Sweden's faultering population.

September 19, 2002 12:09 PM

Sweden's faultering population. Sweden has a population problem and it's effecting the economy. One women has come up with a brilliant solution.
posted by Grod (24 comments total)

Hmm...
If Swedish babes can't get laid, I don't think porn is going to help.
posted by stevefromsparks at 12:13 PM on September 19, 2002

I've got a better solution...I'll happily donate my own personal time in helping to "sow the fields" so to speak.

I could do this on Saturdays, Sundays and most weeknights.

Swedish Bikini Team here I come!
posted by aaronscool at 12:17 PM on September 19, 2002

How 'bout adding X and Amyl Nitrate to the water? Oh wait ... that would probably ruin the economy when no one showed up for work anymore.
posted by donkeyschlong at 12:28 PM on September 19, 2002

I was told by my Sweedish friends that Playboy magazines are banned and porn is not legally made there either. This was ten years back. Any feed back, and skoal.........
posted by thomcatspike at 12:33 PM on September 19, 2002

Yeah! Teres Kirpikli's suggestion was one of the funniest things that happened during the election race. You mustn't forget that Kristdemokraterna (The Christian Democratic Party) is one of the most conservative parties we've got in this country. Chin-dropping stuff.

In related stories, a local politician in Piteå once proposed a total black out in early april so people would have sex, thus increasing Piteå's chances of becoming the town in which the first swedish baby of the millennium was born.

thomcatspike: What kind of swedish friends have you got? They seem to lie to you.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 12:40 PM on September 19, 2002

Or, you know, they could, like, let in more immigrants or something. The countries that worry the most about their birth rates are frequently the ones that tolerate immigrants the least; I always suspect xenophobia when I hear proposals like this. How prevalent is this in Sweden? What's the Kristdemokraterna policy on immigration? Is even all-day porn better to a conservative than letting in a bunch of [insert appropriate epithet there]?

(I once heard a story about an Iranian expat [IIRC] who didn't find Sweden all that welcoming when he lived there: he'd be the last one seated in restaurants, for example.)

This is not to tar the Swedes with the xenophobic brush -- no country is wholly virtuous there -- but to raise the point that when more procreation is touted as a political option, it's because more immigration isn't (jeez, aren't there enough people on the planet already?).
posted by mcwetboy at 12:54 PM on September 19, 2002

Alternatively, couldn't this plan exacerbate the population problem? I mean, when people are watching porn, are they usually having sex with other people? Couldn't we just have an entire country full of people locked in the bathrooms with their television sets?
posted by LittleMissCranky at 12:57 PM on September 19, 2002

Best. Christian politician. Ever.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:01 PM on September 19, 2002

Related: This porn policy was recently linked to in the Swedish elections thread. (I'm surpised, though, that nobody discussed the porn proposal.)
posted by jennak at 1:29 PM on September 19, 2002

mcwetboy: Actually, Teres Kirpikli is from Turkey, originally. And Kristdemokraterna is not against immigration, so I don't think xenophobia is behind her suggestion.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 1:32 PM on September 19, 2002

in all fairness to sweden, i've never gotten much of a xenophobia vibe from it. i knew some middle eastern kids in college who hailed from sweden. no complaints. of course, they were wealthy and edumcated, but still.
posted by donkeyschlong at 1:46 PM on September 19, 2002

Sweden should immediately create a "Department of Poking Pinholes in Every Seventh Condom". This would solve the low birthrate problem and put more people to work. It's definitely a win-win situation.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:54 PM on September 19, 2002

"Sweden was one of the first countries to provide government assistance for birth control, which it did as early as the 1930s." And now look where it got 'em. Maybe if they can't broadcast it, they'll compromise on a porn subsidy?
posted by nickmark at 2:26 PM on September 19, 2002

Yeah, but don't forget Hon dansade en sommar (1951)! You can clearly see Ulla Jacobsson's nipple! (NSFW, I suppose)
posted by soundofsuburbia at 2:38 PM on September 19, 2002

Soundofsurbia, they lived in the northern parts of Sweden that's why I asked. As they did live in the country and some on farms. Thanks for the follow up, as I had seen Swedish porn, but who argues with a girlfriend. Also I can say that they were not prudish, none that I met.
PS, thanks for a Swedish memory....Ulla.
posted by thomcatspike at 2:57 PM on September 19, 2002

Or maybe they could institute a Lebensborn program. Ooops! Godwin's Law! Thread over, man! Thread over!
posted by RevGreg at 3:22 PM on September 19, 2002

the Swedish elections thread.

the Swedish erections thread.
posted by ParisParamus at 3:31 PM on September 19, 2002

Sorry, but you have to get them to forget about birth control...
posted by ParisParamus at 3:31 PM on September 19, 2002

I'd like to note that Teres, who suggested this measure, is not supported by the Christian Democratic Movement. I read a more detailed article on this subject, and it's basically just her idea. I wish I had a damned link.
posted by Dark Messiah at 4:25 PM on September 19, 2002

Yumpin' Yiminy! Porn is for Yerkoffs!
posted by jonmc at 4:50 PM on September 19, 2002

mcwetboy, can't help but wonder if you're thinking of Norway?
From english.pravda.ru/world,
"From January through June 2002 the overall number of refugees arriving in Sweden has increased by 66% on the year, amounting to a total of 8,800. Many analysts believe this may be due to Sweden's being now part of the Shengan zone, refugee's ignorance of Swedish immigration laws, and the widespread misconception that Sweden is a liberal country as concerns refugees."
posted by G_Ask at 4:52 PM on September 19, 2002

Sweden's faultering population

At first I read this as some sort of strange pun, i.e. it is the Swedish people's fault that no one is getting pregnant. Then I realized it was just a misspelling.

Still, if the government is truly concerned about the declining population all they really have to do is offer incentives. Give each couple a tax rebate of $1000 per child per year. That'll get them shagging like rabbits.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:29 PM on September 19, 2002

Kirpikli's proposal seems like some sort of political gambit designed to draw attention to herself. (Or else she's just a little bit silly.) I doubt that she really believes that an issue that the Swedish government has been struggling with for 70 years could easily be resolved if only the Swedish people were encouraged to muster up enough enthusiasm to copulate.

Secret Life of Gravy is probably more on the mark, as it appears that the Swedish birth rate is more connected to social and economic issues. Over the years, the government has instituted a wide range of incentives, including generous parental labor benefits and public child care, and in times of economic expansion and optimism birth rates have increased. However, from an economic perspective, the tax burden imposed by Sweden's progressive social policy may also inadvertently serve to discourage higher birth rates. Whatever the reasons, the problem is probably more complex than a lack of sufficient stimulation.
posted by taz at 11:48 PM on September 19, 2002

Give each couple a tax rebate of $1000 per child per year. That'll get them shagging like rabbits.

Secretlifeofgravey, could Sweden afford this? As the children are given an allowance from the government.
posted by thomcatspike at 12:32 PM on September 20, 2002