Today an article turned up in a Swedish newspaper about a group of Christians taking confirmation (yes, that happens in Sweden) who normally went to Stockholm for their post-ritual celebration trip. But this year, because of the increased terror level in Stockholm, and very likely the increasing gang activity too, they decided to go abroad instead. To Oslo, a place where there famously is no violence at all and children never die in large numbers due to terror-related things. 

The terror level stuff, sure, that’s something to consider, I get it. But the thing about terror attacks is their unpredictability. Who would have guessed that a white Christian neo-nazi would slaughter dozens of kids in Oslo twelve years ago? Or that Swedish football fans would be murdered because of the jersey they were wearing in Belgium, of all places? Terrorism, by its nature, is extremely random. 

There’s also the current “violence wave” in Stockholm, which I’m sure came into their calculation. Yes, Stockholm has more murders, shootings and explosions that the confirmants’ little town, and the number’s been going up. That is undeniable. But it’s also a hundred, a thousand times bigger. The vast, vast majority of the people living here can go about their daily lives and never encounter any of it. Oh we HEAR about it, sure. If there’s one thing newspapers are good at, it’s spreading fear and worry. How about the million people who DIDN’T have the front door of their building taken out with a home-made explosive, or shots fired over their heads in a public place, eh? Nope, we never get a mention.

It reminds me of when I came to Sweden in the 90s. I was an English teacher at Berlitz, a private language school, and when I’d mention to students that I was from Ireland, they’d often go a little pale. “I would like to go,” they’d say, “but I am afraid of getting killed in the war.” I would stare at them. The war? What war? Oh right, they’re referring to Northern Ireland. A place, admittedly, where terror attacks occasionally happened, but also a place many hundred miles from where I grew up, that I basically never thought about in my day-to-day life (admittedly because I was too busy thinking of Strawberry Switchblade and Princess Leia in that gold bikini). That the fear of terrorists in Belfast would stop someone from going to, let’s say, Ballyhahill, I found really hard to grasp.

But just wait, because the current right-wing Swedish government got into power (with the support of a populist far-right party founded by and still containing neo-nazis) on the promise of “doing something about it”. And after one year in power, have they done something about it? Hahaha no. They’ve been far too busy cutting tax for the rich, slashing the budgets for culture and public education, making life harder for all immigrants, and burning to the ground Sweden’s progress in climate issues. They’ll need some time to get around to all the stuff they actually promised to do. Like, let’s say, another term or two. 

I’m not holding my breath.

So come to Stockholm, people. Yes. There’s crime, although hilariously less than other cities I’ve lived in. Criminals have guns, sure. There’s some terror, yes. But the chances of getting messily murdered are probably about equal to the current government caring about something apart from money and/or doing what they promised to do when getting people to elect them. Meaning, very low indeed.

/ Paddy