Over the weekend, another European nation turned toward the populist direction. It was enough to get one’s attention when Italy did it, but Sweden is something else altogether. The country has been long held out as an exemplar of everything that is right with globalization. They have industry, youth, etc. How in the world could another “far right” party score so much?
These elections are, obviously, confusing for the mainstream. UK’s leftist Guardian newspaper declared Real Story of Sweden’s Election Is Not About March of the Far Right. Meanwhile, Politico Europe said, Why Sweden’s Election Was All About the Rise of the Far Right. The only thing any of them really know is that they despise the “far right”.
I detest these politics, largely because they are wildly unhelpful. The mainstream has walled off all discourse into these neat little boxes. The reason a far simpler explanation can’t be put forward, one that encompasses all these entrenching passions, is the stink of Economics.
Sweden is an economic paradise, we are told, a steady industrial powerhouse. Furthermore, right now, Europe’s economy is booming. Central bank policies, including those pursued by the often aggressive Riksbank, have allegedly succeeded. Vast political disassociation, therefore, must be about something else.
Except, it’s not. Not really. There will always be extremes. These aren’t typically palatable options because most people want to be in the center. It’s only when the center doesn’t, or can’t, offer plausible, sensible solutions and ideas that extremes however distasteful can become the only realistic options. Swedes, as Italians or Brazilians, know that meaningful change must today be forced on the reluctant political establishment of “both” sides.
If the status quo won’t even admit there is a problem, the problem is insurmountable by usual means. Below is Sweden’s actual status quo, behold the paragon of global manufacturing stability:
