Posted on 08/20/2007 8:57:39 AM PDT by WesternCulture
Swedes' support for Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt remains strong, according to a new poll. 47 percent of voters asked for a new poll say that Reinfeldt is the best person to lead the country. Only 34 percent supported Social Democrat leader Mona Sahlin.
The poll was commissioned from Sifo by PR agency Westander. Pollsters interviewed 1,000 voters.
"Fifteen percent of those who say that they vote for the left-wing parties have greater faith in Reinfeldt, while 7 percent of right-wing voters have greater faith in Sahlin," Westander wrote in a statement on Monday.
Reinfeldt's personal popularity contrasts with support for the government as a whole. The four-party Alliance has been trailing in opinion polls for months, with latest surveys putting them nearly eight points behind the opposition.
Sifo asked voters: "For whom do you have greater confidence as Prime Minister - Fredrik Reinfeldt or Mona Sahlin?"
While the Reinfeldt administration isn’t all that popular among Swedes in general, I would deem it safe to say that Swedes have never been more prosperous than they are today.
Most Swedes are also aware this has got something to do with the way the country is being governed.
Conservatism is, by all means, on the rise in Thule.
Thanks WC for this information, which is a ray of light in Europe. Is Sweden the beneficiary of North Sea oil revenues helping to prop up other socialist neighbors? And are the Swedes really getting a grasp that eventually the tax burden of the wonderful welfare state will strangle their childrens’ future?
- Sweden has no oil, but it has a lot of successful companies (like IKEA, Ericsson and Electrolux).
Norway is the part of Scandinavia with the vast oil reserves.
“And are the Swedes really getting a grasp that eventually the tax burden of the wonderful welfare state will strangle their childrens’ future?”
- Our present government, headed by Conservative PM Reinfeldt, are intending to cut taxes. Already, income taxes have been reduced a lot, especially regarding low income earners.
Corporate as well as income taxes are already at a fairly moderate level in Sweden. In fact, income taxes are about the same as their US counterpart and corporate taxes are considerably lower.
In general, Sweden still suffers from higher taxation than most other countries. This is mainly due to our 25% sales tax and certain special taxes on tobacco and alcohol.
Then Sweden is more conservative that it might like to admit. (In the US Sweden is trumpeted as a high tax but high standard of living paradise.)
Does Sweden have a problem with Islamists? (I know Denmark and Brussels do. There are a few websites in Europe you probably know of opposing Islamization. I am just finding out about them and learning about Islam’s push in Europe.)
“Then Sweden is more conservative that it might like to admit.”
- Sweden is more Capitalist than most people seem aware of.
But Sweden is also far more PC than most societies, even compared to her Scandinavian neighbor countries.
For decades now, Sweden has acquired a reputation of being exceptionally ‘liberal’ and ‘tolerant’. However, many ordinary Swedes feel something has gone astray.
The best example of this is probably Rosengård, an area of Malmö (third largest city of Sweden) that has evolved into a Muslim ghetto.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byQD8VPhvdM
I don’t hate Muslims in general, but something is very, very wrong here and the West should not allow it to continue, espeially not on our own soil.
We Westerners must be aware of the poor state the Muslim world is in today. It is a culture on the verge of a complete collapse and this development is something that will affect us.
That is an interesting post, Western Culture. If I understand its provenance correctly, it is a Swedish news reporter who airs a Fox News (US) report in English that is translated for Swedish viewers about events in Sweden.
That is a curious way to get your news.
Perhaps it is just an oddity, or perhaps it speaks about the type of journalism that is viewed as “correct.” In the US we have lots of press bias (pro-left, pro-Islamic, etc.) but we also have Fox News (not uniformly pro-right by a long shot) and talk radio and the internet.
Do Swedes have a similar sense that newsworthy events are slanted or not covered on account of the political biases of the Swedish Media?
“If I understand its provenance correctly, it is a Swedish news reporter who airs a Fox News (US) report in English that is translated for Swedish viewers about events in Sweden.”
That is a curious way to get your news.”
- All correct.
In Sweden, this news reporting was criticized for being “anti-Muslim”.
No Swedes or Swedish Muslims have ever denied the fact that many Swedish Muslims fail to integrate with social structures in Sweden. The ones who manage to create a better life for themselves are often Muslims who, for some reason or another, already are very secularized.
“Do Swedes have a similar sense that newsworthy events are slanted or not covered on account of the political biases of the Swedish Media?”
Swedish news are indeed biased.
While I’m painfully aware such media exist everywhere, I guess most Americans would deem European (not only Swedish/Scandinavian) news reporting extremely socialist and PC.
I don’t blame them.
In a political sense, Europe is caught in the 1970’s.
With politicians like Sarkozy (FR) and Merkel (GER) things are hopefully beginning to change, though.
We have a similar situation in the United States. A large Mexican influx (much of it illegal) has effectively refused to assimilate by learning English. (Both of my parents were immigrants to the US from Europe, and one of them did not speak English until the Army taught him soon after entry here as a political refugee.)
The current wave of immigrants seem to fail to grasp that the reason the US is more prosperous and a better/safer/cleaner/healthier/wealthier/more just place to live is because of its laws and economic system and its fundamental tenets, including freedom.
Yet these same immigrants think that the solution is to import socialism (lots of Che G. t-shirts at immigration marches) and to do things the way they are done back home.
This is a backward concept: we left a bad economic/political/social system and came here; now we want things just like they were back home, but with all the money the host country can supply.
It does not work that way.
It seems Europeans are still reluctant to speak out and say that there is a reason European countries are better than Arab countries in regards to freedom/economics/society. False modesty or guilt, it will cost you something awful if not dealt with. It seems speaking the truth about things gets you in trouble in Europe (or labeled hateful or racist).
There is the internet. It is time to broadcast what is going on.
“It seems Europeans are still reluctant to speak out and say that there is a reason European countries are better than Arab countries in regards to freedom/economics/society.”
- This is true.
However, I doubt there exists a way of establishing a healthy dialogue between Europe and the Muslim world of today.
The Muslim civilization as we know it will collapse in internal fighting and hatred.
Not before doing a lot of damage to others. In the US, Mexicans and US citizens have more in common. I date a Mexican lady. We share a religion and other cultural similarities, and she and I understands the differences between our countries and cultures (well, most of the time).
I doubt that the same can be applied to Sweden. I doubt many Muslim women in Sweden date/marry Swedish men. I suspect there is a punishment for those Muslim women living in Sweden who date/marry outside their religion. You are not Muslim, and that is the defining difference.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.