Sweden's failed multiculturalism

Below is a good review of Sweden's failures, for when you have to discuss diversity with a leftist who claims Scandinavia is an example of the positive impact of multiculturalism. 

The third foreign indicator of Republican midterm win already happened.

Remember when I mentioned how England and Italy both have moved towards populism?  It's part of a backlash against woke progressive social justice elitist crappy governance.  It's about time, in every single case.  Speaking of which, I forgot to mention that it also happened in Sweden back in September:

Sweden’s Sept. 11 elections shocked intellectuals throughout the West. The Sweden Democrats – a nationalist-populist party founded in 1988 with neo-Nazi allegiances but which turned away from fascism in the early 2000s and now explicitly rejects it – gave the country’s right a governing majority by earning the second-largest number of votes. The intellectuals’ shock, however, shows that they have not been paying attention. Had they been examining voters’ discontents in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and giving thought to the destabilizing consequences for liberal democracy in the West posed by elite imperiousness, overreach, and underperformance, they would have seen the right-wing reaction brewing.

The same thing is likely to happen in the United States. In 2016 the U.K. votes to exit the Eurpoean Union.  The Brexit vote would foreshadow the election of president Trump later that year. This year's midterms have seen three precursors to a Republican victory in the House and Senate.  Let's hope the tea leaves portend the same for America this time around.

Sweden - the case of the COVID-19 curve

Sweden took a "light touch" approach to COVID-19, allowing much of it's population to be exposed to the disease and using primarily voluntary social distancing as the method to prevent the spread of the disease.  Experts in Sweden even said the approach was a mistake.  But the data, the graph does not lie:

Compare that to the response in the United States, and the resulting curve:

Obviously the geography is different in the United States. There's a much bigger land mass, and as the infection spread to new areas, new cases occurred.  So too, new deaths.  The United States has a much larger population than Sweden.  Taking the same approach as Sweden in the U.S. would result in a much larger death toll than otherwise, as Sweden did have the highest death rate from the disease in all of Europe.  As the Washington Post, favoring all things Democrat-panic as it relates to COVID-19,  pointed out:

Deaths in Sweden, though, have been eight times higher than in Denmark and 19 times higher than in Norway, even though Sweden is only double each neighbors’ size.

On the other hand, perhaps all Sweden has done is skip flattening the curve and taking the death toll  hit all at once. After all you cannot keep people isolated forever. It's very likely that Denmark and Norway will continue to see deaths and their death curves lag on for some time as they slowly revert to normal, or else see the lower rates indefinitely as their economies lag behind Sweden's over the longer term. 

It's apparent that there would be far too many deaths in the U.S. if it followed Sweden's approach, what's not clear is whether it would result in more deaths, or just more in a shorter period of time.  Only time and more data will tell.  This is one more example of my 50 Experiments Theorem that if different places try different approaches, it will yield a variety of results from which we can select the best option.  The alternative is one mandate for everyone (in this case in the entire world) and if it doesn't work, we're all going to be screwed.

Sweden - Herd Immunity is in sight

In Sweden, they are not shutting down.  With a population half of New York City, they have a death toll that is 1/10th of NYC.  Herd immunity is a risk, but it is working for Sweden.

This approach is not a panacea but could easily work in a lot of places in the U.S.

Friday Musical Interlude - Pumpin' Blood

The 2013 release Pumpin' Blood from Swedish trio NONONO.  It's an uplifting song that I dare you to not find catchy. It was featured recently in an NFL pregame show (I don't recall which one).

Enjoy.

That Danish Cartoonist ATTACKED By Muslims!

Lars Vilks, the Danish Swedish cartoonist artist who was threatened with death by Muslims for unflattering drawings of Mohammed, was quite literally attacked by Muslims in this chilling video in Uppsala (in his native Sweden).

The notations are in Swedish.