Last Sunday Swedish voters went to the polls to cast their ballots in parliamentary elections, which occur once every four years. The results removed the “center-right” coalition (not really conservative by any standard except the Swedish one) from power, and a socialist coalition government is expected to be formed.
The big news of the election, however, was that the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) received almost 13% of the vote. SD goes against the dominant ideology, criticizing mass immigration and Islamization.
13% doesn’t sound like much. In fact, a leading socialist politician recommends that people write “87” on their palms to indicate they are not part of the repugnant “racist” and “xenophobic” minority that supported Sverigedemokraterna.
However, the results are more significant than mere numbers would indicate…
There is no real secret ballot in Sweden. When a voter arrives at a polling place, he has to select the color-coded card for his preferred party from a rack. That rack is on prominent public display, so that anyone nearby can see which party he is voting for. This is a very effective (and illiberal) method, especially in a small community, of enforcing the established consensus.
Thus, anyone who voted for SD was aware that the whole community would know for whom he voted. Given the intense demonization of SD before the election — everything the establishment could do short of outlawing the party — and given the oppressive culture of consensus in Sweden, the fact that one in eight Swedes was willing to suck in his gut, stick out his chest, and publicly declare his support for Sverigedemokraterna is nothing short of astonishing.
Unfortunately, Sweden is headed for something resembling civil war, regardless of the results of this election. It’s too late to avoid that. But in this case Jantelagen failed, which makes it an historic moment.
The lines in the coming war are now being clearly drawn.
That wiki the Baron linked has the ten rules set out in all their oppressive ugliness:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante
There are ten rules in the law as defined by Sandemose, all expressive of variations on a single theme and usually referred to as a homogeneous unit: You are not to think you’re anyone special or that you’re better than us.
The ten rules state:
You’re not to think you are anything special.
You’re not to think you are as good as we are.
You’re not to think you are smarter than we are.
You’re not to convince yourself that you are better than we are.
You’re not to think you know more than we do.
You’re not to think you are more important than we are.
You’re not to think you are good at anything.
You’re not to laugh at us.
You’re not to think anyone cares about you.
You’re not to think you can teach us anything.
These ten principles or commandments are often claimed to form the “Jante’s Shield” of the Scandinavian people.
In the book, the Janters who transgress this unwritten ‘law’ are regarded with suspicion and some hostility, as it goes against the town’s communal desire to preserve harmony, social stability and uniformity.
An eleventh rule recognised in the novel as ‘the penal code of Jante’ is:
Perhaps you don’t think we know a few things about you?
Such rules don’t arise in a vacuum. For whatever reason, there were rules for survival.
In the US, these are the rules still in effect in many parts of our black communities! They are part of the dictum that a black person should never ever risk “ACTING WHITE”. In the old hell of slavery, black parents used these very same rules to ensure their children’s survival in the larger white (and hostile) world.
Here is a recent report:
http://dailycaller.com/2014/09/07/high-school-girl-taunted-beaten-at-bus-stop-for-acting-too-much-like-a-white-person/
But I’ve had conversations with a number of black friends – women – who told me the rule is enforced in many ways because the larger world isn’t safe. Not like it was in slavery days, but still an undercurrent.
So who made the Scandinavians believe the world wasn’t a safe place and you’d better keep your head down?? The Sweden Democrats are being uppity. Odd that their numbers are about the same as the percentage of blacks in this country. I hope they are able to survive without the sullen resentment that sours life here for so many black people. Of course, they aren’t being egged on by the Professional Grievance Mongers we have here.
In fact, there’s another odd twist: the sour grievance is emanating not from the minority Sweden Democrats but from the much larger fascist majority who want to stay in control. Nice little plantation they have there.
Reminds me of “Brave New World”: Community, Identity, Stability.
I really hope it’s not too late for the Swedes; like many on the Left, if they’re wrong, it started out as being for good reasons.
Again, it’s not just the Swedes. Every single western country instead of just kicking the Mohammedans uplifted [posteriors] with great force saying “NO!” and kicking them out unceremoniously into a highly developed reverse immigration system, is busy doing what the Sweden is doing and doing it on a much grander scale. Sweden has a small population and can turn itself around in short order. Problematic is the largesse the “Mr Big Shot” countries. Guess who they are.
It really is too late for the Swedes. Syrians are pouring in as we speak.
And for Norway, the Utøya youth are likely to elect a Syrian by the name Mani Hussaini, arriving in Norway at the age of 12, as their new leader after Eskil Pedersen.
Hussaini even already stepped in for former minister of family, and culture, Anniken Huitfeldt, at the Parliament. Huitfeldt at one occasion claimed that
“Diversity, you will have, whether you like it or not!”
“So who made the Scandinavians believe the world wasn’t a safe place and you’d better keep your head down?”
Winter.
Incorrect, from my experience:
“There is no real secret ballot in Sweden. When a voter arrives at a polling place, he has to select the color-coded card for his preferred party from a rack. That rack is on prominent public display, so that anyone nearby can see which party he is voting for. ”
National, provincial and local ballots are counted separately, and each has its own colour, but all cards per category (regardless of party) have the same colour.
Yes, everyone can see which cards you take, but you can take all cards for each category so no-one knows which one you chose in the end… also, you can bring your own cards (parties deliver voting cards per mail at their own expense) and conceal them from curious eyes if you are so inclined.
The rest of your post is mostly accurate. Socialdemokraterna may co-operate with SD (to the horror of the leftists).
Taking all the cards would be a dead giveaway that you were intending to vote for Sverigedemokraterna, because that is the only vote that people would know they should be ashamed of. They wouldn’t need to apply that tactic if they were voting for any other major party.
Correct.
The only way to avoid this situation is to bring the cards sent to you by mail from SD. But, of course, a lot of mail carriers take pride in refusing to deliver mail from Sverigedemokraterna.
It wouldn’t be much of a fair civil war if one side is only 13%. Beyond that, one is forced to infer there are more than 13% who were afraid to vote for Sverigedemokraterna; but if they were too afraid to even vote for that party, it seems unlikely they would have the stomach and pluck to revolt outright.
Suppose those 13 % have actual values to fight for, and the rest does not..?
Hesperado —
You’re using the wrong model for your analysis.
Sweden, like Norway (and to a lesser extent Denmark), is a consensus society. The culture enforces adherence to the reigning paradigm by means that are mysterious to those who were not born and raised in a Nordic culture.
This mandatory consensus disables the normal give-and-take processes through which social norms undergo shifts and revisions. The accumulated feelings and resentments just build and build, but quietly, seething under the surface of things.
This continues until the pressure becomes unbearable, and then BLOOEY! Suddenly, virtually overnight, the consensus changes, and a new paradigm is set in place.
In my opinion, we are at the beginning of one such shift. It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen, but I intuit that the process may become ugly.
Swedish readers are welcome to correct me if I’m wrong, or add to what I say if they have more.
Yes, the pressure in this pressure chamber is building up.
Instead of letting the surplus come out in a controlled manner (e.g. through sane public discussions), it’s going to explode.
Nothing like having ‘ideas’ out in the public arena for all to chew over. When government shuts down that societal relief valve, then the society ends up becoming the pressure cooker that is now all too obvious throughout the West.
Speaking about problems and pressures in a society is problematical. The energy used in such discussions can vitiate the need to go further and take action. Thus, the internet serves to decrease social action that might otherwise have taken place.
In contrast, discussions may help clarify what actions are necessary to bring a better balance to things.
Unfortunately, behavioral psychologists and those who apply the principles explicated by their research can easily manipulate outcomes. It is well-known, for instance, that criticizing the credentials of those who call for action can undermine the intended action as well as the advocate. That is why negative campaigning works.
We live in a strange world where what we do and say affects what we do and say which affects what we do and say ad nauseam. Therefore, it is best to wait to take action until reality strongly shapes opinions. Most everyone knows when they are drowning.
In short, the Swedes will revolt when their reality really sucks. The children will tell us when it is time to begin, since they are least conditioned to ignoring pressures.
We live in a strange world where what we do and say affects what we do and say which affects what we do and say ad nauseam. Therefore, it is best to wait to take action until reality strongly shapes opinions. Most everyone knows when they are drowning.
We also live in a corrupted world where otherwise unemployable “behavioral psychologists” report trivial twaddle like the one I read today which claimed that liberals and conservatives “smell different” and have different tastes – e.g., conservative prefer grape jelly and liberals, strawberry. Oh, and conservative college students keep their rooms cleaner than liberals. There were other conclusions, all designed to polarize.
BTW, I prefer strawberry JAM. Jelly is a waste.
Swedish Expressen goes black
To express their disapproval of the voters, Expressen decided to go black on the front, while showing the blue SD flower logo. And the New York Times approved, according to Expressen, after international attention to this way of reporting the elections in – a democratic – Sweden.
True.
And as others have pointed out, it is too late to quietly back down.
What is important now, is to nurture a political leadership that can take the reins when the [excrement impacts the circulation device]. Which is why I vote for the Sweden democrats. Not because I believe they can reverese the process.
One of the major challenges will be to keep in check those that at the moment are wildly politically correct. When they turn, they will do it with the same hatefulness and spite that they right now are sending our way. And yes, then things can go really ugly, if not firmly kept in hand.
Hesperado, just 3% of the American Colonial population kicked off the American Revolution. And on that thinking, it is generally thought that at any one time in any nations history, just 20% of the population will be actively trying to change the cultural norm, while the other 80% generally keep to themselves, but tend to fall in with those who are the dominant minority until another dominant minority replaces what was once the status quo with a new way of doing things.
If I were Swede in Sweden I would certainly vote for the Sverigedemokraterna (SD). And to show I was no xenophobe (nor, derivatives triskaidekaphobe or judeophobe), I’d walk around with the number “13” written on one palm and a jewish star of david written on the other! No Stockholm Syndrome for me!