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All joking aside, it will be interesting to see if refugees will tolerate conscription. One quarter of the population (and a significantly higher percentage of

All joking aside, it will be interesting to see if refugees will tolerate conscription. One quarter of the population (and a significantly higher percentage of the younger fighting age male population) is either foreign born or the child of someone foreign born. Conscription is always controversial and the questions of national identity that have in the past provided a social framework for supporting it are much fuzzier now. The question of "What is a Swede" would no longer be a theoretical one. On the other hand, almost all extant nationalities were hammered out on an anvil of blood soaked fields...

rhblake 10y ago
The majority of foreign-born people in Sweden did not arrive as refugees. About half were born in Europe, with Finland - which is very similar in culture and also has conscription (as well as a much larger army) - being the most common country. Source: http://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/sv/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/UtrikesFoddaR/ http://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/sv/ssd/START__BE_... (official gov't statistics)
ptaipale 10y ago
My son is now a conscript (Finland has roughly 21 000 at any one time, plus 12 000 professionals in service) and having seen the troops, it looks like the black skins are just as happy or unhappy there as the white skins, if not happier. The conscript army is a melting pot where everyone's former life becomes not very relevant; whether you come from a rich family or poor, whether you have high school education or not, you start with the same kit and stand in the same line taking the same orders. Often shit, but it's the same shit for everyone. I believe there is some racism as there is everywhere, but overall I think the armed forces are a place where someone who came as a refugee in on more even terms with others than anywhere else before that.

rhblake 10y ago

The majority of foreign-born people in Sweden did not arrive as refugees. About half were born in Europe, with Finland - which is very similar in culture and also has conscription (as well as a much larger army) - being the most common country. Source: http://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/sv/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101E/UtrikesFoddaR/ http://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/sv/ssd/START__BE_... (official gov't statistics)

ptaipale 10y ago

My son is now a conscript (Finland has roughly 21 000 at any one time, plus 12 000 professionals in service) and having seen the troops, it looks like the black skins are just as happy or unhappy there as the white skins, if not happier. The conscript army is a melting pot where everyone's former life becomes not very relevant; whether you come from a rich family or poor, whether you have high school education or not, you start with the same kit and stand in the same line taking the same orders. Often shit, but it's the same shit for everyone. I believe there is some racism as there is everywhere, but overall I think the armed forces are a place where someone who came as a refugee in on more even terms with others than anywhere else before that.