S approaching SD's goal of inhumane asylum policyInstead, we need generous, regulated and humane immigration & work for everyone at their respective levels – without unhealthy pressure.
Report shows that immigration is a benefit to society
Tony Johansson's report from Katalys shows that immigration is not a socio-economic cost but a benefit. An inhumane asylum policy causes harm. So-called cost calculations show redistribution rather than actual expenditure. Immigration creates growth, strengthens welfare and counteracts labor shortages. The refugee crisis led to increased employment, not collapse. Sweden benefits from immigration both in the short and long term.
Immigration must be based on healthy competition
Red Justice has long advocated a generous, regulated and humane immigration. But we also see how the neoliberal power over the state plays off low-performing Swedes against immigrants, often via unhealthy interpretations of intersectionalism: the less white you are, the harder you are said to work. It becomes an inhumane asylum policy. Then certain groups of natives become something the government is reluctant to hire, especially if they are low-educated, disabled as well as learned and/or progressively critical of power. This is how power makes the people compete downwards and The Sweden Democrats are growing. At the same time productivity growth is falling when the state pushes too hard, low-paid work for more people. We say no to division. Immigration works best in a society with strong labor law, generous social insurance, Keynesian stimulus and MMT. That's when everyone can win – not just the elite. We should still have generous immigration, but we must also work for healthy working conditions.
Statistics and damned lies
Unemployment statistics can hide underemployment within certain groups, such as the low-educated, people with disabilities, people on part-time sick leave, part-time retired men, and certain professional groups such as journalists and museum employees.
📌 Definition of employed according to Statistics Sweden
According to Statistics Sweden (SCB), a person is considered employed if they have worked at least one hour during the reference week in an income-generating activity, or have been temporarily absent from such work. This means that even people with very limited working hours are classified as employed in the statistics.
Source: https://www.scb.se/contentassets/ac53f37b2f04463fb37eba3f428794b3/am0401_2022a01_sm_am110sm2202.pdf
📉 Underemployment among specific groups
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Low-educated men:
People with pre-secondary education generally have a lower employment rate and higher unemployment compared to those with higher education. -
People with disabilities:
Among people with disabilities that result in reduced work capacity, the employment rate is lower than in the rest of the population.
Source: https://www.scb.se/contentassets/d5d99b319ecb4bb6a16da34e83ecec23/am0503_2023a01_br_am80br2401.pdf -
Part-time sick leave and part-time pensioners:
People who are on part-time sick leave or have a part-time pension can be counted as employed if they work at least one hour per week, which can hide their actual work capacity and willingness to work more. -
Journalists and museum officials:
Although unemployment in these professions may be low according to statistics, there may be a high degree of underemployment in the form of part-time work, temporary employment or work outside one's own professional field.
🔗 Sources again for clarity
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Definition of employed according to Statistics Sweden:
https://www.scb.se/contentassets/ac53f37b2f04463fb37eba3f428794b3/am0401_2022a01_sm_am110sm2202.pdf -
Report on employment of people with disabilities:
https://www.scb.se/contentassets/d5d99b319ecb4bb6a16da34e83ecec23/am0503_2023a01_br_am80br2401.pdf
As far as I understand, unhealthy competition thrives primarily in all so-called contracting. That is, those who want something done, be it a company or a municipality, pass the responsibility on to someone else who then passes it on. And so the blame is placed further down the chain.
I don't know if it would work, but if the first in the chain has to take responsibility for everything that comes after, the contracts should be designed so that no one can get away with it. No matter how liberally influenced the first in the chain is.
What you write concerns the extremely unhealthy competition. But in the absence of Swedish culture, language and Swedish qualifications, immigrants often supplement this by working harder under minor protests. This breaks the chord both on the floor and in the administration. Very dangerous when they compete with power by working for stricter hierarchies.
Immigration and asylum are two different things. The largest immigration we have is from neighboring countries; it's about well-educated people who can move anywhere in their industry and often have a job when they arrive, and if they come from a Nordic country they are also likely to already understand the language.
Asylum is about people who have fled war and other disasters. They are not necessarily well educated, although some are. And if they are well educated, it is not certain that their education will be approved according to Swedish or EU rules. There, you also have to pay for vocational training in addition to language training.
So I suspect that spontaneous immigration is profitable but that asylum is questionable. That's probably why there are UN rules on asylum rights that I now suspect that even S wants to sit over. Just like they shit on the UN in all other contexts nowadays according to the principle "laid cards lie".
Asylum immigration in 2015 resulted in a surplus in the treasury despite austerity policies. Costs for SFI gave teachers salaries and students money to consume. More people and more purchasing power is always positive but more difficult to implement since neoliberalism succeeded. But even in neoliberalism, society and many native workers benefit, who get better jobs when refugees get worse. And even though a refugee requires seven years of education, this is less than what natives require (18-30 years) and refugee education contributes to employment and purchasing power for many involved. But it is important that the ideas of intersectionalism are not misused to allow weak native groups of the workforce to end up in exclusion.
Who cares about the state treasury…? Andersson, possibly, who thinks that the state should primarily profit. For the rest of us, it is the national economy that is important, plus of course our own economy. I am less sure about that.
In any case, immigration requires better organization than the current laissez-faire policy: https://www.ekonomifakta.se/sakomraden/arbetsmarknad/arbetsloshet/arbetsloshet-utrikes-fodda_1210645.html
And I wonder if we're not over-educating at all, see https://gemensam.wordpress.com/2021/08/12/ett-amatoristiskt-forslag-till-helt-ny-skolpolitik/Education is certainly an investment, but I have a feeling that it is an overinvestment that does not return what it costs by a long shot.
This article showed how Swedish employees are exposed to a double attack that will proletarianize themIt began with the attack on the workers in the 1990s and was complemented by the Knowledge Lift which enabled Reinfeldt to introduce his line of work.
Newly arrived immigrants apparently have significantly higher unemployment. After 7-9 years in the country significantly reduces unemployment among foreign-born people.
I also thought of another thing. Those who are disgusted by refugees rarely think about the responsibility of Europeans for what they are fleeing from.
Whether it's sudden disasters or just plain perpetual misery, the point is that Africa and West Asia have little industry and are therefore poor. It's only in industry that there are economies of scale, and that's the only thing that makes you rich.
And it is not only European colonialism that has hindered industrialization (the purpose of colonial policy was precisely this), but also, for example, WTO rules, which the US, EU and Japan forced through in the 90s. For example, that it is forbidden for a state to have an industrialization policy, that is what the "market" should decide.
I would like to ask the double standards within the mainstream parties how they intend to contribute to the industrialization of the countries people flee from, so that they don't have to flee there. I bet they will refer to the "market" as usual and wash their hands.
Agree with.
Good analysis Oskar about the consequences. We know that ends and means are reversed. Money is the goal for the financial elite. A negative process is generated that consumes people's working conditions and the capital of society and nature.
Instead, violent capital grows, which has led to geowar and flight. The market resembles the Fenris wolf that devours everything and is never satisfied.