Human Dignity After the Election – I Still Choose We

Human dignity matters. The door may not be open yet, but someone has put their hand on the handle.

Yesterday’s thoughts followed me into this morning. Thoughts about the election, human dignity, and that idea of us and them that I have carried with me throughout the election campaign.

🇸🇪 Svenska Människovärde efter valet – jag väljer ett vi

🇬🇧 English

The words were already there yesterday. Lots of them, actually. I simply didn’t have enough time to publish them.

I was busy working on my app, which I’m going to show to others today.

I can’t deny that I’m a little nervous. I’ve worked on it for a long time, and I can see the value in using it myself. But will others see it too?

Will it make sense to them?

Will they find it useful?

Or am I the only one who sees what I hope it can become?

I’m nervous, but at the same time I’m very curious to hear what they think.

And while I was working on the app, the election was there in the background too.

Election night. The result. The conversations.

And above all, a question I have carried with me throughout the entire election campaign:

How do we create a “we” without creating a new “them”?

Human dignity – first and foremost, we are human

The result wasn’t exactly something that made me want to cheer.

Not from my point of view, anyway.

But I still feel a little hope.

As if the door to a greater sense of community is still closed, but someone has at least dared to put their hand on the handle and press it down.

For me, it is about thinking we instead of them.

About seeing society as something we share, without pointing at entire groups of people as though they somehow don’t belong.

Because who among us really fits in everywhere, every single day?

We all contribute in different ways. By going to work when we can. By taking care of our children. By being there for others and doing what we need to do in everyday life.

Regardless of skin colour, religion or where we come from.

Yesterday, I cast my vote according to the values I want to live by.

For me, this election was very much about exactly that.

Not only politically.

But on a human level.

And to me, a person’s human dignity does not change because of where they come from or which God they believe in.

Is it really that easy to live on benefits?

During the election campaign, I heard many claims about people who come from other countries, about Muslims, benefits and unemployment.

I have read comments on Facebook where people write things like:

I might as well stop working and live on benefits.

That people can live well on benefits.

That it can almost be more worthwhile than working.

But is that really true?

I became curious and started looking at how it actually works.

Let’s imagine a completely fictional father with two children, aged eight and twelve. The children live with him every other week.

His rent is SEK 9,000 a month, and before becoming unemployed he earned SEK 30,000 a month before tax.

If he meets the requirements for the highest level of unemployment insurance, he can initially receive 80 per cent of his previous income.

In our example, that would be around SEK 24,000 before tax.

His income has already fallen.

He receives child allowance, but he received that while he was working too. If the parents share the child allowance for their two children, his share, including his part of the large-family supplement, is SEK 1,325 a month.

So this is not money he suddenly receives simply because he has become unemployed.

He may also be entitled to housing allowance. But this is means-tested and depends on factors including his income, housing costs and how much time the children live with him.

And if his financial situation becomes so difficult that he needs to apply for social assistance, that money is not simply added on top of all his other income either. The household’s financial situation and needs are assessed.

So it wasn’t quite that simple after all.

The rent still has to be paid.

The children still need food, clothes and shoes.

Electricity, insurance and phone bills don’t disappear because their father has become unemployed.

The children’s friends don’t stop having birthdays.

And the children’s lives don’t stop simply because their father has less money.

Perhaps that is exactly why I react when I read the words “I might as well stop working and live on benefits.”

Because behind the word benefits, there is a reality.

Free time – but is it really free?

What does it feel like for someone who has been unemployed for a long time and has very little money left each month?

What does it feel like when the oats are beginning to run out and there are still a few days until the next payment?

What does it feel like when you cannot afford to join in with what other people are doing?

When you cannot buy what your children need?

When you apply for job after job while hearing people talk about unemployment as though it were one long holiday?

Free time, perhaps.

But is time really free when it is filled with worry?

I don’t know what life is like for every person.

None of us does.

And perhaps that is exactly why we should be a little more careful with simple explanations.

The people I have met and their human dignity

I have worked with people who came to Sweden from other countries.

That is why I find it difficult when I hear people talk about “Muslims” or “immigrants” as though they were all the same kind of person.

It simply does not match the people I have met.

I have met people.

People who want to work, live their lives, take care of their children, laugh, eat dinner, pay their bills and feel safe.

I have met people who have been incredibly grateful for the opportunity to start again.

And people who carry experiences that I can barely imagine.

Some believe in Allah.

Others believe in Jesus.

Some do not believe in any God at all.

But first and foremost, we are human.

That is where my opposition to us and them comes from.

I don’t want a person’s religion, origin or financial situation to become the whole story of who that person is.

But my “we” must also include those who disagree with me

This may be the most difficult part for me.

Because I cannot write page after page about us and them and then create a new “them” out of everyone who thinks differently from me.

I need to be able to speak out against racism.

I need to speak out when people generalise about Muslims and immigrants.

I need to protest when entire groups are singled out as problems.

And I intend to keep doing that.

But the person in front of me must still be allowed to be a human being. Their human dignity does not disappear because we disagree.

That human dignity remains even when I cannot understand how that person thinks.

Otherwise, I am doing exactly what I say I don’t want to do.

I am creating a new them.

Between the lines – human dignity

Perhaps this is what I am really carrying with me from yesterday.

Behind the words are people.

Behind unemployed is a person.

Behind benefits recipient is a person.

Behind Muslim is a person.

Behind immigrant is a person.

And behind the ballot paper that I myself would never have chosen, there is also a person.

That does not mean I have to remain silent.

It does not mean I have to accept racism or generalisations.

Nor does it mean I have to believe that every opinion is equally good.

To me, it means something much simpler:

I still want to see the person.

That is my “we”.

Not a “we” where everyone thinks alike.

Not a “we” where everyone believes in the same God or comes from the same place.

But a “we” where we share a society and equal human dignity.

The door may still be closed.

But I think I have seen someone put their hand on the handle.

Perhaps it has even moved a little.

And I can influence my own small part of the world.

In my conversations.

In my work.

In the way I meet other people.

Here on the blog.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

And today, I still choose we.

Questions for you

What does we mean to you?

Have you ever noticed yourself starting to think in terms of us and them, even though you don’t really want to?

What do you think when you hear someone say, “You can just live on benefits”? Have you ever looked into what the finances can actually be like for someone who becomes unemployed?

Is it possible to stand firmly against racism and generalisations while still seeing the human being behind an opinion?

And perhaps the most difficult question:

Can our “we” also include those who disagree with us?

Read more on Malix.se

The thoughts in this post connect with things I have written about before:

When people become “us and them” – thoughts after yesterday’s debate

What kind of Sweden do we want? – Election Day 2026

Here I wrote before the election about my thoughts on the kind of society I want to be part of.

Advice to my younger self – don’t forget yourself

A more personal post about values, life and trying to remain true to yourself.

Would you like to keep reading?

On Malix.se, I write about everyday life, ADHD and neurodivergence, relationships, school, encounters with people, and the thoughts that appear in the middle of ordinary life.

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Today’s words to carry with you

Live today, right now.

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is the future.
But right now – this is where we live.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

Carina Ikonen Nilsson