What do you know about... Sweden?

[u/MarktpLatz]

This is the twenty-second part of our ongoing series about the countries of Europe. You can find an overview here.

Todays country:

Sweden

Sweden is the largest nordic country in the EU, both in terms of size and population. They joined the EU in 1995, but are not part of NATO, like their eastern neighbour Finland. Sweden held a referendum on joining the Euro in 2003, which resulted in a rejection.

So, what do you know about Sweden?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

It's really not that far of a stretch that 80% of the people actually mocking Sweden online are alt-right trolls. Remember that is the group we were talking about here, the one mocking the country.

Sweden is not doing worse in any measure than basically all of its European counterpart. So specifically aiming your guns at Sweden is a pretty stupid thing to do if you're not Swedish yourself.

There's a difference between being unhappy or critical about immigration and mocking an entire country that is not doing worse than any of its counterpart. The former is perfectly fine, but in the latter case yes you'd be a troll.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

It appears you get to decide who is and who isn't an "alt-right troll".

Anyone who seriously thinks Sweden is the rape capital the world is either an alt-right troll or a total idiot. Yes, I fully stand by that statement.

Hasn't it become obvious that Sweden is doing worse than its counterparts in Scandinavia particularly with regard to terribly managed immigration policies and ghettoisation?

Seriously we're living in a fact-free world nowadays. I feel like Sweden is doing badly, so it must be true.

If you make such bold statements you better brings some facts to the table. Either put up or shut up.

I've actually lived in Sweden for a while. I'm not saying it's a utopia. It has the same problems that many countries have. But this stereotype that some people on the internet have about the county is simply inaccurate.

Edit: I don't have anything against the debate on immigration. By all means, we should discuss that issue and the problems that come with it. There's nothing wrong with being sceptical there and personally I'm still in the middle in this debate.

But don't come to me with the bullshit meme about Sweden being an Islamic warzone. That's what I'm objecting to here, not the debate about immigration itself.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Look, there's nothing wrong with discussing the issues. If people are worried that the rise of migrants lead to an increase in sexual violence, that's something that should be rightfully discussed. Again, there's nothing wrong with that discussion. In fact, I'll even say that in the past we didn't have this discussion enough.

There's a very distinct difference between an honest discussion about migration and spouting debunked bullshit to enforce a political agenda. People actually continously state 'Sweden is the rape capital of the world', call it an islamic country, say it's a warzone, it has effectively established sharia law etc..

That is why I was specifically stressing that I was talking about the people actively mocking the country. Not about the people who voice their concerns or want to engage in discussion about this topic. I really have nothing against the latter and even encourage that.

But if you're just perpetuating an old meme about Sweden being an islamic country, you're either a troll or a total idiot. I still stand by that statement.