The day we had to be ashamed of being Swedish

The Swedish general elections on Sunday left us very shocked, with tears in our eyes and lumps in our guts. Despite the European trends, despite the financial crisis and the ignorant need for scapegoats, having a extreme right party voted into government, was, for me and for most others, very unexpected. It's so incredibly shameful and hurtful that a significant amount of people from my country has cast a vote for a backward thinking, hostile, ignorant and ludicrous party.

Mentally exhausted from having gone over and over how this could have happened, and how to deal with the situation, one thing strikes me. Listening to Akesson speak, I find him not only rhetorically challenged, I am equally astonished by how he manages to get away with being wrong most of the time. His successful misleading of people - quoting distorted statistics, drawing false conclusions based on incorrect assumptions -  can be done because his party has been partly stigmatized and treated as the undemocratic party they are. The reluctance to approach the Sweden Democrats is 100% understandable, but I can't help to think it's very dangerous because it gives them the opportunity to present themselves as martyrs. A politics of discontent works for people who are angry with their situation, who don't sympathize with the other parties, who hear the latter criticize the Sweden Democrats.

Now when they are in government, giving them the silent treatment isn't democratic, isn't really possible, and I am not convinced it is the best strategy. Surely, when so many of us are convinced their politics is bullshit, exposure is what is most dangerous to them?

Yesterday Maja and I spent a sunny afternoon sitting by the riverbank, and some guys who were sitting a few metres away started chatting to us. Having spotted the hair colour they asked if we were Swedish, and when we confirmed they retorted: 'the country of the extreme right'. Having had a good reputation abroad, it inevitably and unsurprisingly seems we're going to be met by less positive responses from now on...