Re: Sweden -- A few reactions on the N.Y. Times article

[Per Gunnar Berglund <pgb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks to Mason A. Clark for bringing the N.Y. Times article to my attention.
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Perhaps the most peculiar thing with Sweden is the enormous amount of
politicised myths that circulate about this country. Radicals and liberals
around the world have long viewed Sweden as their pet nation. Now that
the pet is no longer that cute little pussycat, but rather something of a neo-
liberal pitbull terrier, another set of myths is beginning to replace the old set.
The right-wingers stand in line to cash in on the Swedish failure.

Moreover, much of the myths in sway can be led back to domestic political
struggles in Sweden. In the N.Y. Times article, this is as obvious as can be:
A (free-lance?) journalist takes a few days' vacation in Stockholm and wants
to write something about it. So why not call up a few people and ask them
what's going on here? The names of institutions and 'analysts' are of course
completely unknown to the N.Y.Times readership. But a well-informed Swede
would know, for example, that 'Sifo', presented in the article as an 'opinion
survey group' was in fact started by the arch-conservative champion Hans L.
Zetterberg. Zetterberg has been leading a large number of campaigns against
the welfare state, against trade unions, and even against the government
central statistical agency SCB!

This is but one example. In fact, every single person quoted in the article is
more or less directly related to the neo-conservative and neo-liberal political
establishment. Sigfrid Leijonhufvud, for instance, is a 'political analyst' at the
second-biggest morning paper Svenska Dagbladet (SvD). So far the N.Y.
Times piece is perfectly right. But they forget to mention that SvD is the biggest
_neo-conservative_ paper, and that it is heavily sponsored by big business.
In fact, SvD would have been out of business twenty years ago or more, if it
hadn't been for the unending financial support from the Wallenberg group
(a family outfit that controls half of Sweden's export industries, much like in a
banana republic). The Wallenbergs obviously find SvD a valuable asset for its
impact on the public opinion.

Even the sole example of remaining fragments of Swedish solidarity has gone
dead wrong in the N.Y. Times piece: "Every three or four blocks there are stores
called UFF that take Swedes' donated old clothes, refurbish them, sell them at
bargain prices and devote proceeds to aid for Africa." The truth is that UFF
is a Danish outfit and a pure rip-off too. Young people involved in UFF have been
more or less brainwashed, and the whole organisation is built up like a religious
sect. UFF has a number of outlets downtown Stockholm, but very few out of the
city. The N.Y. Times observation is like walking five blocks in the financial district
of New York and finding a Cadillac on nearly every parking space a healthy sign
of popular well-being.

All in all, the N.Y.T. article appears to me to be an outstanding example of bottomless
crap journalism. No proper research work has been undertaken, and even the basic
journalistic rule of hearing 'both sides' has been completely disregarded. I was under
the impression that the N.Y.T. was a first-class paper, but after reading this, I am no
longer very confident about that.


Regards,
Per


Per Gunnar Berglund
_______________________________________________________________
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