Maria Schottenius: So refreshing when liberalism concerning human freedom, not the market

the Liberals have gycklande words that have a hard time choosing, and this fall and winter, they have had it worse than ever. If we rewinds a hundred years in time was folkpartisterna also cleaved, but not on the same grounds.

By Monica Lauritzens fascinating biography of Karl Warburg, litteraturforskaren which was heavily influenced Swedish cultural life, I have a period, kept in the time around the turn of the century. Warburg built up the Swedish Academy, the library was among all the other things, also a liberal politician, sitting in the City of Stockholm and fajtades loudly about the recent radical frihetsfrågor.

then saw the different.

the Liberals and the Socialists were together for democracy and against right-wing, which was opposed to the development of democracy with universal and equal suffrage. The farmers ' party was not particularly interested in democracy. They had other priorities. The industry, in particular.

the Liberals, in contrast, has a history that is all about individual rights and freedoms. A vital, theoretical movement, kulturradikal, strongly struggling against the conservative forces.

tells Monica Lauritzen, if a dawning Sweden, where everything seemed possible. Professor of aesthetics of literature and art history, belonged to a circle of creative and talented jewish vetenskapspersoner and artists. Henrik Schück, in which he wrote his literary history, together with, Martin Lamb, Oscar Levertin, Ernst Josephson, Hanna Pauli, Ernest Thiel, Otto Salomon and bokläggarfamiljen Bonnier, among others.

It seethed within cultural life. National romanticism with the new art, music, architecture and vurmen for the countryside and the old craftsmanship had oxygenated the public and created beauty in works of art and buildings. The modern breakthrough and kulturradikalismen enabled the thoughts about what a new kind of society could mean. The sciences of nature, history, literature and the arts was developed and the policy was linked to all of this. The popular movements bar up a great popular involvement. The temperance movement, the free church movement and the labor movement, which, despite the detours and spur to chose a peaceful path to democracy.

now the liberal party has gone to the right. Liberalism has been redefined to economic liberalism, not political liberalism, as the thing before. The shrinking of the Liberal profilfråga today is membership in Nato and more money to the defense. And the democrats want to continue to wear up a traditional welfare state, while a large part of their electorate is voting on a right want to get rid of immigrants. Far from Karl Warburgs, Ellen Keys and Hjalmar Hjalmar cool engagement where they thought so burning strong on education, on art and on the future.

It was then and as always partyförstörare. August Strindberg, for example. He made sure to be invited home to Betty and Karl Warburg on some of their lively dinners, and thanked him for the food by typing the ”Black banners” which professor Stenkåhl (Warburg), Zachris (Gustaf af Geijerstam), Hanna Pie (Ellen Key) with several, made a laughing stock.

and sowed the split. But no one denied that he wrote well. And in his fierce battle against Heidenstam had to take the position.

It feels as if everything were already there, we now manage and destroy. Two world wars came between them and a lot had faded.

Here we are in a new, frozen world where the development in the first place is about market and technology. The man himself is förtingligad, frightened and skuldbelagd. Especially if you do not belong to those who succeed.

the Turn of the century, so refreshing it was. And ended with the implementation of the democracy. Now, also, hold on to the wither.