harborshore: (one for sorrow)
harborshore ([personal profile] harborshore) wrote2010-09-19 10:23 pm
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one for sorrow

Oh, fuck. Racists in my parliament.



So there was an election today. I voted. Because that's what you do in a democracy, if you want a say. The right to vote is a right but it is also a boon, a gift, a way to speak that I am so profoundly grateful for. I don't quite have the words to articulate my dismay and anger at the moment, but I will try.

See, there's a party that calls themselves the Swedish Democrats. They stand for, oh, I don't know, truth and justice and NO MORE FOREIGNERS IN OUR COUNTRY. Their candidates are the kind of people who include in their website bios, "Oh, no, I have no problem speaking to people from other countries." They will be in my parliament. They're getting something like 5.7% of the vote. GODDAMMIT. That means 20 seats. TWENTY RACISTS IN MY GOVERNMENT.

I don't get it. I don't get how you found a party based on the premise that some people are better than others by virtue of where their parents are from (because it's not enough to be born in Sweden for these people). A party against a multicultural society. (Yeah, that's the campaign slogan of one of these morons.) I am so saddened, so deeply saddened and angry that people are voting for them, that people think they have anything worthwhile to say. It's the price we pay for having a democracy, but oh, it hurts so much tonight.

This is my country. This is a place I used to feel safe, where Astrid Lindgren wrote about Pippi Longstocking and other nonconformist children, where--but I don't feel safe now. I'm blond and green-eyed and will never look anything but Swedish, but these people threaten my friends, my ex-girlfriend, my favorite football player, my fucking life, which is built on the premise that people are worth the same and deserve the same chances. (Besides, it's not like they're very fond of queer people or think very highly of women either.) What is happening? I don't understand it.

Also, as icing on the cake, we're currently reelecting the conservatives (of course we are) and my favorite asshole Christian Democrat will remain in charge of Social Affairs. He thinks all families should consist of a man, a woman, and two children, but who am I to say any differently.

This isn't my country. I don't recognize this place.

[identity profile] absenteye.livejournal.com 2010-09-19 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, Lars Ohly just refused to go into makeup because Jimmie Ã…kesson was in there.
ext_3762: girl reading outside in sunshine (buffy)

[identity profile] harborshore.livejournal.com 2010-09-19 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
LOLLLLL I have my issues with Lars Ohly but sometimes he is grate. Like now.

[identity profile] absenteye.livejournal.com 2010-09-19 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I KNOW RIGHT? At that moment I was so glad I'd voted for his party, because way to represent me, man
ext_3762: girl reading outside in sunshine (buffy)

[identity profile] harborshore.livejournal.com 2010-09-19 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Currently I am wishing I'd voted for Mona. I went with the Green Party because, you know, but that speech she held, that grace and determination in defeat--I cried again.

[identity profile] absenteye.livejournal.com 2010-09-19 09:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I would so much rather have Mona than a bunch of racists or more Moderater, god. Her speech was so impressive.