Nordic nations may host the generous welfare states that lefties love, but they increasingly understand that such “models” simply can’t work with unlimited immigration.
Sweden made that clear again last week, when it announced proposals to toughen rules for gaining citizenship.
“My policies most closely resemble what we see . . . in Norway, in Finland, in Sweden,” progressive darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has preened.
“We can learn a lot from Denmark,” democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders claimed.
Yes, you can learn from the Nordic nations — only not in the way AOC and Sanders mean.
Sweden’s government is now looking to demand migrant applicants show a record of “honest living” (no crimes or unpaid debts, for instance) and to require eight years of residency (up from five) before seeking citizenship — which would also depend on passing a language exam as well as a test on Swedish values and society.
“Citizenship must be earned, not be handed out unconditionally,” Migration Minister Johan Forssell insisted on Instagram.
Those plans follow Sweden’s stepped-up efforts of recent years to reverse its more-welcoming border policies from a decade ago, which brought in hundreds of thousands of migrants — along with crime and other social problems.
Indeed, soon after that disastrous move, Sweden soon saw a major upsurge in violent crime.
It had “the highest rate of gangland killings in Europe,” European research group GIS reported.
In 2022 alone, Sweden saw 90 gang-related bombings. “No-go zones” became the norm. Immigrants failed to integrate.
The social costs — not just in crime but also welfare benefits and social unity — also went through the roof.
And it triggered a dramatic shift: Political parties that backed tougher rules for immigration, such as the Sweden Democrats, saw their fortunes soar.
The country’s center-right government cracked down on illegal immigration and boosted efforts to evict those in “the shadow society.”
Last year, the government actually announced a plan to pay migrants $34,000 apiece to leave.
A government website warns: “Sweden’s migration policy is undergoing a paradigm shift.” The country is “intensifying its efforts” to reduce “the number of migrants coming irregularly to Sweden.”
“Labour immigration fraud and abuses must be stopped and the ‘shadow society’ combated,” it adds. “Those who have no grounds for protection or other legal right to stay in Sweden must be expelled.”
AOC has conniptions when statements like that are made about migrants here.
By the way, the Nordic nations aren’t nearly as socialist and progressive as the US left pretends.
In Denmark, the top 10% account for just 26% of income taxes. In America, it’s double that.
Sweden, too, has backed away from its more socialist past.
And the more open your borders (particularly if to needy, unproductive migrants), the harder it is to maintain even minimal standards of living for everyone else.
Fact is, you can have a safe, unified, cohesive society with a strong national identity and even generous welfare benefits — or you can have unlimited, unregulated immigration.
But as these countries have found, you simply can’t have both.
Alas, that’s a lesson lefties here would rather learn the hard way.
