henry quirk wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 1:51 pm
Ansiktsburk wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 6:24 am
New here in this thread. Read the thread title. I’m not American but Scandinavian. And have voted for our right wing parties since 1980, but from a family initially of small means. Just interested in if there are similarities. Off to work now, but
*if someone is interested i can write a little a out it. Our socialism, one might say.
*I am, so please do.
Thanks!
This is going to be a bit anecdotal and subjective- its my story and my understanding.
So, 90% of us in my scandinavian home country were poor rural people 1900. In fact, we were one of the poorer countries in Europe. And I am on all sides a child of this rural proletariat. I know most about my parental grandfather, born 1900 who was a man of many stories which he also wrote down, encouraged by my father. I have also vivid memories of him from the later 60’s until he died 1984. He was the son of the blacksmith of a “Gods” which means all the people and land owned by a man of the noblesse living in a stately country house. My grandfather and his siblings did not starve. But everything was sparse, this summer I went to see the small cottage of maybe 70 square meters where 8 people lived. A few hundred meters away was the castle. With al the splendor of of someone who would have a first class state room on the Titanic.
Now, socialism was on the rise, and my grandfather and his siblings heard the call. The family was christian, a spirit of religious awakening gave birth to new churches not least in the situation of a huge alcoholism among the men. Actually, I have a feeling that my great grandmother pushed hard for christianity since her husband, the immensely strong blacksmith had a history of fighting when drunk. He did indeed become christened and was the bodyguard of the parish. Some people liked to disturb the meetings and he simply punched them in the face if they did. It was a very down to earth religiosity. But anyways, my grandfather heard the call of social democracy and still remained to his death in the Parish. His older brother did like many other emigrate to USA, ended up in Vancouver as a Moscow hailing communist.
In Scandinavia meanwhile there was a tremendous rise in standard for people as the 1900’s went on. My father born 1937 was able to study, became the first white collar man in the family and had a decent career and would definitely have voted for the Republicans if American.
But I do remember the summers in the 60’s and 70’s which was spent on a beautiful island outside the coastal town where my grandfather worked. It was the summer holiday for workers. The fishermen, an incredibly hard life in the earlier 1900’s, did provide small cottages with very low standard for the workers, so every fishermans place was a workers colony. When I have my first memory the standard was higher, there were things like fridges and TV. But just cold running water an “ordinary shithouses”
And I do remember the way those men and women talked. A joyful lot, the ladies would bake cakes and one drank coffee togerther each and every day, with stunning views of the eastern coast archipelago. But once it got political, it often did, those people were rock hard. A doctor or an engineer was respected, but people being born rich and dreamed did not exactly get a good review. But even harder was the judgement on “lazy poor drones”. It was an absolute catastrophy to live on welfare, and there were no pardon being a part of a”disfavored group” like being a gypsy or romani. There was some definitely racist, but that gave food for long quarrels. My grandfather, who also started out as a blacksmith but also became a mechanic was the senior guy at a workshop, and maybe because of his christian faith he hold a strong case for “non-scandinavians” - as long as they worked hard.
And that mentality has been living on. Myself, born in a shit Stockholm suburb still has a lot of that “everyone should work” in me, despite university degree and 25 ys living in a posh area, married to a fantastic woman with progressive values, from the non-poor 10%. Back in the days this mentality of not being a burden to society was very strong. Things that seems terrible today, like doing forced sterilization of people seen as a burden to society was known and accepted. These people had roots in super hard labor and there was no room for anyone lazy.
Now, in the 60’s, like everywhere else in the western world, the left of the rich emerged, people like Olof Palme, a nobleman that became a social democrat prime minister. Ruling together with guys that had roots in the worker’s left. Now, the young socialists from workers familys, being part of the youth section of the social democrat party blended with sons and daughters of academics and the rich. And well, I have read the diaries of some of the more famous of those youngsters from the poor, now retired after a long time career within the party. Olof Palme was their god, and I can absolutely relate.
My father started out small, and I was raised among people working for wages. As time went by white collar people but still workers. Now, in my university studies I came in contact with, well those 10%. Not all socialist ones but still basically the posh. And it was fantastic. Those guys had dreams, did go traveling, where I could join in and well it was glamorous. And equally with the socialist ones as the wannabe entrepreneurs.
So - the socialism has more and more - in my view - since people get more educated - become the cosmopolitan, the ideological one. But still, there are large groups that do not like this, and also do not like the neoliberal turn our right wing has taken, people that really want everyone to work for wages in a fair race. And that good citizens here should live the safe and prosperous lives we fought for. And those people do still have a decent but dwindling voice in the Social Democrat party. But many do also go to our Nationalist party, originally a small semi nazi party now the largest of the right wing party. With an agenda that is very similar to what one has seen of the Trump administration so far.
Well, thats my story, and my view, as center-right person here is that socialism has not taken a wholesome turn. I am NOT a fan of socialism being a way for posh people to find an answer to “what to do with” life.
You guys staged much bigger things in the past than this one.