Tag Archives: Sweden

Confiscating Books in Sweden, by Judith Bergman

Posted on September 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

The government of Sweden has the time and resources to go after authors it doesn’t like, but not violent criminals. From Judith Bergman at gatestoneinstitute.org:

  • The confiscation of books and the upcoming case against author and comedian Aron Flam has ignited a debate in Sweden about the value of freedom of speech. As Flam has pointed out, a Swedish writer who happens to be Jewish having his books, critical of Swedish-Nazi collaboration during the war, seized by the Swedish state is a bit ironic.
  • Uppsala, once a picturesque and peaceful university town, is now the town in Sweden with the most shootings per capita. “The gangs have been allowed to grow” Manne Gerell, a criminologist at Malmö University told SVT Nyheter in December 2019, adding that the police had “woken up” a little too late.
  • Perhaps it is time for Sweden’s government to spend fewer resources on prosecuting the speech crimes of pensioners and comedians, and more on fighting violent crime.
Perhaps it is time for Sweden’s government to spend fewer resources on prosecuting the speech crimes of pensioners and comedians, and more on fighting violent crime. (Image source: iStock)

In June, four armed Swedish police officers seized and confiscated the entire stock of the book Det här är en svensk tiger (“This is a Swedish Tiger“), written by Swedish author and standup comedian, Aron Flam. The book tells the story of how Sweden’s claim of neutrality during World War II covered up a reality of Swedish collaboration with the Nazi war effort and the profits that the Social Democratic government made from the war.

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Sweden’s High Covid Death Rates Among the Nordics: “Dry Tinder” and Other Important Factors, by Joakim Book, Christian Bjørnskov, and Daniel B. Klein

Posted on September 1, 2020 | Leave a comment

Unique factors have contributed to Sweden’s Covid-19 death rate, and a stringent lockdown wouldn’t have made a difference. From Joakim Book, Christian Bjørnskov, and Daniel B. Klein at aier.org:

This year has been stupefying – only God knows what comes next! What has been so odd in the corona conversation is the persistent lack of nuance. Many have treated the responses to the pandemic with a one-dimensional argument that won’t pass even a rudimentary sniff test. The story goes something like this: The moral imperative of the day is to close down society because that will reduce social interaction, transmission, and deaths.

And suddenly that most darling of countries, Sweden, is deviant and miscreant. Its lighter-touch approach is discussed as “the World’s Cautionary Tale,” a “A Very Swedish Sort of Failure,” and “The Grim Truth about the Swedish ‘Model’.”

Allowing restaurants and schools and hairdressers to remain open in the midst of a contagious pandemic has attracted fierce international opposition. For keeping its society more open than most everyone else, Sweden has paid a hefty price, we are told: almost 6,000 dead in a population of just above 10 million. Had Sweden invoked the strict lockdowns of its Nordic neighbors, so many unnecessary deaths could have been prevented. The usually vaunted Scandinavian country sacrificed its elderly with nothing but kindergartens and some open-air cafés to show for it. An article in Business Insider is titled “Skeptical Experts in Sweden Say Its Decision to Have No Lockdown Is a Terrible Mistake that No Other Nation Should Copy.”

But is the story true?

In a new paper, we consider 15 other factors that help to explain Sweden’s excessive death rate compared to its Nordic neighbors. Sweden was in a very different position than its neighboring countries at the onset of the pandemic – uniquely positioned, if you wish, to suffer a worse outcome from a coronavirus-like pandemic.

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Sweden’s Success is Kryptonite for Lockdown and Mask Advocates, by Jordan Schachtel

Posted on August 11, 2020 | Leave a comment

Sweden made one mistake in its coranavirus response—it didn’t protect its nursing home population—but its anti-lockdown and no mandatory mask  policies have been big winners. Its death rate, particularly after you back out nursing home deaths, has been in the normal range, but they’ve achieved herd immunity and they didn’t destroy their economy. From Jordan Schachtel at jordanschachtel.substack.com:

Their long term strategy is working.

Here in the United States, we have become inundated with tales of COVID-19 doom and gloom. In America, the mainstream narrative is rife with hopelessness. We are told that there is simply no way to stop this virus without repetitive lockdowns, healthy quarantine, even of asymptomatic individuals, and universal mask mandates. And even with all of those extreme policy measures put in place, the politicians and public health officials tell us that we will have to wait for a vaccine for the country to even think about our “new normal” following the COVID-19 pandemic.

There’s one country that they don’t seem to want to talk about – Sweden. And for good reason. Sweden debunks the hysteria. Sweden shows how unnecessary all of the interventions to “fight” the virus are. Sweden shows us that a rational, evidence-based approach to the pandemic is now thriving.

In Sweden, there’s no masks, no lockdown, no vaccine, and most importantly, no problem.

Life has largely returned to normal in Sweden, and it all happened without the economy-destroying non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) demanded by the “public health expert” class, who guaranteed that chaos would come to every country that disobeyed their commands to hit the self-destruct button for their nations.

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Why Sweden, pilloried by the whole world for refusing to lock down – with schools staying open and no face mask laws – may be having the last laugh as experts say Stockholm is close to achieving herd immunity, by Ian Birrell

Posted on August 9, 2020 | 1 comment

And let’s not forget that Sweden’s economy is in better shape than the rest of Europe’s. From Ian Birrell at dailymail.com:

  • Swedish health experts say struggle against pandemic is ‘marathon not a sprint’
  • The country has one of the highest death rates from coronavirus in the world
  • Anders Tegnell’s refusal to impose lockdown is held up by critics as a warning
  • But is it possible the Scandinavian nation made the right call in the long-term?

As she sat dangling her legs over the water while waiting for the ferry back to Stockholm, Carolinne Liden looked a picture of contentment after a day out on a sunny Swedish island.

But the pandemic has been tough for this young mother. She works in film production, so all her contracts were cancelled and she had to take a job in an equine shop to make ends meet.

Her partner Tobias Moe, a freelance photographer, also saw his income fall.

Yet when I asked this affable couple about Anders Tegnell, the state epidemiologist steering their country’s strategy for tackling this crisis, their reply was instant. ‘He’s a hero,’ said Carolinne, 35.

Supportive views: Film production worker Carolinne Liden and her photographer partner Tobias Moe

Supportive views: Film production worker Carolinne Liden and her photographer partner Tobias Moe

‘It is such a huge responsibility to take these decisions that affect the whole country and I like the way he sticks to his guns even if he gets a lot of criticism.’

Such adulation for a scientist – echoed in less adulatory terms by other day-trippers I met on the islands of Fjaderholmarna last week – might seem strange to outsiders. Sweden has one of the highest global death rates from coronavirus.

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Sweden: the One Chart That Matters, by Mike Whitney

Posted on July 28, 2020 | 5 comments

You never hear about Sweden anymore, at least not from the people who tried to demonize it early on in the coronavirus outbreak. From Mike Whitney at unz.com:

While the Covid-19 epidemic continues to drag on in the United States, it’s largely over in Sweden where fatalities have dropped to no more than 2 deaths per day for the last week. Sweden has been harshly criticized in the media for not imposing draconian lockdowns like the United States and the other European countries. Instead, Sweden implemented a policy that was both conventional and sensible. They recommended that people maintain a safe distance between each other and they banned gatherings of 50 people or more. They also asked their elderly citizens to isolate themselves and to avoid interacting with other people as much as possible. Other than that, Swedes were encouraged to work, exercise and get on with their lives as they would normally even though the world was still in the throes of a global pandemic.

The secret of Sweden’s success is that its experts settled on a strategy that was realistic, sustainable and science-based. The intention was never to “fight” the virus which is among the most contagious infections in the last century, but to protect the old and vulnerable while allowing the young, low-risk people to circulate, contract the virus, and develop the antibodies they’d need to fight similar pathogens in the future. It’s clear now that that was the best approach. And while Sweden could still experience sporadic outbreaks that might kill another 2 to 300 people, any recurrence of the infection in the Fall or Winter will not be a dreaded “Second Wave”, but a much weaker flu-like event that will not overwhelm the public health system or kill thousands of people.

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The Media’s Jihad Against Sweden’s No-Lockdown Policy Ignores Key Facts, by Ryan McMaken

Posted on July 17, 2020 | 1 comment

Judging by Sweden’s death rate per million, Sweden’s policy was no worse than many other jurisdictions, and was much better than several US states, like New York and New Jersey. From Ryan McMaken at mises.org:

As soon as it became clear that the Swedish state had no plans to implement harsh lockdowns, global media organizations like the New York Times have implemented what can only be described as an ideological jihad against Sweden.

For many weeks, there has been an incessant drumbeat of articles with titles touting the “the failure of the country’s no-lockdown coronavirus strategy,” that “Sweden Has Become the World’s Cautionary Tale,” and “How Sweden Screwed Up.”

It is common to read articles stating that Sweden has one of the world’s worst death rates for COVID-19.

This, however, remains a matter of perspective.

Sweden’s total deaths per million in population as of July 14 is 549. That’s considerably lower than the deaths per million rate in the UK, which is 662, and in Spain, which is 608. In Belgium, the death rate is 884.

Moreover, the Sweden deaths per million is many times better than the rates found in New Jersey and New York: 1,763 and 1,669.

An astute reader, however, will quickly notice that articles condemning Sweden’s “failure” rarely if ever mention these comparisons. Instead, anti-Sweden articles are careful to only mention countries with far lower deaths per million, usually Denmark and Norway. A nonspecific stock phrase is generally inserted which repeats that Sweden has: “a far higher mortality rate than its neighbours.”

Articles about countries with far more deaths per million than Sweden often make excuses for those governments. In May, for example, the BBC repeated the Belgian government’s talking points, which attempted to explain that things aren’t as bad as they seem in Belgium. In places where harsh lockdowns were implemented—such as New York or the UK— the explanation is that these countries implemented their lockdowns too late.

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Looks Like Sweden Was Right After All, by Mike Whitney

Posted on July 11, 2020 | Leave a comment

Sweden refused to adopt the standard coronavirus regimen and looks none the worse for the wear. From Mike Whitney at unz.com:

Why is the media so fixated on Sweden’s coronavirus policy? What difference does it make?

Sweden settled on a policy that they thought was both sustainable and would save as many lives as possible. They weren’t trying to ‘show anyone up’ or ‘prove how smart they were’. They simply took a more traditionalist approach that avoided a full-scale lockdown. That’s all.

But that’s the problem, isn’t it? And that’s why Sweden has been so harshly criticized in the media, because they refused to do what everyone else was doing. They refused to adopt a policy that elites now universally support, a policy that scares people into cowering submission. The Swedish model is a threat to that approach because it allows people to maintain their personal freedom even in the midst of a global pandemic. Ruling class elites don’t want that, that is not in their interests. What they want is for the people to meekly accept the rules and conditions that lead to their eventual enslavement. That’s the real objective, complete social control, saving lives has nothing to do with it. Sweden opposed that approach which is why Sweden has to be destroyed. It’s that simple.

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Sweden – Number of Covid deaths plummeting even as the number cases rises, by Robert

Posted on July 4, 2020 | 3 comments

Sweden was a renegade during the coronavirus outbreak, not locking down its population. When its day-to-day death numbers were rising coranavirus commissars the world over screeched at Sweden’s criminal foolishness for not locking down. Now its day-to-day death numbers are falling precipitously even as its case numbers tick up, and its death rate per million population is no worse and is in some cases better than the rest of Europe, which brings up the question: why did the rest of Europe have to go into lockdown (and destroy the European economy)? From Robert at iceagenow.info:

Similar pattern in the United States! Number of deaths declining rapidly.

________

In case you weren’t aware of this, Sweden refused to go into a lockdown mode. Restaurants remained open, bars remained open, the entire country remained open, all because Swedish authorities decided to let the virus run its course. They expected the country to reach what is known as “herd immunity.” And they succeeded!

At first, coronavirus cases rose quite rapidly, as expected. But even as the number of new cases continued climbing, the number deaths began declining. I don’t know that the proper word is “plummeting,” but as you can see from the graph below, the decline is very pronounced.

“Over the past ten weeks, the number of daily reported COVID-19 cases in Sweden has more than doubled, yet the number of deaths has plummeted,” writes Tony Heller. “The vast majority of deaths in Sweden were the result of nursing homes getting infected.”

“Their strategy has been to get the low risk population exposed so that they can reach herd immunity, so more cases is to be expected.”

Sweden Coronavirus: 67,667 Cases and 5,310 Deaths – Worldometer

“The same pattern is occurring in the US,” says Tony. The number of daily deaths is declining markedly.

United States Coronavirus: 2,681,811 Cases and 128,783 Deaths – Worldometer

The point here is that the number of new cases is meaningless propaganda. Many of those new cases came as a result of more testing, and many more came from what I consider fraudulent reporting.

And, as reader Michael Jenkins correctly points out, “even the death rate reported is, in all likelihood, grossly exaggerated.”

Forget the number of “new cases.” What we need to keep our eyes on is the death rate.

See more from Tony Heller:
https://realclimatescience.com/2020/06/no-correlation-between-covid-cases-and-deaths/

Thanks to Penelope for this link

 

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What Sweden Can Teach Us About the Economics of Pandemics, by Per Bylund

Posted on May 20, 2020 | Leave a comment

Simply sidestepping mass lockdown is helping Sweden avoid the worst of the Covid-19 consequences that so many nations, including the US, have experienced. From Per Bylund at aier.org:

Sweden’s unique policy approach in this pandemic has been described as “freewheeling” in international news media, but t would be more accurate to call it balanced. Johan Giesecke, a world-renowned epidemiologist and advisor to the Swedish Government, calls it “evidence-based.”

The Swedish Public Health Agency early decided against lockdowns and quarantining the population. Most people suffer few complications from COVID-19 or are asymptomatic. Without a vaccine or cure available in the foreseeable future, there is no stopping of the infection. Sweden therefore focused on protecting the old and the frail while “flattening the curve” and expanding healthcare capacity.

The Swedes’ comparatively lax policy has allowed schools and businesses to remain open, but high schools and colleges are closed, nursing homes prohibit visitors, public gatherings are capped at 50 people, and there are social distancing rules in place for restaurants. High-risk groups are recommended to self-isolate while the virus runs its course.

Sweden’s policy might seem heartless from the perspective of the pandemic only, but its approach seeks a “golden middle” between evils – and it appears to be working. Dr. Mike Ryan, the WHO’s top emergencies expert, recently lauded the approach, saying “Sweden represents a model if we wish to get back to a society in which we don’t have lockdowns.”

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In the Race for Immunity, Sweden Leads the Pack, by Mike Whitney

Posted on May 17, 2020 | 1 comment

There are solid medical reasons, in addition to the economic and civil liberties justifications, for not putting the entire population in lockdown. From Mike Whitney at unz.com:

In a pandemic, there is no substitute for immunity, because immunity provides the best protection against reinfection. That’s why Sweden set its sights on immunity from the very beginning. They crafted a policy that was designed to protect the old and vulnerable, prevent the public health system from being overwhelmed, and, most important, allow younger, low-risk people to interact freely so they’d contract the virus and develop the antibodies they’d need to fight future infections. That was the plan and it worked like a charm. Now Sweden is just weeks away from achieving herd immunity (which means that future outbreaks will not be nearly as severe) while the lockdown nations– that are just now easing restrictions– face an excruciating uphill slog that may or may not succeed. Bottom line: Sweden analyzed the problem, figured out what to do, and did it. That’s why they are closing in on the finish line while most of the lockdown states are still stuck at Square 1.

As of this writing, none of the other nations have identified immunity as their primary objective which is why their orientation has been wrong from the get-go. You cannot achieve a goal that you have not identified. The current US strategy focuses on stringent containment procedures (shelter-in-place, self-isolation) most of which have little historical or scientific basis. The truth is, the Trump administration responded precipitously when the number of Covid-positive cases began to increase exponentially in the US. That paved the way for a lockdown policy that’s more the result of groupthink and flawed computer models than data-based analysis and nimble strategic planning. And the results speak for themselves. The 8-week lockdown is probably the biggest policy disaster in US history. Millions of jobs have been lost, thousands of small and mid-sized businesses will now face bankruptcy, and the future prospects for an entire generation of young people have been obliterated. The administration could have detonated multiple nuclear bombs in the country and done less damage than they have with their lunatic lockdown policy.

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