Stieg Larsson's Attack on Progressivism

Noomi Rapace,  
The Girl With Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson, author of the Lisbeth Salander trilogy, was a 'leading expert on anti-democratic, right-wing extremist and Nazi organizations', a prominent anti-racist and a supporter of the Communist Workers League (now the Socialist Party). He was, in other words, a well-known left-wing 'Progressive.'

I'm not holding this against him, I'm just stating the publicly available facts about this very talented, and deeply missed, author.

No, what I'm writing about today are how his writing exposes the failure of the progressive, paternalistic Swedish state; and by extension, of all nanny states, including the Governments of Canada and (soon) the United States.

Consider the character and actions of his heroine, Lisbeth Salander. She is the exact opposite of the conformist, socialist, defenceless people around her. In case after case she takes individual action to defend herself, to exact justice and to advance her career. She uses martial arts, a hammer, pepper spray, a Taser, a nail gun and a handgun at one time or another; all of which more closely resemble the actions of a member of the NRA than the Communist Workers League. She refuses to meekly accept her fate; she is John Wayne in a small, female, Goth body.

Indeed, it is because Salander is a self-actualized individual that she stands out against the grey, shuffling mass of victims in Swedish society generally. It is because she is a hero in the story that she has become a hero in real life.

We all wish we could be more independent, more self-directed, more in control of our lives even as the state demands bicycle helmets, less salt, no cell phones in cars, speed limits, boating licences, smoking bans, gun bans and on and on and on.

Why is the Larsson trilogy the second best selling book in the world? Because Salander represents a truly authentic individual beset by health care bureaucrats, the Soviet KGB, the police, the Swedish secret service and the meddling officials of the Swedish state. Larsson thought he was writing about individuals gone rogue, but in truth he was writing about Progressivism gone to extremes.

In a way, he realized that Communist authoritarianism is just as bad (or worse) than fascist totalitarianism, but he just couldn't bring himself to pin the tail on the left wing donkey. In Stieg's books, there are no bad leftists (at least in Sweden). There are also no bad trade unions (just corrupt businessmen) and no bad Muslim immigrants (just native-born [or Russian] psychopaths).

But the fact he doesn't actually say so doesn't matter; his heroine says so in her actions. She is Ayn Rand.

That's my main point; now a secondary point having to do with the law in Sweden relating to self-defence and the role of the police. In the third book, Larsson  has a former policewoman, Linder, describe why she left the force.

". . . when I was seventeen a close friend of mine was mugged and raped in a car by three utter bastards. I became a police officer because I thought, rather idealistically, that the police existed to prevent crimes like that.
   Well?
"I couldn't prevent shit. As a policewoman I invariably arrived on the scene after a crime had been committed. I couldn't cope with the arrogant lingo on the squad. And I soon found out that some crimes are never even investigated. . ."

This, of course, is the prime reason for Castle laws in the United States. This is the reason for concealed carry. This is the whole purpose of arming yourself to prevent a crime against yourself. What it is not, is official Progressive policy. Indeed, it is exactly opposite to the policies of the socialist state which Stieg Larsson so assiduously supported, and for which he hunted down Nazis under every bed.

His heroine realizes through bitter experience that personal responsibility is everyone's responsibility. She is a libertarian at heart, and so, in a way, Stieg Larsson must have been as well.

When an author has a character who's main philosophical stance is diametrically opposed to the one he publicly espouses for himself, we have a man fighting to let his true spirit be free.

I believe Lisbeth Salander is the real Stieg Larsson, and I applaud him for dressing up his inner views of politics and the world in such a vivid way.

Stieg, we miss you, and your alter ego.