I have found out that the Swedes have invented a new gender that neither is a he or a she, but “hen” *.  But what’s the gender of a clown? I’m a clown, but I don’t want to be a “hen”. The Swedes are liberating themselves from the difficulties of biology and instincts – and it’s there their utopia and possible haughtiness lies. It’s somehow beautiful that the Swedes have surrendered to the capitalistic blessed nature, but at the same time believe that it’s possible to transform the world by laws and regulations. The question is whether they’re lost? Whether or not their hen, their respect- fetishism and their ways of thinking of what and what not one should, get to their superego and becomes a nagging oppression that constantly threatens to explode from within. Under all circumstances the creation of the great all-embracing considerate state seems easy to shake. Maybe the future still belongs to Sweden because they have a dream, a vision of a new story of mankind.

* Hen: A gender-neutral personal pronoun in Swedish intended as an alternative to the gender-specific hon (“she”) and han (“he”). It can be used when the gender of a person is not known or when it is not desirable to specify them as either a “she” or “he”.

And I talked about the arms export:

Hi there, you with that look of paranoia, I shouted. If I were you, yes you, I would try the security branch. That’s where the money is. That’s thanks to the terrorists. They have created explosive growth in the security branch. That’s where you should invest if you want to get your money’s worth. You are a suspect. And you are a suspect. Everyone is a suspect. But there is still always someone who is more of a suspect than others. Shoot me down, I begged. It costs 20 crowns for three balls. It will finance the revolution and the possibility of a better life!

They wanted to eat ice cream in the sun, I talked about the state of the world:

We know that the situation is bad – worse than bad. It has gotten out of control. It’s as if everything has gotten out of control, so we don’t get out anymore. We stay at home, and the world we live in slowly becomes smaller, and all we say is: “At least leave us alone in our own home. Let me have my toaster and TV and diagonal tires, than I won’t say anything. Just leave us alone.” But I’m not going to leave anyone alone. I want you to get angry! I don’t want you to protest. I don’t want you to start a revolution – I don’t want you to write to some parliamentarian, because I have no idea what you should write. I don’t know what to do about depression or inflation or Russians or street violence. All I know is that first you have to get angry. You must say: I am A HUMAN BEING, damn it! My life is VALUABLE!” So now I want you to get up. I want you to get up from those chairs. I want you to get up now at once and go to the window. Open the window, put your head out and shout: “I’M PISSED OFF AND WON’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”

There’s been a violent attack in IKEA. The police won’t tell if the perpetrators are of another ethnic origin than Swedish. But it’s hard to keep such a secret, and it only leads to suspicion and increased anxiety. But that’s not what I want to talk about today. No, because Swedish Democrats have hung up posters on which they apologize to the tourists that they’re inevitable to meet begging gypsies stretching their fucking paper cup up against them and therefore disturb the polished and cleansed beauty of Stockholm. I sit in my cage in front of Dramaten, Ostermalm, the wealthy area, and watch the promenading business-fitness guys and dolls. They’re beautiful, their bodies are perfect and they’re hard to get to talk. But then a gypsy comes along. Her name is Christina. I tell her, that she can have all the money in the Provocateur-can, if she can shoot me down. I ask people to cheer for her, but they won’t. Not until I say “Christina believes that you’re racist, if you don’t cheer!” Then, people start cheering. Christina shoots me down amid great jubilation among the spectators. But I’m not done. I want Christina to apologize for making Stockholm an ugly experience for tourists. I want people to apologize to Christina. I want the tourists to apologize. I want everybody to apologize.

I was in Stockholm for two days. In a cage at Östermalm – where the rich live and where the fancy clubs and shops are located. From my spot in the cage I shouted at people, to get them to speak, make them confess, to see if I could be their psychiatrist just for a while – to see if I could scratch their polished surface.

I’m your garbage can, I shouted, your psychiatrist, your dark night. Talk to me!

I have been in Stockholm, Sweden, the beautiful country, the good country, the reasonable country, the polite country. Here there is room for everyone – no matter gender, sexuality, age, skin color. This is the reason why they want patches matching all skin colors of the world – no one must feel left out. No minority must feel as a minority. Here, all differences should be the same. That is why one has to neutralize – everything. And therefore I cannot sit here in my cage and comment on people’s gender, body, skin color, religion or racism. And there is a ton of words, I cannot use. Because the Swedes are inventing a whole new paranoid language. Like I care.

I’m on my way to Sweden. I’ve heard that their consumption exerts great pressure on the earth. Sweden often brags about its successful reduction of CO2 inside its borders.  Most Swedes don’t even know that their ecological footprint has increased, so that it is now up there amongst the worst top ten together with Saudi Arabia and the US. If everyone consumed as much as Swedes do we would need 3.7 planets. They buy too much, they eat too much meat, they travel abroad too much, they drive their big cars too much, they import too many things produced with coal in other countries.

In other words. I am on my way to Stockholm in Sweden to investigate how things are going with double standards? With freedom of speech? With tolerance? With racism? With xenophobia? With indifference? With alienation? With state terrorism? With democracy? With nationalism? With the market? With consumerism? With the people? With everyday racism? With globalization? With integration? With strategy? With counterstrategy? With value relativism? With economy? With principles? With cohesiveness? With willpower? In other words, how flexible is your capitalism Sweden?

The image is found at dn.se, and the blog post is written from the article ”Svenskarnas konsumtion pressar jorden allt hårdare”. The article is used artistically at theprovocateur.dk because it inspires to a public debate. If we happen to violate any copyrights you might have, please do not hesitate to make contact, and the post will be removed.

Theprovocateur.dk is not a commercial blog. The drive is to produce controversial, political and uncompromising performances using cross-aesthetic methods and displaying on diverse platforms in reflecting contemporary social topics and debate.

I’m on my way to Sweden. I’ve heard about Sweden being one of the world’s largest manufacturers and exporter of arms, while claiming to be one of its most peaceful countries.

Sweden often offers assistance in international conflicts through peacekeeping missions and foreign aid, at the same time as it exports military equipment to 26 countries. At least ten of these countries – among them Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Egypt – are considered to be unfree states that abuse human rights. When the Swedish government tore up a long-term arms trade agreement with the Saudis a few months ago, it caused a diplomatic crisis. Media and political opponents criticized the Minister for Foreign Affairs for her bad handling, i.e. for calling Saudi Arabia a dictatorship. Since then the d-word seems to be banned from the Swedish diplomatic vocabulary. But the basic issue – whether Sweden should export arms and military equipment to countries abusing human rights – remains unsolved.

In other words. I am on my way to Stockholm in Sweden to investigate how things are going with double standards? With freedom of speech? With tolerance? With racism? With xenophobia? With indifference? With alienation? With state terrorism? With democracy? With nationalism? With the market? With consumerism? With the people? With everyday racism? With globalization? With integration? With strategy? With counterstrategy? With value relativism? With economy? With principles? With cohesiveness? With willpower? In other words, how flexible is your capitalism Sweden?

The image is found at dagensarena.se, and the blog post is written from Four things you didn’t want to know about Swedish arms exports. The article is used artistically at theprovocateur.dk because it inspires to a public debate. If we happen to violate any copyrights you might have, please do not hesitate to make contact, and the post will be removed.

Theprovocateur.dk is not a commercial blog. The drive is to produce controversial, political and uncompromising performances using cross-aesthetic methods and displaying on diverse platforms in reflecting contemporary social topics and debate.

I’m on my way to Sweden, a country with a population obsessed with their own wellness and happiness on a frenzied quest for the perfect life. The recipe for happiness is more exercise, more yoga, more healthy food. They go about their wellness in a scientific manner, measuring everything from calorie intake, to miles run, to their own toilet habits. Visions of social change have fused to dreams of individual transformation. They seem to have stopped worrying about what goes on in society and in the world, concentrating on their bodies, their renovated homes and perfect kitchens. Do you feel that you ought to exercise more? Have you started counting your calorie intake in your sleep? Are you ashamed that you are not happier? Then maybe you suffer from what many Swedes suffer from – the wellness syndrome.

In other words. I am on my way to Stockholm in Sweden to investigate how things are going with double standards? With freedom of speech? With tolerance? With racism? With xenophobia? With indifference? With alienation? With state terrorism? With democracy? With nationalism? With the market? With consumerism? With the people? With everyday racism? With globalization? With integration? With strategy? With counterstrategy? With value relativism? With economy? With principles? With cohesiveness? With willpower? In other words, how flexible is your capitalism Sweden?

The image is at tv4.se, and the blog post is written from the book Wellnesssyndromet. The article is used artistically at theprovocateur.dk because it inspires to a public debate. If we happen to violate any copyrights you might have, please do not hesitate to make contact, and the post will be removed.

Theprovocateur.dk is not a commercial blog. The drive is to produce controversial, political and uncompromising performances using cross-aesthetic methods and displaying on diverse platforms in reflecting contemporary social topics and debate.

I’m on my way to Sweden. I’ve heard about the new working class, living in the shadowlands of affluent Swedes. They risk their lives coming to Europe from poverty and hopelessness. Many of them end up in Sweden hoping to find a job and a better life. They live in a shadowland, hidden from ordinary Swedes. They clean their food stores, restaurants and homes, take care of their old parents and sick relatives, and pack their vegetables and fruit. Living in constant fear of being sent back, and working extremely long hours for low salaries, doing the jobs the Swedes themselves shun. These dirt poor, paperless immigrants lacking basic rights constitute the new proletariat. The Swedes like the fact that the food and services they provide are cheap. But they also complain that foreigners come to their country to steal their jobs and exploit their precious welfare state.

In other words. I am on my way to Stockholm in Sweden to investigate how things are going with double standards? With freedom of speech? With tolerance? With racism? With xenophobia? With indifference? With alienation? With state terrorism? With democracy? With nationalism? With the market? With consumerism? With the people? With everyday racism? With globalization? With integration? With strategy? With counterstrategy? With value relativism? With economy? With principles? With cohesiveness? With willpower? In other words, how flexible is your capitalism Sweden?

The image is taken by the photographer Roger Turesson found at Dagens Nyheter Fokus, and the blog post is written from the article Skuggsamhället mitt ibland oss. The article is used artistically at theprovocateur.dk because it inspires to a public debate. If we happen to violate any copyrights you might have, please do not hesitate to make contact, and the post will be removed.

Theprovocateur.dk is not a commercial blog. The drive is to produce controversial, political and uncompromising performances using cross-aesthetic methods and displaying on diverse platforms in reflecting contemporary social topics and debate.