As a Swiss Citizens, the European Union may look like a big intransparent political machine that decides from Brussel what European Citizens have to do and how strong a vacuum cleaner has to be. The different European institutions, such as…
Category: Continent
Laura’s Blog #13: Saying Goodbye
Meet Laura Fagerlund. Laura is a Vice President of IFLRY and a Council member of the Swedish Youth of Finland. She is currently living in South Africa, where she is doing an internship with the main opposition party, the Democratic…
Science and Society
We like to think that in a liberal democracy, decisions should be based on well-informed arguments and debate results, not on someone’s popularity, status or gut feelings. To enforce this ideal, and for some practical reasons as well, people ‘invented’…
Ida’s Blog #7: Happy New Year!
2020 – how weird and fantastic at the same time. I can’t wait to see what this year brings with it! I had a wonderful time in Finland, and in some ways it feels a bit sad to be back…
The Sliding Scale of Fascism and our Troubled Democracy
‘Hitler is finished, but the seeds spread by his disordered mind have firm roots in too many fanatical brains. It is easier to remove tyrants and destroy concentration camps than to kill the ideas that gave them birth and strength’.…
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Laura’s Blog #12: Power Cuts and Christmas in Summer
Meet Laura Fagerlund. Laura is a Vice President of IFLRY and a Council member of the Swedish Youth of Finland. She is currently living in South Africa, where she is doing an internship with the main opposition party, the Democratic…
Continue reading Laura’s Blog #12: Power Cuts and Christmas in Summer
One Step Forward And Five Backward: A New Indonesian Penal Code
Since the finalization of Indonesia’s new criminal bill, headlines like “Indonesia: Draft Criminal Code Disastrous for Rights”, “Indonesia protests over sex before marriage bill”, and “Indonesian couple fear pre-marital sex ban will make them criminals” have been the center of…
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Does Political Correctness Foster Tolerance?
Before I go on, I need to make something clear: I firmly believe that the biggest threat to liberal democracy, freedom of speech and tolerance of different ways of life, today, comes from nationalistic and alt-right reactionary movements. The fault…
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Riots in Chile: “ I feel safe, as long as I don’t go to social events”
230 people injured and 26 dead- this is the tragic reality after more than one months of protests in Chile. Since the 14th of October thousands of young people have been demonstrating in Santiago de Chile, the capital of the…
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Ida’s Blog #6: Merry Christmas!
It feels both wonderful and weird to be back home in Finland. Wonderful because I finally get to see my family and friends again. Weird because – in a strange way – it feels like I’ve been living in London…