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This article is deeply flawed. > Why, asks one expert, does everybody think the Nordic region is a utopia? Is this a satire? Expert of what exactly? According

by doktrin 13y ago

This article is deeply flawed. > Why, asks one expert, does everybody think the Nordic region is a utopia? Is this a satire? Expert of what exactly? According to his profile at the Guardian : "Michael Booth is a freelance journalist and author of several books including Sushi and Beyond: One Family's Remarkable Journey Through the Greatest Food Nation on Earth." Oh, well in that case... On a less cheeky note, it's obvious that any claims of 'Utopia' (anywhere) are misguided - it's just hero worship in another form. That said - it's perfectly rational to examine positive aspects of another society without either deifying or demonizing it. This article does no one any favors with its weird mixture of opinion and hyperbole.

asabjorn 13y ago
There are also other points that are completely wrong: > in September the rightwing, anti-Islamist Progress party – of which Breivik had been an active member for many years – won 16.3% of the vote in the general election, enough to elevate it into coalition government for the first time in its history. Although I feel weird as a norwegian and voter of a different party to come to the defense of FRP, the party was founded in 1973 on reducing taxes and reducing the states influence on the economy. And this still seem to be their primary goal and was all they talked about during elections when I still lived in Norway. I have seen the statement repeated by others more familiar with Swedish and Danish politics that FRP is a racist party, but at least historically that has not been their call-to-action and I have not seen anyone make a convincing argument that this has changed.
- doktrin 13y ago
  > I have seen the statement repeated by others more familiar with Swedish and Danish politics that FRP is a racist party To put it in context of American politics, FRP is no more "racist" than the Republican party - which also regularly runs on an anti-immigration platform. There are certainly protectionist, and xenophobic, elements in both - but it's dismissive, and simplistic, to claim that either is "racist". The issues are more complex than that.
  - qw 13y ago
    I agree. As a Norwegian who have never considered voting for them, I have to say they are misunderstood. I think it all started when the Swedes thought they were similar to the Swedish "SD" party. That caused a lot of attention in the Norwegian and Swedish press that unfortunately were picked up by other countries as well.

by doktrin 13y ago

asabjorn 13y ago

There are also other points that are completely wrong: > in September the rightwing, anti-Islamist Progress party – of which Breivik had been an active member for many years – won 16.3% of the vote in the general election, enough to elevate it into coalition government for the first time in its history. Although I feel weird as a norwegian and voter of a different party to come to the defense of FRP, the party was founded in 1973 on reducing taxes and reducing the states influence on the economy. And this still seem to be their primary goal and was all they talked about during elections when I still lived in Norway. I have seen the statement repeated by others more familiar with Swedish and Danish politics that FRP is a racist party, but at least historically that has not been their call-to-action and I have not seen anyone make a convincing argument that this has changed.

doktrin 13y ago
> I have seen the statement repeated by others more familiar with Swedish and Danish politics that FRP is a racist party To put it in context of American politics, FRP is no more "racist" than the Republican party - which also regularly runs on an anti-immigration platform. There are certainly protectionist, and xenophobic, elements in both - but it's dismissive, and simplistic, to claim that either is "racist". The issues are more complex than that.
- qw 13y ago
  I agree. As a Norwegian who have never considered voting for them, I have to say they are misunderstood. I think it all started when the Swedes thought they were similar to the Swedish "SD" party. That caused a lot of attention in the Norwegian and Swedish press that unfortunately were picked up by other countries as well.