Battleangel

Did you know that in Sweden, student union ( “studentkår” ) membership is mandatory for all students? It’s pretty macabre when you think about it. If you don’t join da union (it’s like organized crime and Jimmy Hoffa’s teamsters practically) you lose all your financial aid, you can’t register any courses and you can’t do examinations.
Is this reasonable? No, of course not. And it’s beyond me why you should have to pay a membership fee to an organization that formally has got nothing to do with the studies. The unions are, as they themselves put it, here to look out for student rights and interests. Just like Jimmy Hoffa that is ..
Where would we be without the student unions? Probably better off, and saving 70 bucks every year in scornful fees.
Here is what I do not like. Because the membership is mandatory, you lose a powerful form of protest. I.e. you can’t threaten to leave because you just can’t. They can essentially sit around all day and eat muffins and there isn’t a single thing you can do about it (and don’t fucking use the standard argument that I should join the union board because I do no want to, I just want out, ok?!) And the most problematic issue is that you don’t benefit from being in this union. The only time you ever see those slippery union people is at the academic kickoff. Typically they heave beer, act like total assholes and walk around in stupid baggy clothes. No style and sophistication at all …

There is just no end to this! I went ballistic when I saw the payment form for this term. Even after all of this, these sniveling idiots have the guts to come crawling for contributions to the new and improved union building. Just so that they can spawn even more brainless idiots. It makes me nauseous.

And there is guidance to be found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 20:2 states that: “No one may be compelled to belong to an association”. Ha!

If you’re a Swedish university student I suggest you get your union ass over to this page for more information on how to fight the ongoing oppression.