To people living in Sweden...

I'm not Sweedish but I can say for a fact that US Conservative media DOES lie. They said that Birmingham in the United Kingdom was Islamic controlled, I live very close to it and it's the second biggest city in the UK. There is no Islamic control though, at all. In fact Muslims are an incredibly small minority there.

As with almost all news channels/sites you have to keep in mind that it's not there to tell you the actual news, it's there to make money and sometimes lying is the best way to do that.

 

I'm from Liverpool so I hope that everyone from the UK at least and hopefully wider will understand when I say that I have 96 very good reasons to never trust the media to tell 'The Truth'

In general however there us not a news outlet out there that doesn't have an agenda and who's articles are not coloured by the spin such agenda lead to. You need to get the facts from more bona fide sources if you really want to know the truth.

 

I'm from Sweden. Oh yes, the immigration, so awful, I'm dying in my fabulous overly privilieged position in global society, because the immigrants are so awful to us poor, Arian Swedes! *cries*

And in case you didn't realize that was sarcasm. Stop giving the ones worst off in Swedish society a hard time for being worst off.

This is the last thing we need here - more anti-immigration sentiments, when a far-right party is looking to be the biggest party soon.

Sometimes, immigrants show up in the crime register more often than Swedes, when it comes to a specific crime/capita. Sometimes. And when that is, it's because of socio-economic conditioning, not because Swedes are inherently better or whatever.

The most common names in Swedish prisons are all typical Swedish names.

Sweden isn't going to the dogs because of immigration, but because we once had a very well-functioning and successful welfare state going for us, envy of many countries in the world. Since then we have been working to dismantling that.

- PC Swede, otherwise known as someone who doesn't blame all the problems where she lives on immigration -

 

I think Sweden has failed a lot with integrating its immigrants from an economic perspective. I forget what I read it, but apparently immigrants in Sweden have the highest unemployment rate in Europe relative to the native population.

Also, the rape rate in Sweden is high because they are simply better at convicting people. Do you really think Sweden has a higher rate of rape than India?

 

Is it true that the Swedish media is overly politically correct and refuses to cover nearly any story that puts a minority in a bad light?

Yes. This is true. There was an incident quite recently where a woman was raped on a cruise ship on the Baltic Sea and in basically all of the mainstream media the rapists were referred to as Swedish even though only one out of them (I can't remember how many) actually had a citizenship. This is not the only incident when non citizens have been referred to as "Swedes" simply because it is politically correct to refer to everyone as Swedish. Basically mainstream media will never refer to someone as either illegal or immigrant because that is racist.

However whenever there are good news that involve someone with another ethnicity they don't mind calling them immigrants, so there's a double standard to the Swedish media that I really despise. So I mean it is no lie that the mainstream media (all of which are liberal) are a bunch of liars.

There are other incidents such as the hate crimes against Jews in Malmö. During 2013-14 there were 137 reports of hate crimes against Jews only in Skåne (the region where Malmö is located). These are things such as swastikas being drawn on Synagogues, harassment, bomb threats etc. There was even a documentary made about the hate crimes against Jews in Malmö https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cFYmhQMks8 There are English subtitles.

Now, the Swedish media loves to blame the "neo-nazist" and racists for these crimes. I can't remember ever encountering a neo-nazi in Sweden. They are a dying breed if they were ever even a breed to begin with. Basically the radical neo-nazi party "party of the Swedes" was dissolved this May because they had so few followers. And the fact that they would blame nazis for the hate crimes against Jews is ridiculous. The majority of the population in Malmö are immigrants according to the latest statistics. Most of the immigrants are Iraqi. The media will even ignore Jews that are victims of these crimes when they explain that these hate crimes are mostly by Muslims.

I know not ALL immigrants are bad but there's definitely some level of correlation here. Sweden has never ever EVER had a crime problem. Now, riots are happening, GRENADES are being thrown in Malmö (which just so happens to have the largest percentage of immigrants of anywhere in Sweden), and there are now more rapes in Sweden than anywhere in Europe.

This is also true. I of course know that most immigrants are law abiding citizens. However there are certain areas in Sweden, even close to me where I live in the suburbs of Stockholm that have had problems with riots and shootings. Basically when I was a kid you only very seldom heard about shootings happening in my nearby neighborhoods. Nowadays there are so so many shootings. Just a year ago while I was out walking with my brothers we heard shooting not far from where we were. Close to where I live there was a young boy who had gotten his hands on an AK-47 and was out in a small forest and was shooting wildly. It's crazy because only 10 years ago this would've been unimaginable in this area. It has without a doubt escalated. Police helicopters hover near where I live close to every day. There is no doubt in my mind that the reason for the escalating crime rates is the radical irresponsible migration politics.

Some immigrants in the most troubled neighbourhoods have even witnessed about feeling oppressed by the imams in the area. Some women witness about being told, among other things, to "cover themselves" in very dominant ways, that make them fear what will happen if they don't. I could link you a certain article about this, but it is in Swedish so i won't unless someone really wants to read it. Now politicians talk about how they need to deal with the radicalization problems, but they don't actually do anything.

I showed my very very smart and well-educated 30 year old cousin an article about the grenade attacks in Malmö and it mentions how there are tens of "no-go zones" in Sweden that are dangerous and under Islamic control. She said, "I'm going to throw up. This is so RACIST! There is no such thing! I'm in shock!"

A lot of Swedes will react like this because most of them don't actually know what it is like because they just listen to the what the most PC liberal media in Sweden tells them. Most people don't live in the suburbs where these things happen. It's very easy to discard the claims that the immigration in Sweden has led to the massive increase in criminality in these areas when A) you don't live anywhere near where the immigrant population is the highest and B) you only read mainstream media and believe every word they say is true. While at the same time they believe all the alternative media only contain lies and are just wrong and racist in every aspect.

Now I'm not saying I believe in the conservative media either. It is just as obviously, as the liberal media, angled and simply targeted to further their political agenda.

I don't trust media. I am always skeptical towards the media, but when there are actual facts: official statistics and publicly accessible documents, then you have to be lying to yourself to not see the lies and hypocrisy.

Could conservative media REALLY lie about something like this? Or are people in Sweden being brainwashed and lied to? It seems like the second you even hint that immigration laws are too open, you're labeled a racist.

Basically if you don't believe Sweden should have unlimited immigration you are labeled a racist. There's even a risk you might lose your job if you have the "wrong" political view. Which leads to self censorship a.k.a. freedom of speech.

What do you think, Swedes? Are there no-go zones? Do you feel lied to/brainwashed? Do you feel safe wherever you go? Etc.

Yes there are no go zones. I feel unsafe in certain neighbourhoods in Stockholm. There have even been occasions where I have been grouped up on by gangs when walking out at night and I was almost robbed once out in public in a troubled neighbourhood.

I went to a school that had a lot of immigrant students and it was not uncommon for me to feel like I was being targeted for being Swedish or "privileged". While the media tells me I cannot be a victim of "hate crime" or whatever when it is so obvious that some people target me simply because I look Swedish and that I have the wrong ethnicity to reside in that neighbourhood. I would have to lie to myself to not believe that things have gone the wrong direction in Sweden in terms of everything liberal.

Funny thing is the people that I meet that are the most "liberal" are ones that grew up either in the countryside where the majority of people are Swedish and the few immigrants that live there are well adjusted. Or the ones that live on Södermalm in Stockholm the capital of "progressive tumblr feminists" that never ever ever even set foot in any of the most troubled areas that I've lived near most of my life. They don't even see these areas or how things are there.

I'm far from what I would refer to as a racist. I don't hate people based on their skin colour much like I don't hate people based on gender/sexuality/the way they dress/the way their face is shaped/the way they talk/other trivial things. I've never hurt someone because they were a certain race, I have never called someone a racial slur, I have never ever discriminated anyone because of their race. It would never even cross my mind to do something like that. Yet if the liberal media got to decide, I would be referred to as a racist, simply because I criticize our immigration politics. It's ridiculous.....

 

I mean, we had our peak in the 80's or so, but now money has been drained out of the public sector for decades, to make way for the glorious free market which was supposed to make everything even better. Well, jokes on us, the rich got super rich, everybody else got poorer. Big surprise? Nah.

I beg to differ on the brilliance there.

They said they haven't seen neo-Nazis. Well, I have three acquaintances who are, I have seen Nazis in every town I am and I have had someone I know be threatened to be killed by Nazis for being (I think) trans.

I spent a lot of my childhood in a neighborhood where about half or so were immigrants. There was some unruliness there relative to the rest of the town. Because of poverty; not because they were immigrants.
Mostly, the concentration of immigrants was not a major problem. Mostly I got along just fine with every kid, no matter their background.

Our system for integrating immigrants into Swedish society is terrible. That's what needs to be changed.
Near my hometown, there was a privately owned building for refugees to live in. In the night bugs literally ate off of them and it could be as cold as 10 degrees (50 degrees F) in the night - in winter.
Those are the kind of conditions we allow immigrants to face here at times.

To say "Some immigrants are bad, so let's not accept as much immigrants into the country anymore" is narrow-minded and a waste.
Why not sit down and say "Okay, let's look at what problems are actually caused by immigration on a macro-scale and work to make better on them" and integrate immigrants into society through public institutons?
Isn't that better than simply saying "They shouldn't come at all"?

 

The problem with Sweden is that they think they are this wonderful left wing quasi-socialist country. When in fact they are not, there is right wing parties popping up all over the place in reaction to the left. When people have a problem with far left issues, the form a far right party. The main issue is immigration, they just let anyone in, the issues with immigration is that 80-90% of them are economic migrants who are not in danger,most EU countries turn them away while Sweden lets many of them in. Of course once a nation establishes itself as such is snowballs and it becomes the migrant's first choice.

I see the UK's immigration statistics and I know that it is not sustainable, which the government is taking measures to correct. Then I see the Swedish statistics and I absolutely understand where the far right is coming from, it is absolutely unsustainable.

 

The issue with immigration being "unsustainable," what do you mean by that? Sweden and UK doesn't even have a high population density.

 

^There are like.... no people here in Sweden. It's like empty... I'm socially awkward and I would like some company.

 

Population density is less the problem than jobs per capita.

 

^the above, then, not taking into account that immigrants are economic actors and that movement of labor has all the potential to create jobs, and will do so; satisfyingly so with proper regulation in the form of e.g. making sure that the quality of labor is allowed room to breathe.

Let me tell you all something. In Swedish health care, there is a severe lack of staff. The medical experts we do train here often go abroad themselves. We desperately need immigration for this reason. Among general practioners in the health/dental care center near me, I have met more people who are not Swedish-born than who are.
And guess what? The service is just as good and we need it, unless we want to be without healthcare.

The recently foreign, now home-classic food industry with pizza etc. is a very successful stimulus in our economy.

It is so easy to just say: "We've got some problems... hey! It's dem queers/old people/immigrants" or whatever. But if you think for a second you'll realize it's not so simple.

 

Haha, I hope immigration solves that problem.

Anti-immigration arguments. There's no denying the economic benefits that come with immigrants. They're more likely to start businesses, meaning more jobs for everyone, more economic growth, and more taxes being paid.

Most of the anti-immigration arguments focus on the claim that they use more government benefits (most common argument), claims that migrants take jobs, and the claim that the culture will change. The solution for the first argument is to limit government benefits, and most of the arguments against immigration will go away.

The arguments that it'll take away jobs is incorrect. There's no fixed number of jobs. For every group of migrants that get a job, there will always be a few that create jobs that could easily offset the amount of jobs being given to migrants. Also, some sectors need more workers and the job market is wide open. Like you said about the health care system.

 

Well, ignoring the fact that the UK is the 5th most densely populated country in Europe and 51st in the world, that completely ignores where the vast majority of migrants are heading - England. England has the highest population density in Europe after Malta (which is a tiny island in the Mediterranean). If England was a US state, it would rank 5th, just behind Connecticut - while South East England would be more densely populated than any US state (and with 9 million people would be more populated than all but 11 US states with significantly less land area).

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/world-population-density-map.jpg

Either way, I don't consider immigration a problem even with current numbers, and even if it was a problem, I don't believe the current government would be willing to curtail the numbers - and there isn't much they can actually do with EU migrants.

The problem the UK - or more specifically England - has faced over the past 10 years, is lack of investment in infrastructure to accommodate these people.

 

You can't honestly mean you believe people think the amount of people per square mile is the problem at hand. It's not like any number of immigrants to Sweden is gonna have any kind of affect in that regard unless there was a massive influx in the number of millions, for there to actually be a problem with space.

The problem is the integration and the cost of it and the complete and utter lack of responsibility shown by the government to adjust immigrants to become a part the Swedish society and economy.

The way that our politicians are handling the situation is just simply arrogant and naive. It is almost like they are living in some illusionary utopia where money grows on trees and everyone is nice. It doesn't work that way. I mean, this is not a sustainable way to handle our economy. There has to be adjustments to our immigration policies to make sure Sweden can continue being a welfare state with a growing economy while still helping those in need.

When it comes to integration there is a language barrier that needs to be overcome. But you barely see any efforts from the government to try and reevaluate the terms which we put on immigrants before they can acquire a permanent citizenship. It is reasonable to demand certain things, such as perhaps for them to learn the language before being able to get a citizenship. If there aren't any demands and you just hand out the necessities to live a good life then there won't be any motivation to become part of the country or learn the language or get an education or a job. While this might not be the case for a lot of immigrants it is still a big enough problem to put pressure on our economy. And it is so simple. Just demand something in return for what they are given, I think it is only fair. Just take the U.S. as an example. To become a citizen there you need to pass an English and Civics test. I think we should provide the resources for immigrants to learn Swedish like we are, but there has to be some kind of motivation for them to learn it. Such as a citizenship test.

The one thing I find most ridiculous in Sweden right now is the ISIS debate. Politicians just nonchalantly push aside the problem with extremism in Sweden as if it wasn't real and basically don't do shit to prevent people from getting brainwashed into becoming jihadists. At the same time as we are harboring these terrorists we look at Syria and think about the horrors that go on there and want to help the victims. But then... if the government actually cares about the refugees then how come we aren't doing more to prevent people from becoming part of this war that is making people flee? Why are we literally welcoming the jihadists back with open arms offering them jobs and residences as some kind of means of rehabilitation...? It's just beyond me, like I can barely fathom how incredibly deluded the liberal left can be. It is almost as if some these people are incapable of rationality.

 

The idea that immigrants should learn the language of the country is a great one. However, immigrants already feel like they need to learn the language most people around them speak.

It wouldn't be a problem in Sweden since they have an official language, but it wouldn't work in Canada and the U.S since there is no official language.