Congratulations, America! \o/

[luzula]

I love seeing all the joy pouring out on my flist.

It makes me all thinky, about the differences between my country and yours. We're so awfully sedate in Sweden. We do not have huge rallies with people shouting their hearts out. Everyone just goes in a quiet and orderly way to leave their votes.

Of course, in other ways I'm not envious of your political landscape--your whole political scale is shifted to the right compared to ours. The Democrats are a lot like some of our right-wing parties. We're far from being a socialist country, though--basically, we're a Social Democrat country, or we were for a lot of years. It's been eroding for a couple of decades, though, and economic neo-liberalism is making inroads, which sucks.

So yeah, I could wish for some of that fire. &hearts

Comments

[vsee.livejournal.com]

The thing I am too tired to pay a lot of attention to is how far to the right of me Obama is. He's still such a vast improvement that I can't actually get upset about that right now.

[luzula]

Yeah, I get you. At least it's a great step in the right (uh, by which I mean the left) direction...

[meresy.livejournal.com]

This, yes.

[luzula]

Meaning you agree with me?

[meresy.livejournal.com]

Quite. :)

[china_shop]

Seconded. :-)

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

The Democrats are a lot like some of our right-wing parties.

Isn't that funny? I was watching all the ads and accusations by the GOP that "Obama is a socialist," and all I could think was, "I know what socialism is, and his ideas are SO not socialism!"

[luzula]

Yeah, I heard that accusation too, and kind of snickered.

[exeterlinden.livejournal.com]

It's been eroding for a couple of decades, though, and economic neo-liberalism is making inroads, which sucks.

So yeah, I could wish for some of that fire. ♥

What you said. Same thing going on in Denmark, and it sucks.

[luzula]

Yeah, I think Sweden and Denmark are pretty much in the same boat. I did recently join a more radical union (they organize illegal immigrants, for example), so here's hoping I manage to do something positive there.

[nos4a2no9.livejournal.com]

Heh, it's really disorienting to consider that political shift, isn't it? I keep having to remind myself that our current (Conservative) government would actually be considered quite left-of-centre in the US. And that quietly blows my mind every time.

Do you think the slow erosion of Social Democracy is Sweden is the result of less participation in the democratic sphere? The same thing seems to be happening in a lot of places, and it usually seems to be brought about by intense apathy. But then I start to wonder what causes the apathy and my head explodes.

[luzula]

We have a right-wing government too right now (but they are going DOWN THE DRAIN in the next election, grr).

Ooof, that's a hard question. The social democratic party was kind of hegemonic in Sweden for several decades. Basically, they entered into a pact with the owners of capital where they bought material improvements for workers at the price of peace on the factory floor. (I am restraining myself from giving you a political history of Sweden here, so let's let it go at that...: ) )

Anyway, hmm. Geez, I really don't know. I guess one theory might be that if your standard of living is good, you care less about where the power lies. But that doesn't explain why those who are worse off don't protest, I guess.

[the_antichris.livejournal.com]

your whole political scale is shifted to the right compared to ours.

Yeah, this. Some twit was saying that America is 'basically a centre-right country' which you could tell by the way they kept voting Repub. Uh, no. If they voted consistently Democrat, they'd be a centre-right country. For the past eight years, they've been far right, even by the standards of other Anglo countries.

[luzula]

Oops, forgot to reply to this. Anyway, I just read about your election results down in NZ, and that sucks. : (