Barge in? It's no such thing, but certainly interject- intelligent interruptions are always welcome.
I'd actually forgotten the Swedish sterilisation thing - although they were by no means alone in this policy, Finland and Norway also had one, as well as Austria, Germany, Switzerland and (I think) France. It wasn't racism as such, however; it was designed to improve the 'genetic stock' of the country, so targeted mainly at prisoners, alcoholics, genetically disabled etc... I dare say such categories may have disproportionately included non-whites, but I don't believe they were the target per se.
[Also, they've compensated the victims, which is something].
I'm not completely convinced eugenics is wrong... I often think there are people who plainly should not be allowed to breed <w> But it is a policy with severe implications and huge ethical complications. Hopefully we'll never come to need it...
As for Hamsun - well, he's one (unpleasant-sounding) man: but his ideology has not really taken root, even in Sweden (which was politically relatively close - for a neutral - to the Nazis in WWII).
Also, the example of Finland - pro-Nazi in WWII - was mainly from the shared-enemy principle of the USSR, although at that time certainly fascism - generally with attendant racism - was at its prime in much of Europe.
Overall I figure I'm covered by my 'almost'. <g> |
