Hence why Swedes carry the nickname of the “Japanese of the North”.

Swedes are currently a nation of angst-filled paranoiacs desperate not to appear to be “different”, desperate to conform, and desperate to appear politically correct. And that is why when the government does something bad the average swede goes straight back to sleep, comfortable in the knowledge that no one is going to censure him or her as long as s/he doesn’t make too public a protest.[...]

So, in essence, a bit like Japan then, huh? I tell ya, nothing like a “healthy” dose of paranoid xenophobia to preserve a society so tightly knit and in ideological lockstep across generations that questioning – let alone fighting against – anything becomes an unthinkable miasma just by virtue of setting one apart from Everyone Else(TM). I sincerely wish Sweden’s Gen Y (and perhaps some of their elders too) the best of luck in breaking this vicious cycle and successfully bringing the magnifying glass back over their country’s social mores and values just like the previous generation achieved with the curtailing of religious influence over there; hell knows, they’re gonna need it.

You just don’t realize the self-serving ironical hypocrisy you indulge in, do you?

According to your arguments, You should now be beaten to death because you just advocated murder. See the point here?

To begin with, the reason Sweden was considered the “Citizen’s paradise” was because, in a time where the state and the wealthy were literally owning people, the citizenry as a whole managed to abolish the system and reinvent it into a more egalitarian form.

Said “egalitarianism” has now gone over the top. And currently the reason the swedish state can do as it likes is because every swede is indoctrinated with the idea that anyone outside of the “norm” must be dangerous.

Swedes are currently a nation of angst-filled paranoiacs desperate not to appear to be “different”, desperate to conform, and desperate to appear politically correct. And that is why when the government does something bad the average swede goes straight back to sleep, comfortable in the knowledge that no one is going to censure him or her as long as s/he doesn’t make too public a protest.

In short, we’re a nation of bleating sheep, dealing with perceived threats by hiding in the herd and appointing a suitable scapegoat to ostracize.

The keywords are “for the public good”. That, and “for the children” can easily be used to shove any legislation hostile to the precepts of democracy down people’s throats. Because the one who objects “must” by definition be FOR harming the public or the children.

I blame selective culling for this. In the 16th century King Charles nabbed every man too gutsy to stay hidden between the age of 12 and 60 and had them killed off in wars while grabbing large parts of europe. And in the 18th century during famine, anyone with an ounce of balls and independent thought left for the US.

I’m thinking we’ve selectively bred out the Viking from the swedish populace, leaving only the odd throwback freak able and daring to stick out his neck over principles…

This problem is not a US one. It’s international. If Sweden had the same influence as the US does we’d no doubt be fighting on the same lines anyway.

And that means we need politics to change across the world. Easier than you’d think, going by the current way in which Intellectual Property is beginning to mess up the lives of not only consumer markets but also of many major corporations.

Companies such as Google for whom intellectual property isn’t a necessity are in ascendance. Companies such as Microsoft and (since Steve Job’s death) Apple – which can no longer survive by innovation but only by using IP as a legal weapon – are on the decline.

It’s actually positive news. The current clay-feet colossi are crumbling and the recent almost hysterical focus on IP is simply a very desperate and dirty rear-guard action from a business sector in full retreat on all fronts.

We’re winning. As long as we don’t lose momentum.

Sweden does has a pretty big and influential pirate movement. The original Pirate Party was founded here, and we have two MEP:s in the EU parliament. With help and inspiration from Sweden, there have been very successful pirate movements started in Germany and Austria. Unfortunately, the Swedish Pirate party have been less successful in recent elections, despite getting plenty of media attention. As far as I’ve seen, the pirate movement in the United States is much weaker, both in terms of public interest and power relative the copyright industry. I suppose it’s useless to speculate what would have been if the US had had 9 million citizens, since that’s so far from the reality.

The problem in Sweden, in my view, is that the general public don’t value these issues highly enough. Unemployment and common economical questions take the front seat almost every time. And all the established political parties have turned their backs against the pirate movement.

My hope — and this goes for Sweden, the US, and the rest of the world — is that things will change as today’s youth grow up and take the power before the politicians (and corporations) of today destroy our rights completely.

And someone, please incarcerate Henrik Pontén.

Will solve this problem once and for all. If you cant find where the files are, you cant shut them down.

The problem lies with democracy. The entire basis of democracy is built on fucking bullshit. Remove democracy, replacing it with a system of governance and jurisprudence that is built on rock solid foundations, one in which is not created by the failing of mankind, and we will have resolved our problem.

The entire Universe runs like clockwork, even species of the animal and plant kingdom act in an innate fashion, thereby performing their set purpose in life. It’s only us, bastardized mankind that totally fucks around in the World destroying our planet as we go about strutting our stuff as if we fucking own the Earth.

We can’t even fucking agree on legal/economic/financial issues between two opposing parties. Mankind is a fucking chaos creator on Earth, and we are selfish, arrogant mother fucking assholes. As far as a society is concerned, the best we’ve come up with is democracy and capitalism. What an utter load of bollocks. Both democracy and capitalism have failed, quite evidently portrayed in global events over the last 10 years.

Whoever created mankind, animals, plants, micro-orgasms, sub-atomic particles, galaxies, stars, gravitational and magnetic fields, just to name a few, that same Entity that created all those things would be best placed to instruct us on how our legal framework ought to operate. We would live in harmony without waging wars amongst each other, because the rules of engagement have been drawn by a Higher Supreme Entity.

Man can’t be trusted to do anything right – the worthless piece of shit that we are. We are scum on Earth, and we should be ashamed of our conduct. We’re a fucking disgrace.

We have so much collective intellect, yet repeatedly governments across the World trumpet both democracy and capitalism as instruments towards freedom and salvation of humanity. Bull fucking shit.