Posts Tagged ‘sweden’
We at USDemocrazy usually think of pirates as scruffy seafaring scoundrels sailing the seven seas in silly hats. So we were quite surprised to learn that Pirates now have their own political party in Sweden! (and it is not a Boarding party)
This came to our attention because these politically savy pirates are now members of the European Parliament.
But these aren’t your average pillage-loving pirates, these pirates are anti-pillage purists (say that 5 times fast)!
These pirates are against the pillaging of people’s privacy rights on the Internet. Their three platforms are “to fundamentally reform copyright law, get rid of the patent system, and ensure that citizens’ rights to privacy are respected”(CNET).
Being one of the 18 seats representing Sweden doesn’t seem like much now but wait! These pirates are one of many “green” or newer liberal parties taking the EU by storm. Countries like Germany, France, Italy, and Belgium were infested by these new parties in the recent elections (Washington Post). Well maybe not infested like bugs or anything but they did manage to creep into the Parliament.
Due to the REALLY low voter turnout (about 43.5 percent of 375 million eligible) the fringe parties of the political realm were in higher demand. There are two possible explanations:
“With strict proportional representation enforced by the EU, the fringes suddenly become accessible to voters who might otherwise vote for more conventional parties and candidates. And with incredibly low turnout, only the most committed of voters are casting their ballots – perhaps those who are committed to parties farther from the center than would be the case in national balloting.” FiveThirtyEight
In the end, we here at USDemocrazy are happy to see some pirates in power… silly hats and all. Arg ye matey!
