Living With The Far Right

By Ritt Goldstein
August 11, 2011
Courtesy Of "Asia Times Online"

FALUN, Sweden - As headlines of riots in England glaringly depict the anger exploding with the increasing pain of neo-liberal policies, it's important to recall that much of Europe's hardship was effectively blamed on societal outgroups in recent years - particularly immigrants and Muslims; the rise of Europe's far right having targeted them for the economic suffering so many now feel.

In the 1930s, populist far right groups rose with similar scapegoating, and such tactics are far easier again today than addressing the difficult structural problems that failures in policy and leadership have brought. 

Scandinavia has a history of its lands providing societies that have been a model globally, fostering a deep-felt faith in the region's governments and its society. Given this, perhaps it's understandable that many Scandinavians see their own recent societal problems as originating through externally introduced factors, immigrants again bearing the brunt of such blame.

Just days ago, I read that the "Nordic far right is now so entrenched in the political establishment that experts say the 'extreme' label is no longer suitable", (Agence France-Presse/The Local, July 28), and just months ago a gunman was randomly shooting immigrants in the south Sweden city of Malmo. One of Sweden's English-language media outlets (The Local) headlined "Malmo shooter targeting immigrants: police". And then the tragedy of the Anders Behring Breivik's massacre in Norway.

While far-right gunmen aren't everyday events, this journalist can personally speak to less obvious assaults that defy belief, events that suggest a newly-felt legitimacy for the exercise of a "quieter violence", the exercise of an ugly bias that we term xenophobia.

Merriam-Webster defines xenophobia as "fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign", and in April 2010, Sweden's Amnesty Press published an article titled "Framlingsfientlig retorik i politik och media" (Xenophobic rhetoric in politics and media). Framlingsfientlig is an interesting word, however, for while it is usually translated as "xenophobic", it might be literally translated as "enemy of strangers", the Amnesty article addressing some of the most readily seen symptoms of this problem's rise in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden.

More than rhetoric though, this journalist believes he has witnessed in Sweden what are the worst kinds of failures, failures by both local authorities and the legal system. When it's said that the Nordic far right is "entrenched in the political establishment", is this now part of what that means? To my eyes, it appears a foreigner, an immigrant, a so-called "stranger", can today often be met with a virtually insurmountable bias.

Notably, during autumn of 2010 I interviewed Swedish legal scholar Eric Bylander. Professor Bylander observed that political changes here might mean Swedish courts could be used as "a political arena in a way that hasn't been common in Sweden". Bylander also spoke of the potentially chilling effect that might have on those of foreign origins.

What has often come to my mind lately is Hollywood's depiction of "troubled' towns in the 1960s US Deep South, places with casual malice and brutality, and the assorted other unpleasant issues such films can portray. This is not to imply that every town in Sweden and every Swede suggests such a place, as that isn't what's occurring. But, particularly "troubled" areas do seem to exist, as well as an increasing acceptance of so-calledframlingsfientlig ideas and practices.

While membership in xenophobic political parties is limited, the actual votes these groups have been receiving indeed exceeds their membership, with sympathies for aspects of their xenophobic agenda felt by even more still.

The Amnesty article noted that all four of the Nordic countries cited have framlingsfientlig parties. Today, those parties now hold seats in their nations' parliaments; though, only Sweden'sframlingsfientlig party, the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna or SD), has neo-Nazi roots. As to what such a political climate can mean, the Swedish daily Expressen headlined July 29 "The terrorist Breivik lived in Sweden" ("Terroristen Breivik bodde i Sverige"), reporting that it's thought he formed a large part of his political opinions here.

In a November 2010 Asia Times Online article, Rise of far right an ominous echo, I addressed the SD's election to parliament, quoting political scientist Cristian Norocel - of both Stockholm University and Finland's University of Helsinki - as observing that some of the SD's positions paralleled a number of aspects of "very early National Socialism [Nazism] in Europe." And the very fact of the SD's successes does provide comment on the changing nature of Sweden's attitudes and society.

As I reported in November, it was a quietly determined Norocel that told Asia Times Online "the thing that is worrisome is that the SD party platform appears to be very successful".

A notorious SD television commercial showed black burqa-clad mothers with baby carriages racing a pensioner for what government money was to be had. And again, it is easier to blame immigrants than address issues such as the damage massive tax-cuts and corporate welfare have meant for social programs.

In many ways though, it sadly appears today that the SD is the least of Swedish society's issues, for those that declare themselves members become openly seen as tied to the party's beliefs. What I consider far more disturbing are the "societal currents" that have allowed the SD's rise, and its increasing degree of societal acceptance ... an effective statement on the perceived "legitimacy" of being framlingsfientlig, an "enemy of strangers".

Many across the spectrum here long share in a kind of "nationalism" and "Nordic pride", though certainly in varying degrees. For some it's not that large a jump from "proud sentiments" to a certain level of prejudice against those that don't share the same background, the major differences between the far right and more mainstream elements perhaps best seen as those regarding the degree and visibility such discrimination is embraced and acted on.

It's been widely reported that Breivik's actions didn't occur in a vacuum, and it is the broader societal sentiments held by many that are politically mainstream, not members of the xenophobic parties, that indeed Breivik's nightmarish political act sought to begin to mobilize. As Breivik's news photos readily demonstrate, does one need to be primarily concerned with those that openly wear swastikas, or those whose clothing is only marked by designer labels?

I have long reflected on the Holocaust, the reasons behind it. As a very young man, I found myself sometimes pointedly asked why Jews simply hadn't left Nazi Germany (I am Jewish), only years later realizing this was simply a part of "blaming the victim", something that too many are always eager to do. Later, I asked myself how the German people could let the nightmare of Nazism occur, and it's only recently I became convinced that I likely have "seen" the answer.

I have come to believe that most Germans of the time truly didn't realize the horror that was growing, they just weren't able to grasp what was actually taking place ... until it was too late. I imagine they dismissed accounts of unimaginable atrocities as exaggerations, and came to slowly accept the politicization of the bureaucracy and what brutality they saw, rationalizing horror away as something that the victims somehow deserved, allowing individuals to at times even delight in nightmarish abuse accordingly. And as some might have gathered, I'm of the opinion that I've witnessed certain parallels between then and now.

In all fairness to Swedes and Sweden though, the country has also had a number of municipal corruption scandals make news within the past 18 months. I believe a part of what's ongoing has to do with the same problems as spawned these scandals, problems impacting more than just those not native-born, and a further measure of the deep-rooted societal issues scapegoating helps hide.

Notably, most of the "everyday" people one meets here seem among the most decent one can encounter, and indeed, quite a few are; but, there are others too.

Among those that hold the power to shape events, there are locales where another attitude seems too often evident. One repeatedly hears of the "insular" nature of power in many Swedish communities, but there is a difference between insularity and an arrogant hostility, a contemptuous disregard even sometimes shown native-born Swedes.

According to professor Olle Lundin of Uppsala University's faculty of law, a change has occurred over the "last 20 or 30 years", one he sees due to "influence from the private sector". Lundin perceives what he terms "entrepreneurial politicians" today dominating many of Sweden's municipalities, politicians he sees with a taste for building "shiny, big things", but frequently a disregard for both their constituents and accountability.

Lundin recently wrote a report on municipal accountability and controls, a report commissioned by an "expert group" established by the national government's Finance Department. He says a structural problem exists with "no division of power within the local government", no system of appropriate checks and balances accordingly.

Without effective checks and balances, certain "temptations" exist, the corruption scandals that have broken providing a glaring testament to this, as well as highlighting a further explanation of Sweden's societal pain.

At the heart of the corruption problems are "people who have become too familiar" with each other, according to Prosecutor Nils-Eric Schultz of Sweden's National Anti-Corruption Unit, with what's perhaps best described as "cronyism" appearing to have blurred the boundaries of law for many.

"If you are 'well-connected' locally ... there might be people then who are prepared to 'bend the rules' to give you favors and maybe they get favors back. And we know that this happens in municipalities," separately added corruption expert and political scientist Staffan Andersson of Sweden's Linne University.

Such relationships in a community not only are illegal, but provide an effective threat to any "outsiders" that encounter them, especially if such inappropriate bias is further heightened by xenophobia. And, it seems I have personally witnessed how such an environment can become extremely dangerous.

During the last week of July, my own apartment - a rental - was vandalized, a chemical substance that made me ill introduced to it, and I am ill still. I was able to find a person with a chemical background to come by and witness the circumstances, and with this witness statement reported the crime to police.

Interestingly, I live in the best section of town, a place where burglaries and street crime do not exist, and nothing was stolen.

This is the second time someone illegally entered my flat and spread something noxious in it, the first police complaint being made in November 2010, and nothing was stolen at that time either. Equally notable, these were not break-ins, so whoever is responsible may well have had a key. But I'm sorry to say this is almost the least of what I've endured over the past years here. 

I am a white, university educated, 60-year-old American who has even been published in Scandinavia's largest paper, Aftonbladet ... yet, as I write this I'm badly injured from an apartment that the municipal housing company here provided (most rental apartments in Sweden are owned by a municipal housing company), with a local court indeed finding my housing-related injuries proven and severe. The case was tried in June, the decision being rendered July 8, and local papers reporting heavily on the case, and it is noteworthy.

The toxic apartment I had was actually assigned me (a "benefit" some municipalities offer) as a "newcomer" to the city (I had lived outside of town earlier), but the flat had a "funny smell" when I was shown it. I was reluctant to take it, but the local authorities assured me it was fine, and that it was this apartment or no apartment. 

I took it, having no reason to then doubt the words or intentions of those involved. But, a couple of years ago, a Riksdag political secretary told me about a scandal that had occurred elsewhere, one where newcomers were deliberately fed into bad apartments.

I will not speculate here on whether that might have happened to me; but, it did turn out that not only did the flat I was given have "powerfully elevated" levels of toxic mold, but "unusually high levels" of chloroform and benzene, plus significant amounts of other toxic chemicals. The benzene reading from the flat was over six times both the European Union and Swedish limits for benzene in ambient air.

Unfortunately, I can't comment on the chloroform level as I was never able to obtain anything more than it was "unusually high".

The next two apartments I received from my municipal landlord proved contaminated as well. A medical certificate from a "chief physician" today states I am 75% disabled from "building-related" symptoms.

I am not a Muslim, nor get one kroner in government funds, but I am a foreigner, and it certainly appears I have been effectively forced to endure housing that seems to have poisoned me. If one were an "enemy of strangers", such actions might seem to have a legitimacy in such an individual's eyes.

In a notable quote, a section head at the municipal agency that assigned me that first apartment told me - after I was gravely ill, and my furniture and clothing couldn't be used according to physician's orders - that "some people are happy to have any apartment at all", seeming to suggest that the real problem was simply my lack of gratitude.

I can only speculate on what might have legitimated such a comment in this individual's mind, not to mention the condition of other apartments this agency provided, but "such compassion" is difficult to forget. However, this sort of conduct can perhaps best be seen as symptomatic of a broader malaise.

In the context of a society shifting towards the far-right, psychologist Daniel Burston - a well-known author of papers and books on the social psychology of the 1930s, and also chair of Duquesne University's Psychology Department - noted certain psychological phenomenon may occur, including that of "otherization". I quoted him on this in Asia Times Online's Rise of far right an ominous echo, the section reading:

Otherization is essentially a psychological phenomenon where you fail "to recognize the fundamental humanity of your counterpart", Burston said, an ominous tone apparent in his voice. Explaining how this phenomenon impacted societal outgroups in the current circumstances, he noted that "the other is no longer simply a stranger, but an adversary".

Again, framlingsfientlig is a word used to describe the far-right parties that have become increasingly popular in northern Europe, with many translating it as xenophobic, but its literal translation being "enemy of strangers". Once an individual or group is perceived as an "enemy", lacking any "humanity", there are few limits as to what may be done. Breivik's massacre in Norway underscores such an observation.

I see a more subtle example in my own experience, for currently, while medical certificates from a "chief physician" demand that I be provided housing that's free of either chemical or microbiological contamination, well-ventilated, both my landlord and other city organs have forced my stay in badly contaminated settings.

One medical certificate even spoke of the "worst possible" consequences should exposure to contamination continue, and an environmental consultant's survey found my present apartment "life threatening" for me. Yet, though an x-ray even revealed suspected "obstructive elements" in my lungs, what is in my opinion a knowing and ongoing charade continues.

Naturally, some readers might be tempted to wonder if this wasn't just a rare exception, if things could really be so bad, if this kind of conduct towards outsiders could truly be a significant problem ... and, events I've witnessed do defy belief. But sadly, the January 20 Svenska Dagbladet (SvD), Sweden's big conservative paper, headlined "Vi bor samre an djur har" (We live worse than animals here), and while that was on housing outside Stockholm, immigrants have also been reported living in even worse housing in other areas.

Again, if one is viewed as an adversary - especially one that's even taking the money from poor old pensioners, recalling the SD's TV commercial - then much that's unthinkable might somehow be seen as legitimate, with such feelings perhaps held by some towards any foreigners. And Merriam-Webster does define xenophobia as "fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners ..."

It goes without saying that societal pain, especially economic pain, fans the flames of such feelings, with British extremist groups rising notably in recent years, the actual flames of London and elsewhere providing a further measure of the anger and desperation seething through many, existing suffering cutting across the political spectrum. As exemplified by recent events, increasing numbers of individuals are seeing extreme actions as justified.

Earlier, my landlord had confiscated all of my belongings, including artworks by Albin Amelin and others, and while a leading Swedish legal scholar wrote how there was no legal basis for this, I have never seen the belongings since, nor received a kroner in compensation. But then again, I am a "stranger", and one in the Nordic region, a region where the "Nordic far-right is now so entrenched in the political establishment that experts say the 'extreme' label is no longer suitable".

Norway's massacre and Breivik arguably provide a severe example of how nightmarish xenophobia can be, though my own experience seems to suggest that I too have seen some harsher aspects of this.

As the courts are the supposed guarantor of an individual's rights, the importance of their conduct cannot be overstated. The manner in which a nation's courts interpret law is arguably the law, regardless of what may appear as text in any act or regulation.

In my recently decided court case, I lost, despite the fact that the court found I indeed had been severely injured by my landlord's flat. The primary reason the court gave was that they found that my landlord, Kopparstaden AB, the municipal housing firm here, had not been negligent. Local papers noted that this judgement was based on the particular weight that was given to Kopparstaden's own testimony.

The largest paper, Falu Kuriren (FK), wrote: "What surprises Soderman [my attorney] is that the district court put so much emphasis on what Kopparstaden's own employees testified in court. This action is built on that it is precisely those employees who have misbehaved, so they are talking in their own cause."

FK added, "All witnesses are sworn, of course, but according to Ake Soderman it's usually the case that the testimony of the parties to the proceedings is considered relatively lightly. Instead, it is independent witnesses, expert reports and medical and forensic evidence that should have the largest weight in law."

I personally saw as quite notable a part of the court's decision that seems to decide that my apartment full of belongings cannot be considered injured. This finding appeared primarily based on testimony that a Kopparstaden expert and three colleagues could not "smell" any problem with a sole "cushion".

While such a finding seems remarkable in itself, more remarkable is that nowhere does the decision cite that two separate "chief physicians" wrote medical certificates regarding the contamination of the property, one specifically ordering that I could "not use" it because of that contamination, the other supporting this.

Perhaps even more remarkable still, the second "chief physician" is a full professor and an expert brought in by Swedish courts themselves to advise the judiciary in these very kinds of questions. Yet, neither of their opinions or certificates was cited in the decision on my property.

To her credit, one Swedish journalist covering the story became particularly upset about the decision, asking "how can this be?"

I can only speculate on what those Swedish judges who decided the case were thinking, and - for assorted reasons - will not do so.
However, at the beginning of this article was a paragraph where I did cite Swedish legal scholar Eric Bylander on the court system, and will again here, leaving it to readers to decide the relevancy of his Bylander's observations ... Professor Bylander observed that political changes here might mean Swedish courts could be used as "a political arena in a way that hasn't been common in Sweden". Bylander also spoke of the potentially chilling effect that might have on those of foreign origins.

As I write this, some might describe my circumstances as extreme - my health is gone, and Kopparstaden AB is trying to force my return to an apartment that medical orders prohibit, but, which the court seems poised to effectively demand. Though the flat in question even made two of those inspecting it ill, and regulations appear to state it should be condemned, the local health department refuses to, and efforts are underway to attempt to force me there.

In my present flat I had coughed blood all winter. And while there are excellent laws to ensure a healthy living environment for Swedish tenants, to ensure their immediate relocation from a bad flat, I can only note that these laws' benefits seem beyond my reach. And, I am a journalist with an international voice, that fact alone depicting the harsh reality of present times, suggesting the possible implications for others of foreign origin here.

If it seems as though many of the circumstances described are difficult to even imagine, I agree, except perhaps in the context of another era. Framlingsfientlig ... it's an interesting word, and one that promises both increasing horror and lasting shame if it continues in defining the future.

Ritt Goldstein is an investigative political journalist whose work has appeared widely in the global media, including in the US Christian Science Monitor, Spain's El Mundo, Austria's Wiener Zeitung and Australia's Sydney Morning Herald. 

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