Comments by "bj0rn" (@TheLivirus) on "Sweden’s Strange Politics & Immigration (Pt. 1) | Aron Flam | INTERNATIONAL | Rubin Report" video.

The idea that Sweden today is this strongly collectivist society is quite inaccurate. It is among the more individualist countries in the world, and this is in part a product of the social welfare system. The state has taken over many roles which in other cultures are filled by family, friends and social network, in an attempt to level the playing field for those who lack these resources. In consequence, people generally feel that they hold few responsibilities towards others apart from paying their share of taxes and are not that dependent of trading favors with the local community. People are expected to move out at 18, and it gets weird if you still live with your parents in your 20s. Nationalism is considered silly, as individuals are supposed to be judged on the basis of their own actual merit, and not their association or affiliation. Religion is most of the time regarded a personal matter and you are encouraged to arrive at your own conclusions.
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It is true that Social democrats have been the most popular party for most of Sweden's history as a democracy, however, it rarely had full majority and had to compromise with other parties in order to form government. Also, if you look at the results of the most recent election, the three most popular parties were Social Democrats (31%), Moderates (23%), and Swedish Democrats (13%). That is, the traditional party in favor of a generous welfare system, a more liberal party looking to lower the tax burden, and a newcomer addressing the immigration issue. Is this the election results of a indoctrination induced monoculture? You could argue that the parties tend to agree on certain issues, but they certainly disagree on others.
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Do you think this romantic idea of old Sweden is accurate, or is it possible that you have neglected the problems old Sweden had? If we assume that the life quality in Sweden and its overall performance has declined (despite considerable growth of GDP), do you think this was caused by internal or external factors? Would old Sweden perform as well today considering the increased globalization and the increased performance of other nations?
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Is 2.5x more likely to commit crimes a legitimate reason for no accepting them into our society? There are subgroups within our society with a far greater likelyhood. Should we retract the citizenship for these groups? Why not?
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Collectivism is to prioritize the needs of the collective over the needs of specific individuals. If collectivism was about sharing common ideas and values, then libertarians are collectivist. The fact that many Swedes are of the sentiment that giving immigrants a fair opportunity to build a new life in Sweden is more important than the overall performance or well-being of the nation, reeks of individualism. A collectivist society would sacrifice low-performing or counterproductive citizens to advance its overall performance or well-being.
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