Best articles: International NEWS 1912 September 2020 THE WEEKCoughs thatkilled ourgrandparentsAftonbladet
(Stockholm)Covid-19 has takenadisastrous tollonSweden’selderlypopulation, saysAnders Li ndberg. Nearly
6,000peoplehave died fromitsofar, andabout halfofthe victims have beenresidents ofnurs ing
homes.Why?Becausethelow-skilled, low-wageworkers whotake care of ourgrandparents
coughed and sneezedall over the homes, “infecting both the elderlyandmoreoftheir co-workers”.
It’s notthe workers’ fault.“We made them go towork ill. If they wanted to pay theirrent and afford
foodfor their kids,that is.” Much of theworld believesSwedenis aworkers’ paradise.In fact, our
sick-leavepolicies la gfar behind much of the EU.Basic unemployment paymentsare se tlow to
encouragepeople tostay atwork.And thefirstday ofsickleave ,the “qualifyingday”, is unpaid.
Low-wageworkers can’taffordtolose aday’s pay, and hourly workersdon’tqualifyfor sick leave
at all. If they callins ick, not onlydo they notget paid that day, theyalso don’tgetscheduled for
any othershiftsthatweek. Thegovernment suspendedthequalif yingday ruleas thepandemic
intensified,butlawmakersshouldabolish it altogether. Treating workers badly is makingussick.Voltaire is not
the hero we
think he is
Foreign Policy
(Washington)
InJune,amidtheBlackLivesMatterprotests,PresidentMacronpledgedthatFrancewouldnot
remove asingle statuefromthecolonialera:they were partof its heritage.Andwhenastatueof
VoltaireinPariswasremovedlast month,manyon bothleftandrightwere outraged, saysNabila
Ramdani.Thestatuehad,it seems,onlybeenremoved inorderto clean itafterit was sprayed with
red paintbyprotesters. Even so,manyfound the idea ofsymbolicallyvictimisingVoltaire–the
Enlightenmentphilosopherwhosewritings helpedinspiretheFrench Revolution –intolerable. But
it’s timeforthemtothink again. Voltaire was sprayedbecauseheinvested in the slave trade. Far
worse,he was also an “unapologeticracist” and“obsessi ve anti-Semite”, whowrote thatAfricans
were “animals” with “littleor no intelligence”, andthatitwas the“destiny”ofJews, surpassing
all nations in barbarism,tobe“punished”.Suchwrit ings were agreat inspirationtoHitler. His
“advocacy ofbiologicalracism andwhitesupremacy still offer justificationtoall kindsof
extremists”, including neo-Nazisandterrorists whoattack synagoguesand mosques.French intel-
lectuals are far too“complacent”aboutVoltaire.It’s high time France stopped “worshipping” him.Paul Rusesabagina,ahero of the Rwandan genocide, is facing chargesofterrorism andmurder,
says Jedrzej Winiecki. Stopping over at Dubaionhis wayback home to Belgium, he wasapparently
abducted with the helpofforeignpolice services,andthenparadedin handcuffs in theRwandan
capital, Kigali; his familysaythe accusations are fabricated. Rusesabagina wasthe managerof the
Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigaliduring themass killingsofethni cTutsisinspring1994. As por-
trayedinthe 2004filmHote lRwanda,heoffered more than 1,200 people sanctuary, bribingthe
killers to leave them alone.Hisheroism may have beenexaggerated–someofthose he shelteredsaid
he took money from them.What’s notindoubt is that he’san“implacable” criticofRwanda’s auto-
cratic rulerPaulKagame; andcritics tendtoend updead or in prison.Westerngove rnmentsarestill
too tolerant of Kagame, whotheyregard asadictator, but–because he hasachieved rapideconomic
growth andenforced progressivegenderand ecolog ical policies –an“enlightened” one. This case is
areminder that there’sno such thing. Kagame isa“classicexample” ofaformer liberation hero who
has becomeaviolentautocrat;who fought for freedom but is unwilling toshareitwithhis people.No,dictators
are never
“enlightened”
Polityka
(Warsaw)
SWEDENFRANCERWANDATwoweeksagoShinzoAbeabruptly
announcedhewouldretire,havingjust
surpassedhisgreat-uncleEisakuSato
asJapan’slongest-servingPM,said
TheJapanTimes(Tokyo).Abewas
forcedintoretirementbyillhealth–he
suffersfromchroniculcerativecolitis;
inhisresignationspeechheapologised
forhavingleftmuchundone.His
electionin 2012 broughtawelcome
stability,endingthe“revolvingdoor”of
primeministers,whohadchanged
everyyearsince 200 7;heledhis
LiberalDemocraticParty(LDP)tobig
winsinsixnationalelections.But
despitethis“rock-solidgriponpower”,
hisadministrationleavesathinlegacy.Abeset“onenewpolicy
agendaafteranother”–fromtacklingJapan’sshrinking
populationtoreclaimingtheislandsoffHokkaidoseizedby
RussiaaftertheSecondWorldWar–butachievedlittle.He
leavesofficewithhisapprovalratingsatanall-timelow,thanks
toanunpopularresponsetothepandemic,andthefailureofhis
signature“Abenomics”toreviveastagnanteconomy.Abenomicswassupposed tobanish the deflation and slow
growththat hasafflictedJapansincethe 1990 s, saidSwasti Rao
in TheIndianExpress(Mumbai) –withlavishpublicspending,
“hyper-easy”monetarypolicy,and structuraleconomicreforms.Corporationsandhedgefund
managersdidwell,butitputgreat
strainonpublicfinances–andmost
Japanesesawfewbenefits.Afragile
economicrecoveryhadalreadystalled
whenthecoronaviruscancelledthose
hard-wongains:theeconomyshrank
by 7 .8%inthesecondquarter.The“arroganceandcomplacency”
ofAbe’sgovernmenthas“deeply
damaged”Japan’sdemocracy,said
TheAsahiShimbun(Osaka).Itpushed
throughdivisivelaws,openingthedoor
toJapanesemilitaryactionabroad,and
threateningtheindependenceof
prosecutors.Powerwascentralised,and“virulentattacks”
werelaunchedonoppositionpoliticians.Abe’sruleencouraged
acultureofsubservience,ofsontaku–thepracticeofcarrying
outtheassumedwishesoftheleader.Inoneofseveralscandals,
afinanceministryofficialkilledhimselfafterapparentlybeing
coercedintocoveringupthe“dubious”saleofstate-ownedland
toafriendofAbe’swife.Yethislegacyismoreimpressivethan
his“gloomy”exitsuggests,saidTheEconomist(London).
Corporategovernancegreatly improvedon hiswatch;Japanese
women entered the workforce indroves; hetamedJapan’s over-
mightybureaucracy.Abe leavesunfinishedbusiness–butalso
“thetoolsto completethe job”.Abe:a“gloomy”exitThe mixed legacy of Japan’s longest-serving PM