Brand XXX

The self proclaimed capital of Capitalism goes to elections next month and I cannot but help to analyze the paradox faced by the country which has conditioned its citizens to the frivolousness of its own capitalistic thinking.

The campaign holds up the “sleaziest brand” of the century and comes up with the most mundane media strategy of creating controversies through “sex lies and videotape” to generate eyeballs (television ratings) and social media discussions. For the lack of any creative energy the communication strategy is a straightforward repetition for an “easy sleazy” brand recall. And in spite of such a nagging media presence when the going gets tough and the brand begins to feel insecure it creates the most childish diversion through a two pronged defense strategy of “counter malice” and a “continuous whine”. Not to mention the constant interruptions, but then like I mentioned earlier this is a part of the capitalistic upbringing. 

Now, now let’s not get carried away under the wave of capitalism and attribute some credit to the public for checking on the brand’s quality. We use the most modern technologies to analyze the performance of such an “X rated brand” and Voilà, it’s not a surprise, the brand is being talked about not just in the political world but across all the segments, entertainment world, news channels, corporate world, academia, social media and even the Tupperware parties. Now this is what a majority of marketing campaigns aspire, any publicity is favorable to no publicity. So, with a marketing mindset if a “Brand XXX” is so much talked about, even if unfavorably, a percentage of users are willing to give it a try, if nothing maybe just out of curiosity. And, the statistics are much higher than you and I would like to believe.

In fact, many marketeers will agree with me that an appalling number of companies have made a fortune selling sub-standard products like the 'wonder-mop' that don’t work in reality but have been sold in large numbers through such a repetitive and/or controversy driven campaigns. In a capitalistic world money needs to circulate, the more the companies make people spend, the better the country’s economy performs.

This is United States of America’s moment of truth as the citizens vote their new brand of leadership, the outcome of these elections will tell us how the majority of Americans think. Are they conditioned to think like the "Capitalistic Brand Rhetoric" that I have outlined above or do they have the depth of reason and are able to see through that they are subjected to an extreme form of  "Media Sensationalism". I do hope for the latter. 

The Great Swedish Immigration

Sweden thrives to the image of being world’s ‘Moral Superpower’. That is probably the reason why the media here is very careful in reporting the dilemma and the near collapse of this ‘welfare state’ (IPC).  Since our move here nearly a decade ago, as work migrants I have noticed the changes in the landscape of the city of Malmo which is the largest entrance and a migrant port due to its location at the tip of south Sweden.

The Welfare system of the country is so generous that a registered refugee receives almost to the equivalent of 700 dollars monthly allowance, in addition to a neat accommodation in the growing Swedish ghettos. Moreover, Sweden takes in more refugees per capita than any other European country.  A majority of asylum seekers are from the war torn Middle-East and Africa which constitute about 16% of the population. However, during the recent Syrian crisis when the refugees were freely allowed to enter Sweden, it has been reported that less than half were actually from Syria and a majority were from Iraq and Afghanistan and even from countries which are not at war.

The latest statistics show that more than 20% of the total population in the country’s inhabitants has full or partial foreign background. The country is becoming so homogeneous that not only the words “immigrant” and “refugee” are blurry in it’s meaning but it is also feared that at this rate the Swedes themselves will become a minority in the next 10-15 yrs.

Such an idealistic state with porous borders is perhaps a great example in humanitarian terms. However, sustaining such high morals in mathematical numbers is bringing a collapse of the welfare system explains the economist Sanandaji. The welfare system is currently working on the phenomenal taxes the state collects from the employed. Nearly 58% of welfare payments go to immigrants. Whereas, the biggest employment gap in all of Europe exist in Sweden as nearly 48% of young immigrants are either unemployed or choose not to work. A majority of criminals charged with robbery, rape or murder are first or second generation immigrants. A country that prides itself in integrating these immigrants has clearly bit into more than it can chew. The crime in the country is on a rise, unaccounted refugees and unaccompanied refugee children are absconding, vandalism in the refugee ghettos is unmanageable and police and the authorities are short staffed to handle it all.

And yet somehow the nonchalant Swedes continue with their everyday routines without a hint of worry. Except perhaps that when we arrived nearly a decade ago, everyday discussions often revolved around the subject of fickle Swedish weather, these discussions are now often marred with the incidents of muggings and robberies. The irony is that on one hand Sweden welcomes asylum seekers to soak up the country’s welfare benefits and on the other hand tax payers like us have trouble in getting visas for visiting family members.

In 2014, Danish historian prophetically remarked in the book "Farliga Ord” (Dangerous Words), that the economic breakdown of a nation always happens quickly and unexpectedly:

"If there is any lesson to be drawn from history, it is that what you do not think will happen, does. Time and again. The final consequence of the West and, above all, Sweden's immigration policy is that the economy will collapse because who is going to pay for it all? 

And economic breakdowns, once they happen, always happen very fast.”