^ I need to do more research on political parties in Sweden. I just read an article about the election results and am very confused.

It certainly does not seem that Sweden is suffering from a lack of political parties, unlike the USA.

jfv wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 6:43 am ^ I need to do more research on political parties in Sweden. I just read an article about the election results and am very confused.

Crash course, unapologetically biased:

Social Democrats / Labour - Massively powerful at points during the 50s, 60s and 70s. Huge fixture of the historical imagination, as builders of the modern, democratic nation. Took the Third Way trajectory like everybody else. Comprises lots of peripheral associations (unions, education societies, newspapers) that are not nearly as large and popular as they once were but maintain prestige and function as blue prints for associational life. For the past 15 years they have appeared feeble and insecure, with little of active, aspirational politics and more of opportunistically embracing cultural nationalism and engaging in territorial, union-busting triangulation. At present they have extremely low support, comparatively.

Left - Ex-eurocommunist. Left socdems. Their most valuable contributions imo are the re-politicization of the workday (campaigning for 6hrs), free-of-charge public transportation and issues centering on the housing market. Important as a left opposition, but also a bit undisciplined and moralizing and often lacking bite. Quite weak numerically but can sometimes leverage their position by Labour being dependent on their support, although also often shunned by Labour for petty reasons. Their greatest support is in the north (mining towns) and the low-income suburbs.

Greens - What it sounds like. Hugely popular relatively speaking around 2006-2010, now struggling to remain in parliament. Don't know what happened.

Centre - Historically the rural party. Anti-regulation with something of a social consciousness, plus pro-environmental. The most aggressively anti-union party in parliament. Stands out on the right side as steadfastly refusing collaboration with the far right. For this reason part of a Labour/Left/Green coalition in the last government, and probably will be again.

Liberal - Liberal-internationalist/imperialist. Historical prestige as part of the early pro-democracy movement. Pro-EU, pro-NATO. Pathetically tiny currently.

Moderates - The main centre-right party. Liberal-conservative to right-wing. Set to co-govern with the far right.

Christian Democrats - Conservative, localist. When in 2011 a law was rescinded that required persons starting medical gender transition to undergo sterilization, this party were the only ones expressing continued reservation. There are a few nests of concentrated support around the country (the west coast archipelago, close to where I live, being one), but mostly afaik they remain in parliament due to tactical right votes.

Sweden Democrats - Contemptible.

jfv wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 6:43 amIt certainly does not seem that Sweden is suffering from a lack of political parties, unlike the USA.

Correct, which is why I think Americans are barking up the wrong tree when they pine for a third party. Sort of - in the US context it's probably true that there are significant contingents that need to be represented but aren't, that the way things are structured prevents change that needs to happen from actually happening. There is nothing guaranteeing however that more parties will solve problems like this, or that it will give people a greater sense of influence and of having one's viewpoint heard. I have always registered a similar kind of resigned dissatisfaction among the Swedish electorate.

So to put it differently: For someone living in the US wishing for a third party I would suggest pondering whether this will actually solve what they hope it will solve, or if it's a hope for a magic cure.

^ Thanks so much for the summary.

I think it's interesting that the "Centre" party is in fact center-right and ends up formulating a coalition with the three parties on the left. Also, having the word "Democrat" in the name of your party doesn't imply its political leanings...

kokorodoko wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 8:34 am For someone living in the US wishing for a third party I would suggest pondering whether this will actually solve what they hope it will solve, or if it's a hope for a magic cure.

I agree; in practice, I do not think having more political parties in the USA - by itself - will do much. In principle, though, I do wonder if having Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Joe Manchin all caucus together because they have a "D" next to their name does more harm than good. There is something appealing to me, at least in theory, of having smaller parties that formulate complete ideas first and then ally themselves with other parties of similar political leanings (or at least ones that haven't completely lost their marbles) to refine their ideas further.

EDIT: surprised no one picked up on how badly I fucked up the above. Fixed.

kokorodoko wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 8:34 am For someone living in the US wishing for a third party I would suggest pondering whether this will actually solve what they hope it will solve, or if it's a hope for a magic cure.

Well, the magic cure is righteous totalitarianism, but since that is considered untenable, it does at least make us plebs feel more "invested" in the goings on if there is a political party that at least marginally approximates our sensibilities.

But we don't really have two political parties, there is one hive mind driven by corporate interests, which drives derision to make us believe that actual representation is happening, when it's just smoke and mirrors. As a comparable to your Swedish immigration concerned voters, Trump talked a lot of shit about Walls and immigration, but all the Walls were built by Clinton, and more people were deported under Obama than Trump.

So yeah, I think having anything to believe in at all would be progress.

I got the new booster yesterday afternoon. I seem to be content with laying on the couch and staring at the ceiling today.

Dave N. wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 12:02 pm I got the new booster yesterday afternoon. I seem to be content with laying on the couch and staring at the ceiling today.

I had mine recently, too. I had an elevated temperature (not quite a fever) and felt really run down for ~ 4 hours the following afternoon. Also a sore arm.

I decided I'm no longer gonna support business that do not accept cash.

enframed wrote: Thu Sep 15, 2022 5:21 pm I decided I'm no longer gonna support business that do not accept cash.

I'm bothered by the spread of this practice. Supposedly it protects places from being robbed and so on which is fair, but it also feels like a sneaky way to boot out homeless people.

kokorodoko wrote: Thu Sep 15, 2022 11:33 pm

enframed wrote: Thu Sep 15, 2022 5:21 pm I decided I'm no longer gonna support business that do not accept cash.

I'm bothered by the spread of this practice. Supposedly it protects places from being robbed and so on which is fair, but it also feels like a sneaky way to boot out homeless people.

Yeah, I’m not a fan of this barrier. Seems unnecessary to me.

kokorodoko wrote: Thu Sep 15, 2022 11:33 pm

enframed wrote: Thu Sep 15, 2022 5:21 pm I decided I'm no longer gonna support business that do not accept cash.

I'm bothered by the spread of this practice. Supposedly it protects places from being robbed and so on which is fair, but it also feels like a sneaky way to boot out homeless people.

Yeah, that's fair, but I mean at a hipster coffee shop, how many people are actually gonna pay cash? It also means that banks and tech get a cut of every transaction. The irony and inconsistency doesn't take a break these days.