhaps, India and Israel, but no Islamic state has yet achieved that status though Iran is trying.
The great danger in Europe know is that Muslims could take political control of a European State. They wouldn’t necessarily have to win an election they could just use their street muscle to seize control of a Sweden for example. The Swedes don’t know how to fight street battles but the Muslim louts moving in sure do. Its how they settle affairs in the Middle East. Once in control of a European state they could declare it an Islamic homeland in Europe. The EU would expel such a government but so what. The EU may not be around in a few years anyway and what could a Merkel or Hollande do about it anyway?
OTOH Sweden has a fairly advanced industrial base capable of producing serious jet fighters, armored vehicles and artillery. With millions of Muslims arriving to live in the European Islamic homeland they wouldn’t lack for manpower either. War would be inevitable but the Muslims might be ‘firstest with the mostest’ before Germany or the UK could get their boots on.
At some point, Europeans, out of the instinct for self-preservation, will simply have to crack skulls to preserve their way of life. The Muslim barbarians will have to go home to their backward shitholes. Then, expel the Jews to their biblical homeland so they can suck baby dicks, brutalize chickens, and fuck the wailing wall. Fuck all non whites. Europe is for Christians. End of story.
Is that rayciss? Fuck off.
If Merkel keeps pushing other European countries to accept more Muslim invaders, she could become the first German politician who is less popular than Hitler.
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