I don’t know what the hell is going on in the Swedish government, but a lot of people are going to pay for it. Plot this curve, if you dare:
As of April 15th, 2020:
United States Population: 328,200,000
United States Trumpvirus Deaths: 26,333
0.08 deaths per 1000 people
First recorded case: January 15
Sweden Population: 10,230,000
Sweden Trumpvirus Deaths: 1,203
0.12 deaths per 1000 people
First recorded case: March 9
It’s just like the other 56 Heinz sauces and the other 408 formulas, right?
It does; just not her.
This is how professional wrestling works. The media loves this shit because they know that everyone on one side is going to go “Hell yeah, you tell them!” and everyone on the other side is going to scream and rant, and everyone on both sides will share and load ads and tune in. She may well know how the virus is named, but she wouldn’t care because this is how the game is played.
And how the game is won.
And no, none of your “trusted media outlets” are ever going to stop paying attention to her.
That’s the ironic tragedy.
Where there’s no sense, there’s no feel., as we used to say in elementary school.
Sweden decided to go the “herd immunity” or “isolation lite” route. This will not get better.
Filed under “People losing their damn minds”:
“A man was arrested after deputies say he threatened a mass shooting at Florida Publix store because “not enough people” were wearing masks outside during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article242023966.html
“We realize these are stressful times, but there is no excuse for making threats like this,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. “It’s not a joke. It’s not just a bad day. It’s a crime. We will ALWAYS take them seriously and you will go to jail.”
They could certainly do more, but how much? (I am definitely not an expert but…) Swedish law does not permit much in restrictions on people’s freedoms to travel and assemble. A lot of things will take a vote in parliament. Other things will be impossible because of constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. There are not really provisions for state of emergency type laws. I haven’t followed the situation closely enough in Sweden (where I no longer live) to know much about where these limits are.
Since there’s currently no shelter in place law or assembly ban it seems like that could be arranged…
There is no allowance for public health emergencies? I am aware tat most of those laws date back to the 19th century, but still, most countries have them on the books. (My heritage may be 25% Swedish, but I have no knowledge nor history with the country, so, really, no clue.)
No, the constitution was written between 1954 and 1974. (Building on earlier versions.) The overarching goal was to avoid a legal means towards dictatorship, or to facilitate moves towards dictatorship. (Hitler came to power legally…) So by design there are very few ways for the government to restrict the population. And even with a legislative vote, very few ways to impose restrictions. I have to look it up more to say more. Sorry!
I think a shelter in place law would be unconstitutional! This article seems to indicate it : (https://www.svt.se/nyheter/vetenskap/darfor-kan-sverige-inte-utfarda-utegangsforbud) in Swedish, sorry.
Translation of beginning:
Many countries have restricted their citizens’ freedom of movement as a result of the new corona virus. But there is no support in Swedish law to go completely in the footsteps of other countries.
Some restrictions have also been introduced in Sweden and legislative changes have been made to, for example, be able to close schools.
But the Swedish key words are still freedom under responsibility.
One explanation for this is found in our law system - our right to move is namely constitutionally protected.
Thus, a general curfew is not possible under Swedish law.
ETA:
More bits:
The Infection Protection Act can therefore limit freedom of movement if the purpose is to prevent the spread of an infection.
However, the Infection Protection Act is not clear about how large these areas can be allowed to be, says Titti Mattsson.
When the Public Health Agency’s lawyers investigated the possibility of measures based on the Infection Protection Act, they concluded that, in addition to being able to quarantine individuals, they can only block off smaller areas.
“It is probably a house, a school or similar,” says state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell.
So they can only designate a small area (house or school!) as infected in order to limit movement of people. So that doesn’t help much.
I really have to read up more on this!
Having been to Sweden a few times and having known some Swedes, it seems to me that if the government merely recommended social distancing and sheltering in place there would be a very high degree of compliance.
I realise that shutting the economy would require some law-making though.
We should probably take notes for moving forward after Trump.
A new constitution might be a bit of a heavy lift. Did Sweden do that as result of WWII? The country pre-existed the war and I assume they had a constitution prior, but I could very much be wrong about that.
Creating a new constitution because the old one wasn’t up to the task anymore is certainly a time-honored way to deal with things. cough Articles of Confederation cough
