Jenny’s Pennies

So, we’re in some kind of a backlash here in Sweden. A backlash of the majority, against the minorities who demand equal treatment, a voice and some damn respect.

You see, according to “ordinary people” (ordinary = male, white, heterosexual, Christian by birth but not church going), the demands of “special interest groups” has gone too far (special interest = female, non-white, non-Christian, non-heterosexual).

- Why is everyone so sensitive? (they whine). I believe that all people are equal and have equal value and equal rights. But feminists and queer activists and immigrants and all those special interest groups, they want more than equal rights. They want special rights! And I never offend anyone! But you know, you should really grow some thicker skin and stop whining so much. Being offended is the new black it seems. And I’m free of stereotypes! I have nothing against gays and Muslims as long as they mind their own business! Being called offensive really offends me!

Well, I’m sorry, but if you feel that discrimination and hate crime and prejudice and judgmental attitudes against people not like yourself are bad, if you really believe that all human beings have equal value and rights, then you need to wake up and smell the coffee: this does not only mean educating and changing the KKK members, Hitler follower, rapists and Talebans out there - it also means that you, yes you, have to give up your preferential right of interpretation and your privilege. And yes, it also applies to me, being a white, university educated middle class European.

It does not matter if you have twenty black friends, never knowingly have uttered a bigoted or homophobic remark, and are a nice ordinary human being - you can’t expect the fight for equal rights and against discrimination and prejudice to stop at your doorstep, because it makes you uncomfortable to be called out on your privilege and your prejudices. You tell “minorities” (who, added together, really are the majority. White Christian men are in no way “ordinary people” seen in a global perspective) to develop a thicker skin. Well if being asked to examine your own privilege and acknowledge that your interpretation of the world is not a universal truth offends you so much, then you need to grow a thicker skin.

(This post is going to be a lot more personal than I intended for this blog. But I feel it needs to be written, at least for the sake of my own sanity. I might take it down later. It is written in burning anger and through burning tears. /disclaimer)

I’m a failure.

You see, I am unemployed. There it is. Alright, I do some occasional freelance writing, but not as much as I like to pretend. I am a lazy parasite. A no-good spoiled rotten whiny double degree university grad.

And I am so fucking sick of it. I am so fucking sick of being the subject of other peoples misguided beliefs (”anybody can get a job. people are just lazy”), of their nose-in-the-air holier-than-thou letters to the editor, of their opinions page analysis (”people are just not employable enough”), of their debates and their “advice” (in the words of our minister of finance, to unemployed people within the field of natural science, you know, like cell biologists and quantum physicists: 1. apply for jobs 2. continue your education).

Have you updated your CV? Are you sure there are no typos? Are you sure there are no typos (and did you know that to be sure you can read it upside down!)? Did you let someone else read through it? Do you have any unexplained “gaps” in your CV? Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes - those gaps are called “life”, but in a world where everything, from choice of high school program to your Facebook profile, seems to be about being “employable”, I guess “life” isn’t a good enough explanation.

People tell me that I should just get any job (as if McDonald’s would hire a 28 year old with a degree in political science who knows her rights and will call bullshit when she sees it). They say that life shouldn’t just be about work, that I should say that nah, six years of university didn’t get me anywhere, but you know that you can have a fulfilling life outside for work, right?!
And did you know that by working at McDonald’s you can gain valuable experience that will be very useful when you apply for that job in public information or as an administrative official at some governmental body!
(As I said, I call bullshit when I see it.)

I am fucking sick of my friends telling me that it will work out. Sorry. I am sick of seeing people’s faces when we haven’t met in a while, and I tell them that, nope still no job. I am sick of hearing “Really!? But you are so talented! I don’t understand it!” I am sick of hearing that most people get a job after 3-4 months. Especially people like me. People with an education, people who have access to the language, the social skills, the capacity. Well I haven’t, apparently.

So I must be a failure.
But whining and ranting like this won’t get me anywhere! No, I must start calling employers (or stop calling employers, depending on whose advice you listen to), and purge my CV of all things irrelevant for the job in question (but then there will be gaps! and there can be no gaps!), and work at a telemarketing job to show future employers that I am willing to work (but they really only look at relevant experience) and I must immediately delete this post cause who would want to hire such a person, she will only complain and will probably leave after a while cause you know, she’s 28 and married so she’ll have kids soon anyway.

Fuck off.
(To hypothetical future employers out there: that was not directed at you.)

One of the things that truly makes my blood boil, is when people say:

“I think [x], but you are not allowed to say that in Sweden.”

x usually = “gays are unnatural and shouldn’t be allowed to marry/have children/show affection in public”
or
“muslims shouldn’t be allowed to build mosques in Sweden, we are a Christian country”
or
“we have too many immigrants here, we can’t save the whole world”
or
“a woman’s place is a as a nurturer and caregiver to children, equality has gone too far”
or
…well, you get the idea.

First of all, you just said it, that thing that you are “not allowed to say”. And you have newspapers, and churches, and organizations, and marches, and websites, and political parties, and TV-channels, and letters to the editor that say exactly that, that thing that you are “not allowed to say”.
(I could provide links for all of those, but I refuse to give them any traffic. And I don’t want to ruin a perfectly nice Friday evening by having to look at their vile and hateful stuff. But if you’re curious, there’s www.info14.com, www.nd.se, www.varldenidag.se, www.patriot.nu, www.livetsord.se, www.bibeltemplet.net, www…. and so on.)

So don’t tell me you’re “not allowed” to believe what you believe. Don’t tell me you’re some kind of martyr in the struggle against “political correctness”. Don’t tell me you’re oppressed.

Arguing against you is not stifling your freedom of speech. Saying that you are wrong is not stifling your freedom of speech.
Neither is pointing out your misinformation, your logical fallacies, your straw-men arguments, and your blatant lies.
Freedom of speech does not mean that you can speak uncontradicted and unchallenged.

PS. That goes for the comments section here as well (if there ever will be any). DS.