As the world is approaching yet another episode of “late 20s”, few things seem to go in the right direction. The similarities with our last one, the 1920s, are feeling increasingly stark, which doesn’t ignite much confidence in the time to come. However, for most, classic day-to-day life still continues. On the 26th of April, Studentafton hosted four of the people who have helped Sweden shape its 20s so far: Stefan Löfven, Farah Abadi and Olof Lundh, in a conversation moderated by Christopher Garplind.
Are we really headed towards our downfall? Or has it, in the form of the Covid pandemic, already been here?
The mix is a quite interesting one. Stefan Löfven, who for seven years could be called Sweden’s most powerful person, Farah Abadi, TV host and media personality, Olof Lundh, sports journalist, and Christopher Garplind, the public service darling. However, while they differ greatly from each other, the gap between them and the audience might be even wider. It is in many ways this gap that makes their positive attitude towards the pandemic so refreshing. While their lives are not without hardship, for the guests on the stage, the pandemic simply did not turn life around in the way it did for most. It did not bring with it a fear of losing one’s job, and for most of them, not even a need for isolating at home. TV and radio continued airing during the pandemic, and the prime minister’s office kept open. Farah tells us she can even miss the days of the pandemic, and the much simpler lifestyle it brought with it. Most of all, she misses not having to go to, or organize, any children’s birthday parties. The ones who seem to have taken it the worst are Christopher Garplind and, understandably, Stefan Löfven. Not only did Löfven have to work around the clock, a prime minister trying to guide his country towards the suddenly very uncertain future – he was also caught breaking his own recommendation of avoiding crowded places as he visited a shopping mall during Christmas time. Although Löfven had to endure heavy criticism at the time, when asked if he regrets his action, seems to take it all quite lightly: “It is what it is”.
As the group begins to leave the pandemic behind, comes the inevitable time where Cristopher has to turn the discussion to what is starting to become the very essence of the 2020s: Where is this world really heading, and how scared should we be? As multiple wars have both started and escalated, as famines are growing both in number and size, as democratic backsliding can be seen widely across the world and human rights are getting constantly picked on, it is becoming increasingly easy to view the state of the world as one of the worst ones yet. With this, Stefan Löfven agrees.
The classic “wars have always existed” is, according to Löfven, a heavy simplification. He points out the time following the cold war, where Russia was moving closer to NATO, and the world was seeing drastic democratization. Although he means increased polarization and a move away from democratic ideals could be seen also back then, he emphasizes that the amazing growth of such ideas was never inevitable. It did not have to end up like this. Olof Lundh chimes in, talking about the incredibly dangerous, but not as visible, democratic backsliding. Regarding the US, he puts words on what many have been feeling: It is scary to see how a democracy can be torn down so quickly, and so brutally. One thing all four of them can fully agree on: If nothing else changes, Donald Trump is going to run for president a third time.
The night does however provide many laughs as well, usually brought on by Garplind’s sharp wit and lack of filter. When Christopher calls Stefan out on being a homewrecker, to which Stefan Löfven confidently responds “yes, exactly”, or when he gives Olof Lundh his stamp of approval since he, after all, is one of few channel 4-personalities who haven’t bought sex, both audience and guests are given a break from the otherwise quite heavy discussion.
Studentafton’s jubilee night ends on a somber note. The consensus: The world is not headed in the right direction. Garplind was not alone in looking forward to the roaring twenties, and not alone in feeling let down. Yet, not all hope is lost, as it so rarely is during discussions like these. To Olof’s delight, football is back after the pandemic, Christopher is enjoying not being in his 20s (and feels remorse for all of us in the audience who are), Stefan is leading the European social democrats and Farah is hoping AI will take over all tedious work, leaving humans to enjoy everything creative and fun. After all, the 20s still have a long way to go until Löfven would consider going out and getting shit faced.
