So all in all two crappy reasons to miss out a good party but reasons they are. I could have gone naked and I could settle for not covering all possibilities. Trying to be a good boy is not always the most fun option I guess. Anyways I'm glad I don't have to hang out down in the southern parts of Sweden covering our right-wing, or rather xenophobic, party and its congress. I know it's part of the job to cover unpleasant events but, damn, to cover a bunch of idiots is just idiotic. Well well, Sweden has tried to keep its xenophobic side under lid by hushing it all up. Don't really know what's more stupid, being a racist or trying to deny all those racist tendencies that are sadly prevalent in Sweden today? And to make matters worse, this idiotic party is tiny. It's on the whole rather negligible but they get enormous amount of media attention due to the logic that ignoring them as a strategy to defeat them has failed. Well, if two extremes are wrong maybe the middle way is the way to go. But what would that be?
I've got an idea, instead of treating this stupid party as the problem look at them as a symptom. They're a symptom of tendencies that exist within our society. Tendencies we do not dare to approach from a political perspective. Yes, racism exist here and have done so for a long time. Should we tolerate it? No! Hell NO! So what is the solution then? The racist would argue that we should keep 'us' and 'them' separate. A friend of mine argues that in societies whose composition aren't homogenic conflicts will occur more often than in homogenic societies, often over ethnic fault lines. I think he's partly right. I think that when people of different creeds and different background have to negotiate life together conflicts will be part of that life. But here's the catch. I don't perceive conflicts as something inherently bad or dangerous. They can be, but not out of necessity. I think conflicts drive progress and positively so if managed correctly. For those of you who have looked at conflict management and solutions academically or professionally, my distinctions here are neither academical nor formal.
So if you're afraid of conflicts (i.e. the Swedish society in a nutshell) keep everyone who's different from you far far away. Nevertheless, if you, as I, believe that society is an ever changing process that will stagnate and diminish if it isn't constantly challenged then we have to fight for the multi-cultural society as an idea. It is the only form, I think, compatible with the democratic ideals. Ok, so you IR nerds out there who disagree with me, I know you do. Nonetheless, lets get back to the conversation on how to build a better future society for all, instead of thinking of how to prevent bigots from getting their voices heard. No matter how much I hate As I said, out of conflict comes change. What that change will be that's up to us.
Donostia (San Sebastían), Spain. Two kids are playing tennis in a
frontón, the place for the basque sport Pelota. A Scottish sociologist
living in Donostía once told me that about 85 % of all graffiti in Euskal
Herrira (the Basque country) is political. Compare that to graffiti here
in Sweden, I wonder what the percentage would be here?
1 comment:
snygg bild!
Post a Comment