Sweden is our big brother in so many ways. A lot of our policies are somehow a reflection of theirs.
The running joke among our academics when discussing research is to ask "well what do they say about this in Sweden".
The thing about us Northerners is we're proud of our values. We may be considered a tad bit liberal by the rest of Europe, our social welfare structure may have it's naysayers, but we really do believe that individuals in a society should have basic rights guaranteed; health, education, housing, and from an intellectual standpoint, the right to disagree. 20,000 Iraqi asylum seekersknocked on our borders almost 18 months ago, and still here we are with the same welfare structure.
Right at the heart of our capitol city is a protest for and by asylum seekers, 50 meters away is the counter protest. Both sides snug in their own tents, both freely excercising their rights to protest and share opinions. We take pride in examples like that, protesting against decisions we disagree with even if the government disagrees, agreeing to disagree, these are what separates us from violent extremists, military dictatorships, ruling families/ Kingdoms, many peddling their concept of a religious society. In theory, it's what leads to higher levels of accountability from our governments; make a move we don't like and we'll make it known our views.
It's going to take more than a truck, van,or bus, to make us turn our backs on our values. We will mourn the deaths of the innocent ones that were killed indiscriminently and only because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, enjoying the freedom that the violent extremists loathe.
We voluntarily built our societies in the cold and snow in a land with 6 months of mostly darkness and guaranteed warm food and warm shelter for anyone here regardless of their opinions. We may be the silent, socially awkward Europeans, but we're as stubborn as they come. The Starks got nothing on us.
It's a bit disappointing to see this thread about the Stockholm deaths getting peppered by posts alluding to eliminating religion as a solution to keeping us safe. Does the right to have an opinion, the right to come to ones own conclusions without force or consequence, the concept of freedom of thought mean so little to you that you'd give it up so quickly? If you want to see how a society functions when it becomes illegal simply to have a thought that counters the government stance, take a look at the countries where the asylum seekers are fleeing; Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan. Or better yet, study European history during the Medieval periods right up until the Enlightenment era.
People look to us to see examples of societies that best present the concepts of freedom of choice and thought. The last two years has shown many of us have taken it for granted, such is the level of animosity shown to individuals that believe in "magic from the sky". Remember, it wasn't that long ago when it was the complete reversal and animosity was shown to individuals that were secular in their beliefs.
It's not so much that history repeats itself, it's that we are always the same, just in different eras. Tolerance and freedom is something we seem to always strive to get, then strive to lose.