Those of us who have been around for a while may notice a pattern in how certain laws and regulations are implemented. The new criticised Swedish gender identity law is to be pushed through at any cost, and this is carried out by a center-right-wing government with nationalists as a supporting party. It is somewhat reminiscent of how the FRA law was forced through, also headlong, where even hesitant MPs with tears in their throats finally voted in favour.
The FRA Act was sponsored by the USA, and was part of their major surveillance effort after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York. However, it is conceivable that the Gender Recognition Act is also being pushed by the White House. Gender issues are in vogue, and the US government is very much involved.
So, I’ve highlighted two votes, and I’m sure there are many more that haven’t received as much attention. The question is, is it ethical for a foreign power to interfere in the affairs of other countries, and steer policy above the heads of both politicians and citizens?
No, it is of course completely insane. Yet this is obviously how the world works nowadays. And in addition to the US, we also have the EU, which also influences Swedish politics in large and small ways. Our parliament has been transformed into a local council, most things are controlled from the top, and the regional actors follow the development nicely.
So how did this strange system come about? Did we join voluntarily?
Yes, we have voluntarily joined the EU – which we were promised would never develop into a federation, but which has gone straight in that direction – now with an European parliament that trumps our own. And we have joined NATO, without a referendum, a military organisation effectively run by the US. Regardless of how the decision-making processes are organised, few or no one opposes the Americans. They rule through their enormous military capability or impose sanctions and blockades on offending countries. The latter method has now been weakened, as seen in the sanctions against Russia, which did not have the desired effect.
To cut a long story short, we have become a vassal or obedient state. And even if we prefer to call ourselves members on equal terms, etc., such a relationship does not exist in reality, because there are always more powerful states, and even in a voluntary community, it is always the stronger countries that decide. And the alpha male in Western politics is the USA. Both the EU and Sweden are subject to the US, either formally through NATO membership or through informal pressure, or both. We are also afraid of the Russians in the east and the Islamists in the south; it is often such threats that result in military or political alliances, at least that is how it is explained in the media. Economics, free trade and mobility have also been used as a carrot, although it is mostly outdated now.
Our elected representatives pass laws, no matter how crazy they are, on orders from above. And it’s been like this for a decade or two, but it hasn’t really sunk in, many people still see Sweden as an independent sovereign country, which is a completely wrong perception. We are a province.
