Pirate Parties: In one month, on May 25 at 20:00, the voting stations close for the European Elections. You’re never entitled to complain when media doesn’t cover you, but for some reason, the fifth-largest party out of Sweden’s eight – the Pirate Party – is consistently omitted from listings, events, debates, and coverage ahead of European Elections. For a challenger, this would be acceptable, but not for a defender of title: the pretend-does-not-exist attitude is reaching ridiculous levels.
Sweden has eight parties in the European Parliament, all of which are up for re-election in exactly one month. Of these, the Pirate Party is the fifth largest with two seats out of Sweden’s 20; three political parties are measurably smaller with just one seat. In a reasonable election, these eight parties – defenders of their respective title – would be treated fairly equally, with credible challengers given a go at pointing out the shortcomings of the title defenders.
Yesterday, the Svenska Dagbladet (“Swedish Daily Paper”) – as the name implies, one of Sweden’s largest daily newspapers – published their election assistant with 25 questions to assist people in choosing which party to vote for. Launched on April 25, with the European Elections one month out, on May 25 – perfect timing. There’s only one strange catch: you can’t get a recommendation to vote for the Pirate Party. As in, the party is not even in there. The other seven title-defending parties are, as well as one challenger. The election assistant is effectively saying that the Pirate Party does not exist, but all the other seven do.
Phi Beta Iota: The Nordics are normally among the most intelligent and honorable of nations and populations, but there has clearly been a sharp drop within Norway and Sweden — Denmark continues to shine and Finland is, as Finns are, quietly and reliably in the background. What Swedish media has done to the Pirate Party is a disgrace. It is starkly similar to what US media has done to the Constitution, Green, and Libertarian parties as well as Independents, in the USA. It is starkly similar to the reality that US media accepts posturing without substance from the two-party “controllers” of the public purse–two parties so irresponsible and greedy they agreed in 1980 to borrow one trillion dollars a year, every single year since then, to fund a government that is one half waste and one third insane (in clear violation of the public interest across all mission areas from agriculture to energy to health to water). We at Phi Beta Iota believe in the goodness of the public, the intelligence and integrity of the average citizen, and the absolute imperative of restoring public agency via non-violent means that are accompanied by a culture of truth and reconciliation. The “missing link” in the advance of civilization toward non-zero, ephemeralism, co-creation, co-intelligence, and sustainable practices is to be found in a mix of autonomous Internet, citzien-centric software, true cost economics, and public voice able to achieve aggregated effect.
See Also:
Autonomous Internet @ Phi Beta Iota
