Strangelove wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 4:43 pm
.
Per, how many times over the past few years have Danny and myself said there's an immigration crisis in Sweden
... only to have you go:
But there is no crisis! Unless you consider 17.6 % of the population being so uncomfortable by the idea of living next door to brown people that they are willing to vote for a party founded by nazis a crisis. Then, sure, it's a crisis of sorts.
Fortunately, some 82% of the population are still quite reasonable.
But what constitutes a crisis in your opinion?
The economy is bouyant. According to the OECD, in 2017 Sweden ranked 9th in GDP per capita, behind Luxembourg, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, the United States, the Netherlands, Denmark and Iceland and ahead of Australia, Austria, Germany, Canada, Belgium, Finland, the UK, Japan, France, etc. Above the G7 average and well above the OECD and EU averages.
https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=PDB_LV#
At 77.2%, the employment rate (age 15-64) is the fourth highest in the world, trailing only Iceland, New Zeeland and Switzerland. Canada's is 73.6%, The USA 70.6% and the OECD average 68.6%. Sure, some will point out that foreign born Swedes have a much lower employment rate, somewhere in the lower or mid 60's, which means it is comparable to eg France or Belgium.
https://data.oecd.org/emp/employment-rate.htm
And unemployment keeps falling.
Overall crime is down. There has been a recent rise in homicide, and if this goes on, numbers may soon be as high as in the 1990's (people forget quickly...). And as I heard a police officer in Gothenburg state laconically in an interview, "Everyone shot so far has a rap sheet. It's not that the average Joe gets killed. This is a gang war over drug sales and territory, and they are just killing eachother. Other than that, crime is down."
Still the homicide rate in Sweden in 2016 was 1.08 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, which is slightly higher than Denmark's 0.98 but lower than the UK at 1.20, Finland at 1.48, Canada at 1.68, the USA at 5.35 and Russia at 10.82. It's odd that the Russians are so concerned with our rampant crime.
If you want to look at really messed up places, the rate in Brazil is 29.53, Belize 37.60, Jamaica 47.01 and Venezuela a whopping 56.33.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c ... icide_rate
I'm not saying that there are no problems in Sweden, just that they are extremely benign when compared to those of any other country.
All major cities have areas that are more problematic, with higher unemployment, more crime and more widespread drug use than elsewhere, and Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg are no exception. But to compare eg Rosengård (where Zlatan Ibrahimovic grew up) or Rinkeby with the banlieus of Paris, the projects in most cities in England or the worst parts of New York, Chicago, Miami or LA, is just silly.
There is no place in Sweden where I would be afraid to be, and there are parts in almost every US city where I would be.
The thing is, for some reason Russia is doing it's best to portray Sweden as a failed society, which is ridiculous, and all the alt right websites across Europe and North America are spreading the RT and Sputnik propaganda.
Look at the facts instead. Check OECD, the World Economic Forum, Eurostat, UN, the WHO or any other reliable organisation, and you'll see that there is no need to worry.
And even if we are two places below Canada, we did make Forbes's list of the 10 happiest countries in 2018.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/duncanmadd ... 85de373e91
