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The CEO of Mullvad is the main financer of the Swedish Örebro party

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Re: The CEO of Mullvad is the main financer of the Swedish Örebro party

#611

Post by notahacker »

wasfgwp wrote: post #594
devindotcom wrote: post #297

I understand Mullvad has historically been a leader in privacy among the big VPN options. What are some other equally affordable and user friendly options that you all have been satisfied with? Think for someone who saw Mullvad advertised during the Super Bowl but looking to leave because of this news.

By any chance are you using any Apple products and are you a supporter of Donald Trump? Because if the answer is yes and no singling out Mullvad seems be rather hypocritical? Based on his actions Tim Apple openly is an ardent supporter of Trump. So effectively everyone here who has a MacBook was supporting a company run by by a pro MAGA ceo... Of course greed and corruption might be considered a mitigating factor by…

Without wishing to defend Tim Cook at all, there is a difference between a corporation donating to an incumbent government that seems unusually receptive to bribes (including to be left alone) and an individual CEO being the main financial backer of a local fringe far right party he wants to make a national force, presumably because of his enthusiastic support for their policies which include the 'remigration' of citizens deemed excessively brown...

Re: The CEO of Mullvad is the main financer of the Swedish Örebro party

#612

Post by dbingham »

Auracle wrote: post #505
yreg wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Doesn't really sound all that far-right to me. To me too, then I got to the leaders quote on TV: "We must deport these damn parasites who sit and live at our expense." Yeah, okay. I know some politicians who speak like that, I feel I get the picture.

I think you'd be surprised at how quickly that sentiment has moved from the far-right to close to the center. People are (rightly, in my opinion) pretty upset at their governments for letting mass migration happen with pretty much only downsides for their actual citizens. People are all about the idea of helping the downtrodden when it's just an ideal, but when they realize it's having negative consequences for them…

No. That sentiment didn't "move toward the center".

What happened is that the far-right -- and, lets not use euphemisms like "the far right" here, we're talking about fascists and literal Nazis (ethno-fascism is Nazism) -- have successfully taken control of much of our mass media. They've also more or less captured the government of one of the world's super powers. Those two things put together have allowed them to make their views appear mainstream.

This is exactly what happened during the 1920s and 1930s prior to World War II. And similarly, you were finding Nazi views expressed openly and proudly and being given a veneer of respectability. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_Nazi_rally_at_Madison_Squ...)

But they are no less extreme now than they were then. They are still fascist and Nazi views. And they still ought to be abhorrent to anyone who considers themselves a decent human being.

Re: The CEO of Mullvad is the main financer of the Swedish Örebro party

#613

Post by dnlzro »

fsmedberg wrote: post #541
yreg wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Doesn't really sound all that far-right to me. To me too, then I got to the leaders quote on TV: "We must deport these damn parasites who sit and live at our expense." Yeah, okay. I know some politicians who speak like that, I feel I get the picture.

I think it’s quite important to understand in what context that have been said. The ”parasites” are immigrants that have not integrated, entire families and generations living off welfare and the ethnic group basically have a super high unemployment rate of maybe 50% or more. I’ve listened a lot to talks from the party leader of Örebropartiet, and while I think he would benefit from slowing himself down, yell and ins…

It's possible to support all of the same policies without referring to human beings as "parasites," and I don't think we should be flippant about what language is used. It's relevant. It reflects a state of mind.

I personally do not ever see myself voting for (or otherwise indirectly supporting) a politician that speaks like that, regardless of whether you can steelman it with more neutral language.

Re: The CEO of Mullvad is the main financer of the Swedish Örebro party

#614

Post by toxik »

onraglanroad wrote: post #511
0xbadcafebee wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The party has also been described as both right-wing populist and left-wing populist as well as left-conservative." Well that clears things up

Fascists always incude left wing policies to try to appeal to the "working man". There's a reason the Nazis included "socialist" in their name. It's not because they give a crap about the plebs.

[flagged]

Re: The CEO of Mullvad is the main financer of the Swedish Örebro party

#615

Post by yunnpp »

devindotcom wrote: post #438
seethishat wrote: post #402

I pay for and use Mullvad VPN. I believe they value everyone's privacy and I believe they are competent technologists. I don't care about politics. I will continue to buy and use Mullvad VPN.

you value privacy, but you don't think privacy is a political topic? VPNs, encryption, and other privacy tools are regularly under attack or protected by legislation and policy that is actively debated and lobbied for. I think that you do care about politics, you just don't care about this particular topic or policy. That's your prerogative of course, but don't pretend you are wholly above the fray. I suspect if a co…

And what does that have to do with the guy leaning right? He runs a VPN. If you care about privacy, that should be sufficient to support it, his other opinions aside.

Re: The CEO of Mullvad is the main financer of the Swedish Örebro party

#616

Post by microgpt »

fsmedberg wrote: post #541
yreg wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Doesn't really sound all that far-right to me. To me too, then I got to the leaders quote on TV: "We must deport these damn parasites who sit and live at our expense." Yeah, okay. I know some politicians who speak like that, I feel I get the picture.

I think it’s quite important to understand in what context that have been said. The ”parasites” are immigrants that have not integrated, entire families and generations living off welfare and the ethnic group basically have a super high unemployment rate of maybe 50% or more. I’ve listened a lot to talks from the party leader of Örebropartiet, and while I think he would benefit from slowing himself down, yell and ins…

Isn't that what every politician who ended up doing an ethnic cleansing said?

Re: The CEO of Mullvad is the main financer of the Swedish Örebro party

#617

Post by iamnothere »

solid_fuel wrote: post #602
iamnothere wrote: post #482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Notice how these people almost never go after the management of major multinationals, or even places like car dealerships and real estate firms. It’s almost always companies and projects that are critical to freedom and privacy. That should tell you all you need to know.

I know people who don't eat at Chick-fil-a because the owners are homophobic and donate to right wing politicians all the time. I also know people who don't shop at Hobby Lobby because the owners are right-wing christian extremists who materially supported ISIS by illegally buying antiquities. Both of these have been extensively covered in the news. So no, it's not just companies that are "critical to freedom and pri…

Those are more mainstream activists and boycotts, I’m not talking about those people. Those campaigns are organized by larger groups, usually don’t focus on individuals, and often have the goal of a change in policy (rather than a change in leadership). I mean the kind of obnoxious ultra-left hyper-online sort who participates in this kind of campaign. Closely connected to the pro-doxing crowd who constantly cites Karl Popper as if it’s a new revelation to anyone at this point.

Re: The CEO of Mullvad is the main financer of the Swedish Örebro party

#619

Post by wasfgwp »

microgpt wrote: post #597
wasfgwp wrote: post #594

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By any chance are you using any Apple products and are you a supporter of Donald Trump? Because if the answer is yes and no singling out Mullvad seems be rather hypocritical? Based on his actions Tim Apple openly is an ardent supporter of Trump. So effectively everyone here who has a MacBook was supporting a company run by by a pro MAGA ceo... Of course greed and corruption might be considered a mitigating factor by…

[flagged]

I don’t remember Tim Apple or any other tech CEOs almost literally groveling at the feet of any other president besides Trump.

> They don't have to also be the main supporter of some ethnic cleansing party

True OTH that party is mostly inconsequential and has no direct power. Tech companies enabling and legitimizing MAGA by openly supporting the movement arguably results in way more damage on aggregate even if they are only financing through outright bribery.

Re: The CEO of Mullvad is the main financer of the Swedish Örebro party

#620

Post by [deleted] »

kfreds wrote: post #570
WhitneyLand wrote: post #509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fredrik, while acknowledging everything you said, the fact remains some of my money can end up empowering politics I find repugnant. If it were a small amount of money, it wouldn’t be an issue. If the politics at stake were less important, it wouldn’t be an issue. They’re not going to stop at immigration, look at other places in the world to see the future risk. Sorry, I was a paying and satisfied customer, and now I…

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm not defending his choice, but consider reading Daniel's rationale in the Flamman article. There's also his blog [1], which explains some of his views. I know he doesn't share all of Örebropartiets views, but I should let him provide that nuance. As I said in another comment, speaking for myself, I don’t like that he made this donation and I know this view is shared by many of my colleagues…

[deleted]
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