Why did fascism fail in Scandinavia whereas eugenics made notable progress? Some background info.

"Scandinavian fascism, to judge by electoral records, met with limited success. Fascist and Nazi parties never polled more than two percent of the vote in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish interwar elections respectively. Why did extreme right-wing parties do so poorly in Scandinavia?

In a comparative European perspective the right-wing failure in Scandinavia is surprising. Many of the conceivable determinants of Continental fascism were also present in the Scandinavian countries. Denmark, Sweden and Norway in particular were hard hit by the Great Depression: unemployment was just as high in Denmark and Norway as in Germany and Finland, neighboring countries where fascism gained momentum; and the agricultural sector in Scandinavia had been beset with difficulties ever since the recession of the early twenties. Common to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden was also the multiparty system with its built-in problems of ensuring stable and lasting coalition cabinets."

Ulf Lindstrom, Fascism in Scandinavia: 1920-1940 (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1985), p.1

Scandinavia has a long tradition of participation in gouvernment. Their viking ancestors already worked somewhat democratic (I forget the details here). I guess it's just too alien a concept for them.

- "Scandinavia has a long tradition of participation in gouvernment. Their viking ancestors already worked somewhat democratic (I forget the details here). I guess it's just too alien a concept for them."


I am sorry to inform you, (as a Finn myself) but the Finnish immigrants in America were the most likely ethnic group (besides Jews) to be involved in Socialism or Communism:


"Many Finnish immigrant women had come to America on their own, to work in boarding houses or as domestic servants. Their independence and self-reliance was nurtured back home in Finland. Women in Finland had been the first in the world to win full voting rights and citizenship in 1909, 11 years before American women won the right to vote. In this country, Finnish immigrant women were active in the suffrage movement. In Duluth, they tried to organize a union of domestic workers and published a daily radical feminist newspaper.

"Not all Finns were radicals, of course. Some were deeply religious and socially conservative - the so-called White Finns. But it was the radical or Red Finns who drew the most attention. Finnish immigrants were the first in the nation to found a foreign-language group of the American Socialist Party. Finntown in Virginia had a three-story brick building known as the Socialist Opera. By one estimate, a third of the Finns on the Iron Range in 1913 were socialists. In the 1930s, 40 percent of the total membership of the American communist party nationwide came from one small immigrant group - the Finns. Gus Hall, the longtime head of the American Communist party, came from a Finnish farmstead on the Iron Range. "

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199706/10_losurem_finnpoor/finnpoor2.htm


Also, Finnish nationalists waged a bloody civil war against Finnish Communists in 1918, and I can honestly tell you that Jews had nothing to do with that one. The Finnish Communist movement was an almost completely independent phenomenon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Civil_War


Petr

Mannerheim was a great man.

I believe the Vikings did have a system that, while not exactly democratic, allowed group decision-making.

But the Finns weren't Vikings, were they? The Vikings were out of Sweden and Denmark?

- "But the Finns weren't Vikings, were they? The Vikings were out of Sweden and Denmark?"


Finns are culturally close to Sweden (having been Sweden's colony for centuries), certainly closer than to Russia. Think of it as a kind of gentler version of a relationship between England and Ireland.

Besides, there is a Swedish-speaking minority of about 10 % living in Finland.


Petr

Finns are culturally close to Sweden

Don't put yourself down...

- "Don't put yourself down..."

Quite frankly, if someone's going to tell me to put down my neighbors, it's not going to be some Yankee neocon dolt.


Petr

- "Don't put yourself down..."

Quite frankly, if someone's going to tell me to put down my neighbors, it's not going to be some Yankee neocon dolt.


Petr
hear hear

Quite frankly, if someone's going to tell me to put down my neighbors, it's not going to be some Yankee neocon dolt.

hear hear

Please do try and remember, despite the very disappointing re-election of the Bush administration and the constant yammering the very loud and pushy neo-cons, not every American hates Europe. Just last night, I was listening to the radio at work while assisting a female customer (who gave every indication of being an educated, prosperous woman, i.e. the sort of American most likely to hold Europe in high regard, irrespective of political ideology). The bigoted neo-con idiot (who's show had just started, else it wouldn't have been on at all) began some lame, repetitive tirade comparing an individual member of Congress he didn't care for to the entire French nation. I turned the radio off and committed a customer service faux pas by actually using a cussword, by saying to her "I am so tired of people talking shit about the French!" She just laughed in a way that could only be interpreted as her expressing hearty approval. I didn't know her, but took a chance, and my workplace vulgarity and anger in defense of Europe were most welcome.

Neo-cons are a very small portion of the American population. The only reason Bush was re-elected is because so many people with no knowledge of politics, history and geography were stampeded by their fears and exploitative neo-con lies into voting for him. Bush got 51% of the vote, and 44% of the people believe Saddam Hussein aided Al-Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks. You can safely bet virtually that entire 44% voted for Bush. if these people had been properly educated in the government schools, I doubt Bush would have won, and the neo-cons would be soon forgotten as the vile failures they have already proven themselves to be (albeit only those with enough knowledge to be able to recognize the nature of their evil and failed policies are so far able to discern them, unfortunately).

Most Americans still rightly perceive western Europe as our most imporant allies.

The only reason Bush was re-elected is because so many people with no knowledge of politics, history and geography were stampeded by their fears and exploitative neo-con lies into voting for him. Bush got 51% of the vote, and 44% of the people believe Saddam Hussein aided Al-Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks. You can safely bet virtually that entire 44% voted for Bush. if these people had been properly educated in the government schools, I doubt Bush would have won, and the neo-cons would be soon forgotten as the vile failures they have already proven themselves to be (albeit only those with enough knowledge to be able to recognize the nature of their evil and failed policies are so far able to discern them, unfortunately).

Most Americans still rightly perceive western Europe as our most imporant allies.

I think it is accurate to say that Bush was re-elected because the Republican party was able to convince people in the midwest and south that God wanted them to vote for him, or because Bush "protects us from terror".

Don't get this the wrong way, but I'm beginning to doubt that. That heartland (bible belt) seems too stupid to comprehend, from what I see and read of it here. of course, I have no firsthand knowledge of that.

Gee I think the heartlanders have it pretty good, most of it is still almost all white, cost of living and taxes are low and people can still make a good living doing blue collar jobs.

I think the Blue State city slickers( of which I am one unfortunately) just like to feel snobby and superior even though the "hicks" live better. Now to be sure there is some inbred trailer trash among them...

Don't get this the wrong way, but I'm beginning to doubt that. That heartland (bible belt) seems too stupid to comprehend, from what I see and read of it here. of course, I have no firsthand knowledge of that.I disagree. That really isn't the impression I get at all. IMO these people go out and vote for the Republicans en masse because they think the leftists and the Democratic Party look down on them.