10 Questions: Claes Borgström - Ombudsman for Equality (Sweden)

Who would you vote for as President of the World?
I don’t think it’s the most important thing who the person is. I think the important thing is that she or he represents a movement aiming for democracy, that she or he has a platform to stand on. So I could take a person like Winnie the Pooh for instance who is a nice person and who wants everybody’s wellbeing.

Can terrorism destroy democracy?
No, terrorism itself cannot destroy democracy. It depends on how democratic societies respond to terrorism. If we leave behind the fundamental human rights when trying to stop terrorism, if we watch over or control citizens in a way that implies dictatorship, then democracy can destroy itself.

Who rules the world?
Well I think the question is what rules the world actually, and the answer is that it is the global financial world that decides who is to be poor or to be rich. You can see the difference between the western world or the rich world and the poor world and you can see differences within each society. So in a way you can say we have to have some relation to economics because we have it all the time everywhere. The task for democracy is to stop the worst financial situations happening and still there is much to do.

Are women more democratic than men?
Not as human beings, of course not. But women have another history, other social positions, other experiences than men, and I think women are more for working together in collectives and they have more feeling for solidarity because of their history and situation and in that sense women can bring much to the development of democracies all over the world.

Is God more democratic?
If there is a God or something that we call God, and this – not person but force – is not democratic, then I would not like to call it God.

Is democracy good for everyone?
You will see that in all democracies minorities are oppressed so in that sense you could say it’s not enough with democracy – still people suffer, still people are oppressed. But I think democracy is one thing you need to have in order to create a situation where all people can live their lives the way they want.

What would make you start a revolution?
Actually I’m already part of a revolution. I am head of a governmental authority working for equality between women and men and real equality between them – that means quite a different society than we can see anywhere in history or today. So in a way you could say this is already a movement trying to achieve equality.

Are dictators ever good?
Of course dictators can make decisions which are good for people – building roads or hospitals, etc. But the concept of dictatorship can never be good because it means that one person or a couple of people decide themselves without taking any notice of what people really want so the concept is evil I would say.

Can democracy solve climate change?
It cannot solve it. You can see that today most of the states and nations in the world would be described as democracies and that is obviously not enough but once again it is a prerogative to have the possibility to change the climate situation. And once again if all poor people, people in countries which suffer more form the changes in the climate would vote and make their voices heard, then we could see a change also in this area.