Former US President Barack Obama was a guest on The Daily Show last Thursday.
The theme during the conversation was democracy.
The host Trevor Noah noted that a large part of the world’s countries are not democracies, and asked Obama why he thinks the development looks the way it does.
The ex-president reasoned about globalization, and believed that it leads to inequality.
He believes that in many places you are now seeing a “backlash” due to the rapid development, which makes it easy to say that the problems are due to someone else – to immigrants, Obama said.
Here he suddenly brought up Sweden, as a country that has become less homogeneous.
– So, you just got a right-wing party in Sweden. We always used to think: Swedes, they’re funny, they’re so relaxed and democratic, aren’t they? But if there are a lot of immigrants, then suddenly people start to get nervous.
Must get a “shared story”
The ex-president continued:
– Part of what I think we have to do is stick to the principles of equality, self-determination and representation, that everyone gets a seat at the table. But I think we also need to find a language and a story, a way to tell how we can come together. Which doesn’t threaten people who are uncomfortable with change as much. And it will be different for different countries.
Later, when Trevor Noah asked if Obama sees “inclusive capitalism as a kind of paradox,” Obama chose to mention Sweden again:
– I brought up Sweden and some of the problems they have in the past due to immigration. And if you look at Scandinavian countries, they are capitalist, but work very well.
– People are taxed higher, and more common ownership. Right? But you still have a job, you get paid, and you don’t just walk into a store, take what you want, walk out, and say “See you, Sven!”.
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