Several things are apparent from table 2.. First of all, the nature of the increased crimes in Sweden is of malicious motives, not monetary. The data shows that Sweden experienced an increase in assault crimes greater than the United States did. Robbery increased in the U.S. more than in Sweden during this time period. This reveals that the new crime in Sweden is unique, in that the increase in robbery can not be attributed to the clash of cultures in Sweden.
Most important, the percentage growth of malicious crimes in Sweden are greater than that of the United States, and therefore, a global impact explanation is insufficient at explaining the entirety of the increase in crime in Sweden. In fact, criminal evidence in Sweden shows that a large percentage of the crime is attributed to immigrants. Immigrants are three times more likely to commit assault, and five times more likely to commit sex crimes than Swedes (The Local, 2005). Almost forty percent of the 1,520,000 offenses recorded between 1997 and 2001 were committed by people born overseas, or by people with at least one parent born overseas (The Local, 2006). This number is especially dramatic since the immigrant population only makes up twelve percent of the population. It is not the case, however, that all new immigrants in Sweden are criminals. According to a Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet (Fjordman, 2006), “9 out of 10 of the most criminal ethnic groups in Sweden come from Muslim countries.” Also, according to Nima Sanandaji (2005), “some immigrant groups have a very low crime rate (such as those from East Asia).” Immigrant youths seem to be the largest contributors to the increased crime in Sweden.
It is important to note that the most dramatic increases in crime are found in the crimes immigrants are most likely to commit. These particular crimes are committed to inflict pain to the native Swedish population, rather than for monetary gains. This reveals one possible motive behind the crimes: a hatred of the Swedish people. According to Åkesson’s interviews (Fjordman, 2006), immigrants feel as if they are looked down upon by native born Swedes. In return, immigrant youths have become hostile toward Swedes. An interview with one young immigrant in Sweden revealed a social war existing in Sweden. “Power for me means that the Swedes shall look at me, lie down on the ground and kiss my feet…We rob every single day, as often as we want to, whenever we want to.” This hostility, they explain, is retaliation against treatment by the native Swedes as being inferior. The clash of culture in Sweden is also apparent by the low rate of mixed marriages (Caldwell, 2005). There have also been “honor-killings”, in that family members are killing each other for dating native Swedes.
There are also underground immigrant crime syndicates functioning in Sweden’s largest cities. In the 1980’s, a Balkan organized crime network spread out across Scandinavia. Most of these mafia men come from the former Yugoslavia, and came to Sweden during the Bosnian and Kosovo wars in the 1990s (Fleishman, 2006). These crime syndicates traffic drugs, weapons, and prostitutes, and commit large scale robberies. In 2004, these organizations robbed more than $ 10 million from Norway’s central bank, and stole Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” and “Madonna” from a museum in Oslo. Although these particular attacks were against Norway, these criminals live throughout Scandinavia, and wars between organizations have publicized the underground network in Sweden for the last decade. “Even in relatively small Malmö, six Balkan mafia figures have been slain since 2002” (Fleishman, 2006). Sweden’s police force is doing little to combat this problem. With lenient punishment and strong privacy laws, the investigations of organized crime are making little progress. According to Bo Lundqvist, a detective in Malmö (Fleishman, 2006), “We need tougher laws, but that directly contradicts our open society…And we’re looking at individual crimes and not the larger picture.” Another police investigator who was to afraid to reveal his name said, “They brought this gangster mentality that wasn’t anything like the normal Swedish criminal.” These criminals have moved to Sweden because it is easy to commit crime, and punishment is lax. One mobster, Milan Sevo, received only a two-year sentence for weapons-related charges. He escaped from custody during one of his weekend passes to visit his family. When he was eventually recaptured, he served no extra time for running away. Another criminal, Naser Dzeljilji, received an 18 month sentence for drugs, weapons, and conspiracy offenses, but was released from an appeal (Fleishman, 2006). These cases reveal the leniency behind the Swedish penal system, and the attractiveness of immigrating to Sweden for foreign criminals.
If the situation in Sweden is not as idyllic as assumed, why is it that immigrants continue to come to Sweden? There are several reasons to immigrate into Sweden, even with the knowledge of the current economic and social problems. Most important, immigrants are attracted to Sweden because of the promise of welfare (Caldwell, 2005). Foreign citizens immigrating to Sweden are given free medical care, free schooling, decent housing conditions, and free lessons in the native language. Also, Denmark and Finland have become stricter on their immigration policies, so current citizens in these nations will move to Sweden in order to bring in their family as well. “Danes under 25 who marry foreigners no longer have the right to bring their spouses into the country. Many such half-Danish couples now live in Malmo” (Caldwell, 2005).
Conclusions
The decrease in productivity due to immigration has a large impact on the economy in Sweden. Take, for example, a middle aged woman who runs a restaurant business in Halmstad. She feels the effects of the labor protection laws in Sweden. She has less than ten employees. If one of them becomes sick, or takes maternity leave, she needs to find someone to replace the employee. However, now she is paying twice as much for the same level of productivity. Moreover, if the employee is absent for more than six months, the woman must debate between locking another employee into an unbreakable contractual agreement and incuring the transaction costs of hiring and training another employee.
Hiring an immigrant is also a nuisance for companies. The social democratic reaction to immigration was to protect its labor unions, and enact a reform that requires companies to provide 240 hours of full pay while the immigrant receives language training. The government effectively increased the transaction costs for hiring immigrants, and to such an extent that immigrants became left behind. Because the government neglected to incorporate the increased population into the economy, Sweden no longer has any effective means for absorbing them into the labor market.
Currently, Sweden is a boat, sailing near a whirlpool. They are caught in the current that will eventually lead them to disaster, but haven’t noticed. If they could foresee the problem, there could still be time to steer clear. Unfortunately, the crew is below decks, lounging on Ikea furniture. This analogy accurately depicts the present state of Sweden. The government in Sweden is handling immigration by forcing the migrants into situations where they cannot find work. They are then handing out generous welfare payments to these people, to preserve the idea of equality in the nation. Native Swedes are upset that immigrants are taking up so much of the tax money that they pay, while not working, and committing crimes. Therefore, Swedes are not working as hard; causing productivity to decrease; resulting in smaller profits and tax revenues. Meanwhile, the immigrants are committing crimes due to a feeling of separation from the Swedish culture, with little or no punishment from the institution. In fact, immigrants may realize that by committing crimes, they actually receive more handouts from the government.
The impact of this will be the eventual collapse of Sweden’s welfare state. It is arguable whether or not the social democratic government is responsible, by not incorporating the new labor force into the economy. According to Johan Norberg (2006), “[Sweden] has been critically weakened by the system it helped create. Far from being a solution for the new sick men of Europe, Sweden must face serious and fundamental challenges at the heart of its social model.” If so, a major problem in solving this issue is the population’s reluctance to reform the government. The social democrats were just voted out of office in September, in favor of a more moderate government. However, in order to win the election, the moderate government had to change its policies on welfare to be consistent with the social democrats. The population is afraid of change, because they have become dependent on the welfare system. They are reluctant to vote for a reform that might limit the handouts received from the government. Apparently the furniture is really comfortable, because nothing is being done to handle the crisis.
The irony of this situation is that countries are looking to Sweden as the model for successful government intervention in a globalizing world. Perhaps they do not see that if Sweden had continued its level of productivity during the fifties throughout the century, they would have higher growth and greater efficiency than any other nation in Europe. Perhaps they don’t see the hidden information that places the unemployment rate at 12%, rather than 6%. Maybe they don’t see the dramatic increase in crime levels, the incentives to commit these crimes, and the lack of indication that it will stop anytime soon.
It was the immigrants that brought this change, but the ideals of the social democratic government that caused it. The policies of this government are not bad. They were successful in Sweden for almost sixty years. However, in the face of immigration, the values of the social democracy have created a mess, and need to be reformed, or done away with. There is no way to be certain if a Social Democratic ideal will ever be successful in the future. It worked in Sweden because of the homogeneous state of its society. There might never again be an environment of this nature, for which the implementation of a socialist ideology would be possible.
EU-NATO IMPERIALISM ❌ 