March 11, 2017

"Sweden was ranked the best country in the world for women. That may come as a surprise to American conservatives..."

"... some of whom.... have argued in recent weeks that criminal hordes of Muslim immigrants have forced frightened Swedish women to barricade themselves at home. That Sweden had a temporary 'mansplaining' hotline last year — which women could call to report condescending instances of men explaining things to them that they already knew — may have helped matters. The United States was ranked 16th."

From "The Best Country in the World? Survey Says It’s Switzerland" in the NYT.

66 comments:

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

American sucks. Tell your friends.

DKWalser said...

I don't think many conservatives would be surprised by the results of the survey. They'd most likely dismiss it based on the credible reports that Sweden's government actively discourages any criticism of their muslim immigrants and refugees. (It's a hate crime to do so.) Conservatives might also argue such surveys have as much validity as having Iran serve on the UN's Human Rights council.

rhhardin said...

"That's rape in Sweden."

- joking remark standard in other countries for any interaction with a woman

Anonymous said...

"...polled more than 21,000 people described by organizers as business leaders, informed elites and general citizens.”

"General citizens". Hmmm.

You know what would really improve my quality of life? Having a government-sponsored mansplaining hotline available. That's the sort of thing I'm really looking for when I'm weighing quality of life.

Gordon Scott said...

Of course! Just think of all the single men who have arrived in the last two years.

Scott said...

In terms of the female suicide rate, Sweden is 48th highest, compared to the United States, which is 61st. But the overall rate is higher in the United States, because U.S. men are more inclined to kill themselves than Swedish men.

So if suicide is an objective measure of quality of life (or lack therof), Swedish women have a lower quality of life than American women.

Nyamujal said...

"The survey was conducted after the 2016 United States presidential election and polled more than 21,000 people described by organizers as “business leaders, informed elites and general citizens.” "

Well, that says it all doesn't it.

Scott said...

(Suicide rate link, from Wikipedia.)

Anonymous said...

Second AprilApple @7:04 PM. This country sucks! Don't come! Especially where I live. It's horrible! Stay away!

Ambrose said...

Of course it was. OK, next....

Bob Ellison said...

It cannot be pointed out often enough, I say here deliberately in passive voice, that Sweden is a country of fewer than ten million people. Fewer people there than North Carolina.

I wanna hear about Sweden's woman issues like I wanna hear about Ohio's position on Belgium's craptastic beer.

stever said...

People vote with their feet. NYT is doing 'click bait'. I'm unsurprised at the findings.

Thuglawlibrarian said...

Two bombings in 24 hours in Sweden - Stockholm and Gothenburg. I'm sure the NYT can blame it on Trump.

Freeman Hunt said...

Specific to the poll on the best country for women:

"The ranking was based on how survey respondents viewed a country’s position on human rights, gender equality, income equality, safety and overall progressive attitude."

I polled one woman, me, on what ranking was the worst for women, and 100% of my respondent said the worst was any ranking that claimed to be about women but only used the word "women" to legitimize some other concealed thing.

Friedrich Engels' Barber said...

Sources: NYT, US News, say no more.

Lewis Wetzel said...

The NY Times gets dumber all the time.
This is an NY Times story about a US News listicle.
The people who are polled to get the results are not residents of the countries they are ranking. It's fake news: it appears to be giving you information, but it isn't, really. I wonder what the best country for men would be. The "survey" doesn't bother to tell us. Saudi Arabia, I suppose.

bleh said...

"That Sweden had a temporary 'mansplaining' hotline last year — which women could call to report condescending instances of men explaining things to them that they already knew — may have helped matters."

And women wonder why some men might not take them as seriously as they would like.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tds said...

is there a survey that ranks countries best for men? If not, isn't it sexism?

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rob said...

Look, there are more than a dozen countries that are better than the U.S., and there are a heap of folks crossing our border who are looking for a great country to live in. At far less cost than our border enforcement, we could fix these good people up with airplane tickets. And those other fine countries get an influx of people eager to work. Win-win-win, you know what I'm saying?

Tommy Duncan said...

I like Switzerland. It is a clean, orderly country with a relatively homogeneous population. The people are largely responsible and industrious and many speak English. IIRC, 18 year old men spend a year in the military. Most homes have at least one gun. The Alps are fabulous. It is easy to find German, French and Italian food. Taxes are pretty high, but the government is relative efficient and has a local orientation. The overall cost of living is fairly high, but the standard of living is also high. Did I mention that the Alps are fabulous?

mockturtle said...

I'm sure Switzerland IS the best country in the world for those who can afford to live there.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Most homes have at least one gun."

They're simply not trying.

Bob Loblaw said...

...polled more than 21,000 people described by organizers as business leaders, informed elites and general citizens.

Oh look! The people who live in well-patrolled, upscale communities feel safe. I guess that's the end of the discussion.

Bob Loblaw said...

I like Switzerland.

I do too, but even the Swiss can't afford to live there.

Sebastian said...

"American sucks. Tell your friends." And all those poor, hapless refugees from Yemen, all those wannabe illegals from Guatemala--they just don't know what hellhole awaits them. All those progs encouraging them to come, when they know better--it's just political malpractice.

robinintn said...

Sweden? Or Switzerland?

William said...

Ther are a lot of tall, leggy blondes in Sweden. Some of them look like Ann-Margaret. Of course, the women there are treated well. If women here looked like Ann-Margaret, they would also be treated with every courtesy and consideration.

William said...

My only point of reference to Sweden is Ingmar Bergman films. Things must have really improved since Scenes From A Marriage.

mockturtle said...

According to the Göteborgs-Posten, reporting on the latest bombing, adds that "Since Mr. Trump made his intervention last month, there have been grenade attacks in Stockholm and Malmö, shootings and riots in the “No Go Zone” of Rinkeby in Stockholm, a nd ambulance workers demanding “military” defence so they can enter the area."

'Since Trump made his intervention last month'?? WTF?

JackWayne said...

Yet, if we had a contest of those who wanted to move with the winner getting to pick the place, how many think that winner would pick Switzerland?

Fritz said...

I strongly urge all feminists to illegally emigrate to Sweden post haste.

Mary Beth said...

The whole list

I am obviously not an informed elite because I don't understand how the UAE can be ranked first for best place to study abroad but get a zero on "cares about human rights". I also imagine that the experience of a male visiting student would be vastly different from a female one.

Freeman Hunt said...

welas asih, stop trying to convince us that your country is the best for women. Your criteria are much too narrow. They might even put some women off.

traditionalguy said...

Switzerland was Berchtesgaten South where they shipped the Europe's stolen gold for storage and then no one came back to claim it say the Swiss.

Fernandinande said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

They rank the countries using the Method of Stereotypes

A set of 65 country attributes – terms that can be used to describe a country and that are also relevant to the success of a modern nation – were identified. Attributes by nation were presented in a survey of more than 21,000 people from across the globe. Participants assessed how closely they associated an attribute with a nation.

Each country was scored on each of the 65 country attributes based on a collection of individual survey responses. The more a country was perceived to exemplify a certain characteristic in relation to the average, the higher that country’s attribute score and vice versa.

John henry said...

Dual citizen Ramos, of Univision, has declared that since President Trump has been threatening mass deportations, Mexicans are scared to come here illegally.

He thinks that is a bad thing.

He has as much sense as God gave a billygoat.

John Henry

John henry said...

Didn't Germany recently issue a travel warning for Germans not to go to Sweden? To much danger from Swedish Lutherans. Or someone.

John Henry

Crimso said...

“No Go Zone”

So everything was great until Trump opened his mouth. Even then, it's still a great place for women. As long as they stay out of certain areas.

I would argue the very existence of "no go zones" should move a country to the bottom of any such list, regardless of any other factors.

n.n said...

Rape-rape capital following the progressive nation of South Africa.

I wonder if their constitution also establishes institutional [class] diversity including racism and sexism, and abortion rites, as the highest law of the land.

n.n said...

Mexicans are scared to come here illegally

Half of emigration reform. Positive progress. Let's see if Mexico has the moral courage to confront the causes of mass emigration.

Virgil Hilts said...

Tim Pool took up an offer to fund a reporter going through the bad parts of Sweden. His twitter posts / videos / interviews over the last month have been interesting. https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/839612693137014784
Pool sees himself as a new type of journalist and I think his reporting on Sweden is probably better than anything that has (or at this point could) come out of any of the mainstream papers in the U.S.

Big Mike said...

@John Henry, why yes they did. I guess the business leaders and informed elites don't read German.

Guildofcannonballs said...

"Let's see if Mexico has the moral courage to confront the causes of mass emigration."

White man's greed is the only cause I am aware of of mass emigration from Mexico, although the fact emigrants are not being murdered wholesale when leaving we can credit to the humanely superior Aztec and/or Mayan cultures.

How could any American have feelings or attitudes about America comparable to those found inside and out of Mexico by current or former Mexicans, or any other countrymen of any other country? Americans like to see themselves as exceptional, which is going to require Americans hate their history peculiarly due to its violence against women or minorities and other reasons too, hence we don't deserve a border, law, prosperity, or the Green Bay Packers.

buwaya said...

Welas Asih is a bit repetitive, but he raises points that would not otherwise be addressed.

Guildofcannonballs said...

It would be interesting to compare how citizens ranked themselves based on what they presume is the correct response indoctrinated compared to how an intelligent method using standardized metrics of wealth/safety/freedom/etc. might track the spirit of the age independent of mass anecdotal responses among a selected, or localized, sample. Most interesting would be to compare and contrast over time two independent long-term studies using distinct methodologies consistently.

In any event, I hope America can protect the Swedes from themselves if barbarians on a whim, or with centuries of bloody conquests to attest to their warrior mentality, decide to erase the entire Swedish culture from history. I don't give a gnat's ass about the Swedes themselves, any more than I care about any other foreigners, but as carriers of the historic culture I or people I care about may someday be able to benefit from preventing their suicide mission of complete erasure. Think of it like this: were I to happen upon a fence while on a hiking trail, I wouldn't destroy the fence because I couldn't instantly understand all the reasons it was erected in the first place and the likely repercussions of its removal.

Caution must be extended that any of the suicidal impulses that led (hypothetically) to Sweden's destruction or near destruction will be concentrated out of any survivors; mortal sin territory.

wwww said...


Been to Stockholm on business. The office had mechanical ergonomic desks overlooking the water. No shit.

And it was national cinnamon bun day. Free cinnamon buns at the hotel and at the office. Espresso & wifi on the train to the airport.

There's worse places in the world, for sure. The cinnamon buns could hurt if watching one's weight.

In Sweden it's paid leave for more then a year, so of course women are happy. She gets to hang out with her baby for more then 450 days. That's for each child, so if a woman has 3 kids, she gets a LOT of paid time off. And the state sends every family $$ each each month for each kid.

wholelottasplainin said...

Guildofcannonballs said...
"Let's see if Mexico has the moral courage to confront the causes of mass emigration."

White man's greed is the only cause I am aware of of mass emigration from Mexico,

***************
Yeah, that's it. Democrats' desire for millions of voters dependent on them has nothing to do with it. It's just "white man's greed".

Face it, you're a moron.

Clyde said...

So other than the skyrocketing crime rate, especially rape, Sweden's a great place for women. Riiiiiiiight.

West Texas Intermediate Crude said...

Scott, re high suicide rate in Swedish women-
I checked the crosstabs.
Women who committed suicide were underrepresented in the sample.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Well, Farrakhan just said that America is the worst country on earth, so that pretty much settles it.

tim maguire said...

Denmark fell off the top of the list? Sounds like they need more pressure to pretend that they're happy.

GWash said...

the u.s. is slipping past the third world in almost every category except 'choice' big whoop... why are you surprised with this gang of thieves in control...
there is nothing that approaches facts and truth with these people and i include many of the ideologues on this blog... it's not only that 'up is down', 'yes is no' but that maybe up and down, yes and no don't even exist.. maybe, but you can't prove it and logic no longer exists so you can't prove it.. we are so screwed right now...

AllenS said...

GWash said...
the u.s. is slipping past the third world in almost every category

I'm, not sure if you've been paying attention for all of these years, but the more that third world people enter the US, the more this country looks like the third world, and all of their problems.

mandrewa said...

I'd like to second the recommendation of Tim Pool's vlog posts of his visit to Sweden on google. I've been enjoying watching thsse over the last week or so. I recommend watching them in the sequence they were made.

I like what Pool is doing. It may show a path to a better kind of journalism, especially if you're conservative and have issues with the integrity of the mainstream media.

Right away it became clear to me that I had some misunderstandings. For example what Swedes meant by "no-go zones" was vastly different than what I would have guessed.

The best part for me is listening to people talk, which Pool lets people do, and reading between the lines and starting to guess what the real issues are. This is something that standard journalism just doesn't convey because it is so subjective. Different people are going to perceive it differently. But this subjective stuff, where your own values matter so much as to what you hear, is actually maybe most of the story.

EdwdLny said...

" why are you surprised with this gang of thieves in control... " Where the hell have you been for the last eight years ?

PB said...

"That may come as a surprise to American Conservatives" - What an arrogant, biased, bigoted statement by a self-styled "elite"! Better to point out a problem that ignore it claiming a few eggs have to be broken to make an omelet.

mockturtle said...

n.n. muses: Let's see if Mexico has the moral courage to confront the causes of mass emigration.

Why would they want to???

From CNS News: "Mexico is the fourth largest recipient of all cash transfers – known as remittances – worldwide, according to the Congressional Research Service. A survey by Inter-American Dialogue of remittances to Mexico found that a majority, 67 percent in 2013, were sent by “undocumented” individuals living in the U.S.

stlcdr said...

EuroWeenies and progressives are free with the admonishments when people proudly stand up and talk about the greatness of USA, and progsplain how we are all equal...then go ahead and grade countries on whatever measurement makes the US last.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Missing from survey:
..best country for men
..best country for blacks
..best country for disabled
..best country for transexuals
..best country for redheads

Seeing Red said...

The best country in the world has conscription?


Lololol

Fernandinande said...

robinintn said...
Sweden? Or Switzerland?


I finally have those two figured out, but still working on the difference between Austria and Australia, other than "al".

Michael K said...

"if a woman has 3 kids, she gets a LOT of paid time off. And the state sends every family $$ each each month for each kid. "

Even if one of the kids is the result of a rape by a "south Asian" man.

What's not to love ?

Jupiter said...

"The United States dropped to No. 7. Survey respondents gave it lower marks on business friendliness, respect for human rights and democracy, and educational quality; they also said they had less desire to visit the country."

What is interesting about this study is not what it says about the nations in question, which is nothing. It is what it says about the New York Times. First of all, most of the people surveyed have never been to most of the countries they are asked to rate. But they have probably read about them in the New York Times. So, it looks like the Times has been poor-mouthing the good old USA. Maybe Carlos should move them to Switzerland.

Then there is the fact that the "reporter", one Liam Stack, is apparently so stupid he does not even realize that he is reporting on the impact of his own propaganda. As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maroon!".