Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Dark clouds over Öresund

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

With the refugee crisis raging on, the news is full of articles and commentary. People are taking to the streets and the railway stations in support of the refugees,donating money and other needed items. This issue is in full focus, deservedly so.

If this blog was called ‘Watching the Danes’ I would be outraged by my adopted country today. If media is to be believed, it seems like our neighbors to the south are doing everything they can to deny sanctuary to these desperate people.

For example, they want to shuffle refugees through Denmark to Sweden without processing their refugee applications, which is against EU law. They resist any form of pan-EU deal on refugee quotas and are happy to watch other countries bear the ‘burden’ of those seeking asylum. They cancelled the trains between Denmark and Germany. Elements in the government want Denmark to leave Schengen, thus making border control more strict and difficult. They have even gone as far as putting adverts in Lebanese newspapers urging immigrants not to come to Denmark. The Danish door is firmly closed thanks to its racist and protectionist agenda.

Their political leaders should be ashamed.

But this not a blog about Denmark, it’s about Sweden.

And I’m happy to witness that solidarity, compassion and empathy are still going strong in this Scandinavian nation.

Was Spock Swedish?

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

According to the World Values Survey, Sweden is one of the most rational non-secular countries in the world: decisions tend to be made on logical rather than on emotional or hypothetical grounds.
One area in which this manifests itself in Sweden is in the separation of church and state. Policies and legislation spring out of political, and not religious, ideologies. Unlike other countries where religion has a strong influence on how the country is run, Swedish politicians base their arguments on statistical and factual information. God is never mentioned in political debate, not even by the far-right Christian Democrat Party. If they mentioned God, it would probably send them swiftly packing out of the Parliament building.

This is why what is currently happening in the USA is so fascinating. In the USA there is a strong connection between God and rhetoric. In the USA you simply don’t become President unless you mention God several times in your speeches. With this background, it’s not surprising that extremist Christians can arise, such as marriage registrar Kim Davis in Kentucky. The delightful Ms Davis abuses her position of authority and refuses to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples as it collides with her Christian views. In doing this, she denies these couples their legal rights and interprets the law to suit her own religious agenda. This has caused outrage in the USA and she has been ordered to back down, but continues to righteously defy the courts. And is allowed to do so. Prison is next in line, but she cannot be dismissed as her position is one for which she has been publically elected.

This is a simple, but insidious, example of how religion, law and social legislation do often not make for a happy marriage. What would happen if we all decided to interpret the law according to our own religious convictions? Chaos. Religious dogma. Moralising power mongers. In Sweden, Ms Davis would have been stripped of her official duties long ago.

One secular quote reflects Swedish society in a nutshell. And it’s from Star Trek’s Spock in 1982:

‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.’

It’s logical. May Swedish society live long and prosper.

Sweden – get some perspective!!

Posted on August 30, 2015August 30, 2015 by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

60 million is a massive number. So big that it’s impossible to imagine. Difficult to relate to. 60 million is roughly 6 times the population of the whole of Sweden. And it’s the estimated number of people who are currently on the run in the world today. These people are running from war, from oppression, violence and starvation. They are running to escape persecution, to save their lives, and the lives of their children.

As we sit here in our comfortable homes, drinking coffee and eating our cinnamon buns, we watch these people on our flat screen televisions and switch them off when it gets too repetitive. 60 million people is an impossible number to digest, so it’s better just to put those images somewhere to the back of our minds and complain about the weather instead.

But just because it’s not happening here, doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

A comparative handful of these 60 million people, against all odds, make it to Sweden. Housed in camps or living homeless on the streets, they break our illusion of our rich society. These people see Sweden as a temporary sanctuary. Here they are safe from war, famine and disease. They are safe from persecution and attack. But some Swedes see them as vermin, as parasites who are here to suck freely at the teet of the tax payer.

We are told in political rhetoric that Sweden is being ‘swarmed’ by refugees, that our comfortable society is at risk. And people are scared that the self righteous baracades that have been built are creaking under the pressure of a world outside.

Get some perspective Sweden!

According to statistics released by the UN, the actual number of refugees and immigrants seeking asylum in Europe last year was round 600 000 – a mere 1%.

Other statistics from Forbes show the following:

Per thousand people, Sweden took in 15 refugees during 2014 which means around 135000 people. Out of 60 million people who are currently on the move.

We need to have a reality check in Sweden and not believe the political arguments that some parties would have us believe.

In the big picture, the number of people who make it to Sweden is tiny. These people have endured more than we can imagine just to get here. They have suffered mentally and emotionally and probably experienced indignities beyond our comprehension.

The question becomes how do we treat these people who break through our flat screen complacency when they become living examples of what we fear?

I suggest we welcome them with pride and with humanity. And treat them with the dignity they deserve. These are people, not parasites.

And they are desperate to receive our protection.

If you like this blog, please share it and spread it.

Swedish revolution

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Whoever thought of Swedes as a pacifistic, neutral people needs to think again. After a racist advertising campaign was put up in the underground system by Sweden’s right wing nationalistic party, people decided they’d had enough. Crowds appeared at the station in question and demonstratively tore down the offending advertising.

Swedes are taking a stand against the rising racism and xenophobia in society. Recent polls show that the party representing these attitudes has become the largest opposition party to the government.

I feel at times that the open and tolerant Sweden I love is something of the past. But these reactions and these pictures show that the majority of Swedes will not take this sitting down. They will take to the streets and they will act to defend the rights of all people living in this particular spot on the planet.

International LGBT games comes to Sweden

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Fancy seeing well-trained men or sinuous women in Lycra shorts? Well Stockholm is the place to be this week.

Every second year a European-based sporting event takes place in different countries. The ‘Eurogames’ is the premiere sport competition for LGBTQ people. And this year it’s in Stockholm!

5000 athletes have registered to participate in over twenty different sports, such as athletics, swimming, golf, marathon running, badminton and ballroom dance. Anyone can go watch these events and cheer on the athletes as they compete for a medal. Events are spread out over Stockholm and on different days, more information can be found at http://www.eurogames.com

Tomorrow, Wednesday, is the opening ceremony which takes place at 7pm in Kungsträdgården in Central Stockholm. Athletes will proudly march into the park behind their country flag. I’m sure it’ll be an event worth seeing! It is open to everyone and free if charge.

So put on your running gear, or jump on your bike, and head down to Kungsan tomorrow evening! See you there!

10 Swedish ways to describe this summer

Posted on July 25, 2015July 25, 2015 by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

So far, this is one of the rainiest and coldest Swedish summers on record. Scanning Facebook and other media, I’ve come up with the top 10 Swedish ways to describe this usually happy season:

1) Pissväder ( pissy weather)

2) Sommar-ångest (Summer anxiety)

3) Höstlikt (similar to autumn)

4) Sommar?? (Is this really summer??)

5) Trött på detta (sick of this)

6) Äntligen sol! (Finally – sun!)

7) Vafaan!? (What the hell!?)

8) Regn, regn, regn (rain, rain, rain)

9) Sjuktkallt (extremely cold)

10) Semesterbubbel (holiday bubbly)

Swedish Dads

Posted on July 22, 2015July 22, 2015 by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

60 days or lose them. That’s the deal in Sweden when it comes to dads taking out parental leave.

Sweden has one of the world’s most generous parental leave systems in the world – 480 days per child, with a paid allowance from the state. These days can be divided between the parents however they like, apart from 60 days that must be taken by the father (presuming heterosexual partners). If he doesn’t do this, the days are simply lost.
This is an effort by the government to promote gender equality around child nurturing – and a more equal sharing of child benefit and leave.

Photographer Johan Bävman found this so interesting that he has documented various fathers during their paternity leave. The exhibition called ‘Swedish Dads’ has raised interest around the world as it challenges traditional stereotypes about gender roles in the family. Johan himself says that he wants to show pictures of role models so that more dads take the opportunity to be home with their newborns.

Photo: Johan Bävman

It’s no surprise that this initiative comes out of Sweden. According to one piece of cultural research, Sweden is extreme when compared to other countries in the area of gender overlap (men doing historically ‘traditionally female’ things and women doing historically ‘traditionally male’ things). This system and also this photo series seem to just reinforce the findings in this research.

Can it be that Swedish men are the best dads in the world? Or is it just that the system allows them the freedom and approval to develop their relationships early on with their children?

To see the pictures go to http://www.johanbavman.se

Discovering a Swedish corpse

Posted on July 19, 2015July 19, 2015 by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

This summer, I visited the town of Varberg and its museum where I saw a very old, very famous and historically significant corpse – the Bocksten man. This man was found well-preserved in a peat bog in the 1930’s and he dates from around 1350 making him one of the oldest, best preserved findings of this type in the world.

A weird thing about Mr Bocksten is that his clothes were miraculously in tact and he has a full head if hair. It’s a rather creepy site to see his flowing blond locks on top of his skull.

Lots of theories abound regarding him. Was he murdered? It seems so. Was he an envoy to the pope? Maybe. A tax collector? Likely. Was he a vampire? Possibly. The final theory is backed up by the fact that the body was discovered with poles staked through it so that he would not rise again after death.

700 years after his death, a team of experts reconstructed the corpse’s face and gave the Bocksten man an eery appearance. When you stand in front of the cabinet containing this reconstruction, he stares right back at you – his eyes full of history and woe.

I remember at school learning about the similar, but even older, Tollund Man in Denmark and other corpse findings in peat bogs in England and Ireland. I don’t recall learning about the Bocksten Man however, which is strange considering how well preserved and how important the finding was.

I’m so glad I got the chance to discover it now, and learn about another dimension if Swedish history and culture.

Ullared – Mecca in Swedish

Posted on July 18, 2015July 18, 2015 by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Deep in the woods of rural Sweden lies what can only be described as a Swedish Mecca. To this location, people travel from all over the country. The journey might take several hours, but it’s well worth it for them.

The place is a village called Ullared. And in Ullared is a massive low-price shopping centre called Gekås.

Surrounding the airline hanger that is Gekås are a variety of outlet stores, restaurants, a camp site, a hotel – all making the journey more attractive to the pilgrimaging bargain hunter. When I went to Ullared this week for the first time, I felt like I experienced another level of Swedish culture.

The car park itself was my first surprise, rows upon rows of vehicles that would put any Disneyland to shame. After parking the car, you walk towards the shopping centre like a trail of lemmings. On the way, you pick up a trolley large enough to house a small family. Each trolley is colour-coded and numbered so that it’s easy to locate should you step away from it inside the building. We walked straight into the store, but I’ve heard that it’s not unusual to wait a long time in a queue – sometimes due to the sheer volume of people, they adopt a one-out, one-in policy. Once inside, you are overwhelmed by the giganticness of the place, the thousands of customers, they yellow and blue blinding interior and the aisle upon aisle upon aisle of bargains. But the initial shock abates quickly. Within 10 seconds, I had purchased a frying pan and was trying to persuade a friend that they should buy individual hamburger thermometers.

All in all, I ended up with towels, sheets, underwear, freezer bags and a variety of other things. I left the place feeling satisfied with a job well done, even though I am an amateur when compared to many of the other shoppers there. Some seriously disturbed people even spend a week there, camping at the camp site and shopping every day.

It is hard to explain how legendary Ullared is in Sweden. Everyone has an opinion about it, it seems. At Gekås they turn over multibillions per annum. Employees and regular customers have become TV celebrities thanks to a reality show that follows life in this shopping Mecca and is broadcasted weekly on national television. At the local museum in Varberg, there is even a small exhibition about Ullared, which reflects its place in popular culture. It was there I learned that the average customer is a single mother of three, aged 42, who visits Ullared twice a year and spends 3600 sek each time.

So if you ever visit Sweden, and want to experience something outside of the usual red cottages, forests, lakes and beautiful cities, take a trip to Ullared. You never know what you might find there.

Sweden’s ‘best coast’

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

The town of Gothenburg is located on Sweden’s west coast, or the ‘best coast’ as the locals competitively call it in an attempted poke at Stockholm which is on the east coast. Spending a day here, it’s easy to feel the constant presence of the sea. Many of the streets have sea-related or harbour-related names and on the menus around town are a plethora of fish and seafood specialities: hand-peeled shrimp, freshly caught cod and classic fish gratin amongst them. At the top of the main restaurant stretch, known as Avenyn, is a statue. This statue is the grand figure of Poseidon, created by Swedish sculpter Carl Milles. There Poseidon stands in all his naked glory, willy dangling, fish in one hand, guarding the city of the sea.

The city is currently packed with thousands of tourists, mostly in football gear. This week sees the annual event of the Gothia cup, a football competition for youths that attracts teams from all over the world.

Gothenburg strikes me as a proud place. Proud of its unique position, proud of its role as Sweden’s second city and, not least, proud of its strong nautical heritage.