Comments on: Sweden's faultering population.

Sweden's faultering population.

Grod — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 12:09:30 -0800

Sweden's faultering population. Sweden has a population problem and it's effecting the economy. One women has come up with a brilliant solution.

By: stevefromsparks

stevefromsparks — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 12:13:42 -0800

Hmm... If Swedish babes can't get laid, I don't think porn is going to help.

By: aaronscool

aaronscool — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 12:17:41 -0800

I've got a better solution...I'll happily donate my own personal time in helping to "sow the fields" so to speak. I could do this on Saturdays, Sundays and most weeknights. Swedish Bikini Team here I come!

By: donkeyschlong

donkeyschlong — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 12:28:36 -0800

How 'bout adding X and Amyl Nitrate to the water? Oh wait ... that would probably ruin the economy when no one showed up for work anymore.

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 12:33:04 -0800

I was told by my Sweedish friends that Playboy magazines are banned and porn is not legally made there either. This was ten years back. Any feed back, and skoal.........

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 12:40:00 -0800

Yeah! Teres Kirpikli's suggestion was one of the funniest things that happened during the election race. You mustn't forget that Kristdemokraterna (The Christian Democratic Party) is one of the most conservative parties we've got in this country. Chin-dropping stuff. In related stories, a local politician in Piteå once proposed a total black out in early april so people would have sex, thus increasing Piteå's chances of becoming the town in which the first swedish baby of the millennium was born. thomcatspike: What kind of swedish friends have you got? They seem to lie to you.

By: mcwetboy

mcwetboy — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 12:54:36 -0800

Or, you know, they could, like, let in more immigrants or something. The countries that worry the most about their birth rates are frequently the ones that tolerate immigrants the least; I always suspect xenophobia when I hear proposals like this. How prevalent is this in Sweden? What's the Kristdemokraterna policy on immigration? Is even all-day porn better to a conservative than letting in a bunch of [insert appropriate epithet there]? (I once heard a story about an Iranian expat [IIRC] who didn't find Sweden all that welcoming when he lived there: he'd be the last one seated in restaurants, for example.) This is not to tar the Swedes with the xenophobic brush -- no country is wholly virtuous there -- but to raise the point that when more procreation is touted as a political option, it's because more immigration isn't (jeez, aren't there enough people on the planet already?).

By: LittleMissCranky

LittleMissCranky — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 12:57:28 -0800

Alternatively, couldn't this plan exacerbate the population problem? I mean, when people are watching porn, are they usually having sex with other people? Couldn't we just have an entire country full of people locked in the bathrooms with their television sets?

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 13:01:02 -0800

Best. Christian politician. Ever.

By: jennak

jennak — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 13:29:24 -0800

Related: This porn policy was recently linked to in the Swedish elections thread. (I'm surpised, though, that nobody discussed the porn proposal.)

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 13:32:47 -0800

mcwetboy: Actually, Teres Kirpikli is from Turkey, originally. And Kristdemokraterna is not against immigration, so I don't think xenophobia is behind her suggestion.

By: donkeyschlong

donkeyschlong — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 13:46:47 -0800

in all fairness to sweden, i've never gotten much of a xenophobia vibe from it. i knew some middle eastern kids in college who hailed from sweden. no complaints. of course, they were wealthy and edumcated, but still.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 13:54:19 -0800

Sweden should immediately create a "Department of Poking Pinholes in Every Seventh Condom". This would solve the low birthrate problem and put more people to work. It's definitely a win-win situation.

By: nickmark

nickmark — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 14:26:29 -0800

"Sweden was one of the first countries to provide government assistance for birth control, which it did as early as the 1930s." And now look where it got 'em. Maybe if they can't broadcast it, they'll compromise on a porn subsidy?

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 14:38:24 -0800

Yeah, but don't forget Hon dansade en sommar (1951)! You can clearly see Ulla Jacobsson's nipple! (NSFW, I suppose)

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 14:57:04 -0800

Soundofsurbia, they lived in the northern parts of Sweden that's why I asked. As they did live in the country and some on farms. Thanks for the follow up, as I had seen Swedish porn, but who argues with a girlfriend. Also I can say that they were not prudish, none that I met. PS, thanks for a Swedish memory....Ulla.

By: luriete

luriete — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 15:14:53 -0800

May I be the first to welcome our new naked Swedish overlords.

By: RevGreg

RevGreg — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 15:22:42 -0800

Or maybe they could institute a Lebensborn program. Ooops! Godwin's Law! Thread over, man! Thread over!

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 15:31:03 -0800

the Swedish elections thread. the Swedish erections thread.

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 15:31:35 -0800

Sorry, but you have to get them to forget about birth control...

By: Dark Messiah

Dark Messiah — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 16:25:22 -0800

I'd like to note that Teres, who suggested this measure, is not supported by the Christian Democratic Movement. I read a more detailed article on this subject, and it's basically just her idea. I wish I had a damned link.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 16:50:28 -0800

Yumpin' Yiminy! Porn is for Yerkoffs!

By: G_Ask

G_Ask — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 16:52:32 -0800

mcwetboy, can't help but wonder if you're thinking of Norway? From english.pravda.ru/world, "From January through June 2002 the overall number of refugees arriving in Sweden has increased by 66% on the year, amounting to a total of 8,800. Many analysts believe this may be due to Sweden's being now part of the Shengan zone, refugee's ignorance of Swedish immigration laws, and the widespread misconception that Sweden is a liberal country as concerns refugees."

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 19:29:55 -0800

Sweden's faultering population At first I read this as some sort of strange pun, i.e. it is the Swedish people's fault that no one is getting pregnant. Then I realized it was just a misspelling. Still, if the government is truly concerned about the declining population all they really have to do is offer incentives. Give each couple a tax rebate of $1000 per child per year. That'll get them shagging like rabbits.

By: taz

taz — Thu, 19 Sep 2002 23:48:05 -0800

Kirpikli's proposal seems like some sort of political gambit designed to draw attention to herself. (Or else she's just a little bit silly.) I doubt that she really believes that an issue that the Swedish government has been struggling with for 70 years could easily be resolved if only the Swedish people were encouraged to muster up enough enthusiasm to copulate. Secret Life of Gravy is probably more on the mark, as it appears that the Swedish birth rate is more connected to social and economic issues. Over the years, the government has instituted a wide range of incentives, including generous parental labor benefits and public child care, and in times of economic expansion and optimism birth rates have increased. However, from an economic perspective, the tax burden imposed by Sweden's progressive social policy may also inadvertently serve to discourage higher birth rates. Whatever the reasons, the problem is probably more complex than a lack of sufficient stimulation.

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Fri, 20 Sep 2002 12:32:03 -0800

Give each couple a tax rebate of $1000 per child per year. That'll get them shagging like rabbits. Secretlifeofgravey, could Sweden afford this? As the children are given an allowance from the government.