Swedish Liberalism has failed

[_bcspace]

...as Liberalism always does. Sooner or later the wealth disappears and moral relativism and enforced multiculturalism always leads to a break down in civil society:

Like the millions of other ordinary Swedes whom he now sees himself as one of, Mohammed Abbas fears his dream society is now under threat. When he first arrived in Stockholm as refugee from Iran in 1994, the vast Husby council estate where he settled was a mixture of locals and foreigners, a melting pot for what was supposed to be a harmonious, multi-racial paradise.

Two decades on, though, "white flight" has left only one in five of Husby's flats occupied by ethnic Swedes, and many of their immigrant replacements do not seem to share his view that a new life in Sweden is a dream come true. Last week, the neighbourhood erupted into rioting, sparking some of the fiercest urban unrest that Sweden has seen in decades, and a new debate about the success of racial integration.

"In the old days, the neighbourhood was more Swedish and life felt like a dream, but now there are just too many foreigners, and a new generation that has grown up here with just their own culture," he said, gesturing towards the hooded youths milling around in Husby's pedestrianised shopping precinct.

"Also, in Sweden you cannot hit your children to discipline them, and this is a problem for foreign parents. The kids can feel they can cause whatever trouble they want, and the police don't even arrest any of them most of the time."

This weekend, after six consecutive nights of rioting, Mr Mohammed was not the only one questioning the Swedish social model's preference for the carrot over the stick. Many Swedes were left asking why a country that prides itself on a generous welfare state, liberal social attitudes and a welcoming attitude towards immigrants should ever have race riots in the first place.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/10080320/Stockholm-riots-leave-Swedens-dreams-of-perfect-society-up-in-smoke.html

It does not matter that the ruling Moderate party is center-right. That is still hard Left when translated to American values.

[_MeDotOrg]

...as Liberalism always does. Sooner or later the wealth disappears and moral relativism and enforced multiculturalism always leads to a break down in civil society:

It does not matter that the ruling Moderate party is center-right. That is still hard Left when translated to American values.

When ethnic minorities riot in the United States, is that a failure of American Capitalism?

One of the immigrants is quoted as saying:

"In the old days, the neighbourhood was more Swedish and life felt like a dream, but now there are just too many foreigners, and a new generation that has grown up here with just their own culture," he said, gesturing towards the hooded youths milling around in Husby's pedestrianised shopping precinct

I'm not sure that what you're talking about is a failure of socialism or liberalism, but rather a failure of a culture to rapidly assimilate another culture. I think this could happen regardless of the economic structure. It certainly has happened in this country.

The unemployment rate in the Husby neighborhood is 8%, not bad for an 'underprivileged' area.

"Also, in Sweden you cannot hit your children to discipline them, and this is a problem for foreign parents. The kids can feel they can cause whatever trouble they want, and the police don't even arrest any of them most of the time."

Most studies indicate that corporal punishment increases the tendency of violent behavior in children. I would agree that lack of discipline could be a big problem. Parents who were raised with corporal punishment would need to learn new parenting skills. The lack of discipline could also be exacerbated by the '1st Generation Syndrome': The children of immigrants are generally more culturally and language adaptable and act as the family emissaries in a new country. The parents have less control over their lives than they did in their old culture.

To assimilate more effectively, Sweden probably needs to slow down the rate of immigration.

[_ajax18]

To assimilate more effectively, Sweden probably needs to slow down the rate of immigration.

Good luck with that!

[_Droopy]

When ethnic minorities riot in the United States, is that a failure of American Capitalism?

No, its a failure of American socialism, with its inevitable appendages, relativism and enforced multiculturalism.

I'm not sure that what you're talking about is a failure of socialism or liberalism, but rather a failure of a culture to rapidly assimilate another culture.

I wonder why Muslims on the Continent and, in an American context, large numbers of Mexicans who are in America for many years, seem to resist learning the language, absorb American traditions, culture, and civics, and remain balkanized within ethnic enclaves?

I wonder...hmm...I wonder if it could be the influence of doctrines of racialist separatism, supremacism, and ethnic revanchism that dance through the minds of immigrants like progressive sugar plum fairies from grade school through college and within the "civil rights" culture and among community organizers under the banner of multiculturalism and "diversity"?

I wonder if its the kind of indoctrination immigrants face not to assimilate and to actually despise their new country and pretty much everything about it (including gringos and capitalism) save for the jobs (well, there were once upon a time), drastically better economic opportunity and a welfare state that doesn't discriminate between its own legal citizens and non-citizens.

Most studies indicate that corporal punishment increases the tendency of violent behavior in children.

Yes, yes... I've had so much of this "most studies say" and "most x (scientists, economist etc.) agree" pseudo-social science dreck that it makes me physically ill just allowing to pass through my mind from a fraction of a second.

A couple of decades of cooked "social science" broiled at high temperature overwhelming centuries of experience and civilizational knowledge? Doubtful.

The problem with all forms of socialism (or, in its more recent formulation, "social justice") is not only that a nation following this path eventually runs out of other people's money; the society itself is eventually drained and runs out of cultural capital, centuries worth, in most cases, that cannot simply be taken out of the attic again when it dawns on enough people that their civilization is in its twilight.

[_MeDotOrg]

When ethnic minorities riot in the United States, is that a failure of American Capitalism?

No, its a failure of American socialism, with its inevitable appendages, relativism and enforced multiculturalism.

I'm amazed how every human problem can seemingly be reduced, with the jerk of a knee, to the relative benefits of Capitalism and Socialism.

For example, please tell me how the Cincinnati riots of 1829, the Anti-Catholic riot of Charleston of 1832, The Philadelphia Nativist Riots of 1844 or the Orange Riots of 1870-71 are examples of American Socialism or Multiculturalism. A lot of these riots were caused by (if I can coin a word) Monoculturalism.

Different cultures have different values. When people of different cultures live side-by side, their values can clash. Whether or not that clash of values turns to riots and violence is dependent upon a lot of variables, but Capitalism and Socialism are not the ultimate determinate factors.

The idea that all ethnic riots are caused by Socialism reminds me of the old Communist bromide that all prostitution was caused by Capitalism. Not all human behavior can be defined by or relegated to the particular economic system in which it resides.

[_krose]

I wonder why... large numbers of Mexicans who are in America for many years, seem to resist learning the language...

This would only "seem to" be true for someone who doesn't know what he's talking about.

How many foreign languages have you learned as an adult, well enough to assimilate into that culture?

Learning a new language is very difficult for adults. Because of this, it has always been immigrants' children who have learned English well and blended well into the local culture.