Author Archives: Daniel Hammarberg

Dec 19, 2010

Survey show Swedes have no confidence in politicians or journalists

A recent survey conducted by Reagera Marknadsanalys on behalf of real estate firm Fastighetsbyrån found that Swedes have extremely low confidence in certain professions. Among the lowest were 6% for politicians and 4% for journalists.

The survey took place between 6 and 14 October 2010, and interviewees were 1001 men and women between ages 20 and 74. The object of the survey was to study how comparatively well real estate brokers fared, a profession many people regard with disdain. Listed figures are for the ones people have great confidence for. Car salesmen received the least trust, at 1%. These are the complete figures:

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Dec 11, 2010

Guilty until proven innocent

The following story sets a new low watermark for the Swedish justice system. On 13 November 2008, the father of a family living in Gothenburg had picked up his four months old son from his crib when he heard something snap, after which his son burst in tears. It turned out the toddler had broken his arm, and quickly they’re off to the ER, which concludes that the boy will recover. Per government regulation, the health care staff still file a report to the social services about the damage the toddler had suffered in his own home, one they deliver the following day. The same day, the 14th of November, they also make an appointment with specialists to investigate the boy for brittle bones, but this will be over two months into the future.

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Dec 11, 2010

Swedish state TV produces documentary in tribute to Wikileaks

This move definitely has me convinced that the Wikileaks effort is no serious grassroots effort at getting at the powers that be – when even state media endorses it. See http://svt.se/2.123489/1.2258209/wikirebels_-_the_documentary?lid=puff_2249257&lpos=extra_0 for an English description of this documentary.

“In less than a year Wikileaks has grown from a rather obscure website to a global political player, shaping world history and events, by revealing secret documents about warcrimes, corporate corruption and shady political backdoor dealings. Over several months a crew from Swedish Television has been following the secretive media network and its work behind the scenes. The result is a one hour feature documentary that tells the story behind the story.”

Personally I believe Wikileaks has been hijacked by Western media that wants more excitement about its reporting.

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Dec 10, 2010

Social inheritance: Does it really dictate your life?

There’s a saying in Sweden that goes “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” and this is usually believed to apply to one’s lot in life too. There’s no general belief in the ability of the aspiring individual to through his own effort leave his background behind and climb the social ladder, or to successfully pursue his goals. Instead it has to be the government that enables this class journey, and for it to raise you up, it has to have faith in you in person.

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Dec 8, 2010

The censored post on the Swedish social services

As I mentioned earlier today, I was going to write a translated version of the censored article during the next couple of days. Well, I guess I’ve been pretty productive today, finishing both the original article and an English translation. The following text was rejected by supposedly free and open news commentary site newsmill.se.

What are the actual aims of the social care?

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Dec 8, 2010

So I’ve been censored

Today I set to work on something I had planned to do the last couple of days – write an article for an online newspaper in Sweden called Newsmill (www.newsmill.se). The topic of the article was the Swedish social services, and my curiosity as to their real aims. The government here has far-reaching goals concerning the development of children, stating as its intentions to make sure everyone gets to enjoy a good childhood. The actual application of state force very much puts these goals in jeopardy, however, which is why I authored this article.

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Dec 2, 2010

Government – an infantile parent; data from researchers on the matter

Here I will present a number of interesting quotes and statistics from the evaluation of the Swedish social services. Since this is a topic that could potentially stretch a whole lot longer length than an ordinary blog post, I will limit myself to a single man whose research, even though he’s apparently an ardent believer in the social welfare state, nevertheless has highlighted its many shortcomings. If this data is of interest, there may be follow-ups later on.

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Nov 29, 2010

You can’t spank your children… but the government can

Last Friday, on the 26th, a married couple with three children was sentenced to nine months in prison for gross violation of integrity, a crime that has a maximum sentence of six years, for having spanked their children as part of their upbringing them. The district prosecutor had called for a year in prison each and is considering appealing the verdict. For the story in English, see http://www.thelocal.se/30466/20101127/.

No evidence of the children having suffered any physical or psychological harm was presented, and the court states that “Nothing else has become evident than that the parents – apart from the actions addressed in the case – have had a loving and caring relationship to their children.” The parents had intentionally used spanking as a way of raising their children, as the third option after having discussed transgressions with their children.

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Nov 28, 2010

The Swedish Apartheid

In most of the world, at least the industrialized parts of it, Jim Crow laws and Apartheid are things of the past. Though people may at some point have faced segregation and discrimination during historic times, this is not true in today’s world. Sweden differs tremendously in this regard, in that people without medical examination or very much evidence pointing to any actual disability are given stigmatizing psychiatric labels that set them apart from the rest of society. Even if psychiatry is highly active in all of the western world in diagnosing children with disorders, no other country to this writer’s knowledge changes the legal status of these individuals based on the labels they receive.

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