Not Interesting to CSN ...

I got a letter from a debt collection demand.

Dear Sirs,
Ni ombedes komma med ett förslag till månadsvis nedbetalning
av detta ärende, de förslag som inkommit via mail från Er är
inte av intresse för CSN.

The pertinent part is, "de förslag som inkommit via mail från Er är inte av intresse för CSN." - The proposals given through mail from you are not interesting to CSN.

What exactly is CSN in Sweden? A Swedish girl I was half and half nearly dating (she has a rival whom I favour) saw my letter from the CSN and crossed two fingers in a gesture as if driving away a vampyre. Or the devil ("vade retro" seems to favour that interpretation).

So, I took a study loan, that was a stupid thing to do if I didn't known in advance I could pay, right, if I didn't have all of my carreer planned in advance, right? Because, for loans you give collaterals and guarantees and you make promises to a bank - I obviously broke mine, right?

Not true. In Sweden, getting a study loan was (perhaps still is) the single most usual way of financing university studies. And going to university was the single most common thing for me to do after the high school type and high school grades - literary baccalaureate and best grades in ten of the subjects. No highly personal daring involved.

I also needed to make no guarantees. As you may have guessed, CSN is not a normal bank. Oh no. It is a service run by the state. Centrala StudiestödsNämnden. Meaning : "nämnden" means "the committee", "studiestöd" means "study aid" (you add an -s in composites) - we'll come back to what that is - and "centrala" means, obviously, "central". They have one big office in Sundsvall, a city way North in Sweden. They do not ask for guarantees. They don't contact your parents or a trustee with a trust on your behalf. First time over, they ask, for instance (and in my case) if it is the first time you study at university and you have never taken their study aid before. And I needed to show a registration at the faculty proving I had started the studies for which I had applied for the study aid. Next time, you need to show you have done enough exams. If you can't show that, you can regain the right to study loan by a term (or two) without their study aid, and if you do enough exams, you get it back. Theoretically, this keeps you going up to phil. cand. or Masters, and then the system changes a bit (I don't know exactly how, but it does involve a need to take jobs) when you become a PhD student.

What is the study aid? It is a sum calculated so that full time study aid involves your ability to live (you can get extra study aid for rents) and study (it's supposed to be sufficient for the books and stationery). All of this without taking an extra job. If you do take an extra job, above a certain wage, you can lose the study loan. Because the study aid is one quarter study dole, three quarters study loan. This expenditure for CSN is financed partly by taxes and partly be reclaiming study loans. If you have support from your well to do parents or a job, you can also opt for study dole only, without the loan.

When was I at university? Autumn Term 1987 to Spring Term 1989 (I then did military service 89 to 90, finishing about when our major strategic threat was breaking up), Autumn Term 1990 to Spring Term 1992 without any hitch, then a question of possible vocation to monastic state and orders came between me and a normal continuation Autumn 1992. I left mid term, but the room I was subrenting, I was not allowed to leave my things there, so had to ask granny to take it. She was dying, she asked me to stay. I did, after the Novice Master gave approval to that. She was also poor. I had received no study aid Autumn 88 to Spring 89, she had supported my continued studies on her old age pension, this time I continued to receive study aid, including loan, for the rest of Autumn 92 and Spring Term 93, without actually studying, except one course quarter time which I failed. And perhaps failed for ideological reasons. You see, I was not OK with considering comparative philology was "pre-scientific" before Bopp and Grimm, and used part of the course material in support for "pre-scientific" Plato and Aristotle.

Whoever graded that exam did not like that. It was my one failed exam, except another which I re-did a few weeks (or a week or two) later, by re-writing the essay.

From 1993 to 2003 I was not studying. Part of the time was a failed job as a teacher, and two exhausting jobs, half paid by social services and by unemployment insurance (different ones for the two) as archivist.* Part of the time, I was without employment and read lots on my own, and part of that time, up to the second work as an archivist, I looked for jobs and got paid by social services for that - in my case and in Sweden, that was fairly pointless. The place I had come to as a teacher and where I had done my second

Spring Term 2003 I got back to studies on a heritage. Autumn Term 2003, I had earned back my right to get a study loan, and I got a study aid. I hesitated and sent in the application for Spring Term 2004 a bit late. I also got the reply late. This stopped me from getting a monthly bus ticket for February, which meant I couldn't in time document my resuming the studies, which meant I couldn't pay my part of the rent in an apartment rented by my mother. She had to give it up (she wasn't staying there) and I had two choices. Getting back to social aid (did I mention the two jobs at archives, ill paid, not too well respected by those actually regular there, no vacations for six months?) - or leaving Sweden for an adventure. I did the latter.

Some wanted to interpret this as getting back to a monastic vocation. I explicitly repudiated that interpretation. My course has been for married life since a letter from the novice master in 2000. This also means I need an income from a secular vocation. This is what I try to get by writing. And trying to get published. Or, since I am already self-published on internet, more precisely re-published.

Do I have an audience? Look at the numbers for 41 blogs in 7 last days (a few days ago), here (French country-names) :

France

1112 + 1527 + 141 + 35 + 1836 + 1 + 3 + 5 + 9 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 31 + 17 + 4 + 11 + 2108 = 6845

États-Unis

70 + 64 + 505 + 11 + 9 + 211 + 51 + 99 + 12 + 44 + 5 + 16 + 171 + 5 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 14 + 70 + 24 + 25 + 24 + 85 + 6 + 219 + 38 + 32 + 4 + 42 + 8 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 1888

Canada

6 + 1 + 137 + 118 + 181 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 101 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 555

Pays-Bas

1 + 6 + 1 + 1 + 80 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 3 + 6 + 2 + 4 + 1 + 1 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 10 + 6 + 8 + 3 + 6 = 165

Allemagne

1 + 1 + 8 + 3 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 1 + 6 + 8 + 4 + 11 + 10 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 83

Singapour

2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 48

Ukraine

3 + 2 + 1 + 6 + 32 = 44

Suède

1 + 3 + 3 + 17 + 1 + 3 = 28

Russie

3 + 2 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 8 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 27

Royaume-Uni

3 + 1 + 3 + 3 + 1 + 8 + 1 = 20

Portugal

1 + 4 + 2 + 8 + 2 = 17

Suisse

4 + 4 + 4 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 16

Roumanie

2 + 2 + 3 + 1 = 8

Pologne

2 + 3 + 2 = 7

Let's add up these first.

6845 + 1888 + 555 + 165 + 83 + 48 + 44 + 28 + 27 + 20 + 17 + 16 + 8 + 7 = 9751
9751 / 7 = 1393 per day.

Remainder?

6 * 4 = 24

Honduras, Turquie, Thaïlande, Norvège

5 * 1 = 5

Belgique

4 * 2 = 8

Espagne, Inde

3 * 4 = 12

Îles Vierges britanniques, Irlande, Tchéquie, Japon

2 * 8 = 16

Albanie, Australie, Indonésie, Italie, Croatie, Corée du Sud, Panama, Danemark

1 * 9 = 9

Taïwan, Bulgarie, Philippines, Maroc, Chili, Autriche, Mexique, Viêt Nam, Hong Kong

Other

1 + 2 + 7 = 10, -15 = -5

69 more, taking into account "negative views" as deductions (perhaps correction of previous over counts?) from very diverse countries. They would each involve one or two people looking out and in many cases, the lookout is on blogs that are already finished or long laid to rest works, probably to see if something is new.

In fact, only three of above countries give substantial readership. France, US and Canada. In US and Canada, that readership can be substantially organised. 1888 views on one and 555 on the other seems like something readers agreed to contrive.

Could part of the organisation be people who feel like Kukoleck Adam?

HGL'S F.B. WRITINGS : A Creationist More or Less Friend Goes Anti-Catholic, Again
https://hglsfbwritings.blogspot.com/2022/02/a-creationist-more-or-less-friend-goes.html

Or like "Unknown" as to his adress to my friend and fellow Catholic "galadhorn"? Here is his post:

TOLKNIĘTY : God created Man: male and female (Gen 1:27)
https://tolkniety.blogspot.com/2022/02/god-created-man-male-and-female-gen-127.html

And here the exchange:

Unknown

7 lutego 2022 06:59

I knew you wouldn't be able to resist screaming 'persecution' on your blog too. I wonder if you'll actually leave the comments up this time that explain the real reason you were banned - multiple instances of homophobia and other bigotry, which you regularly use your 'Christianity' to shield.

galadhorn

7 lutego 2022 11:50

I don't use the word "homophobic". My defence of fair and true scholarship didn't contain any -phobia. I honour and respect every human being. And I am not interested in sexuality of my friends.

My views can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_and_homosexuality

Tolkien's views on religion and morality can be found in Catholic Catechism of his times:

https://web.archive.org/web/20100427014108/http://www.ewtn.com/library/CATECHSM/PIUSXCAT.htm

galadhorn

7 lutego 2022 11:52

It's a good idea to sign your first and last name under your commentary. Especially when you make heavy accusations.

Certainly much of it are people who despise me for being poor, and as per asking for a publication on paper in some ways asking for money (though not for pure alms)? Let's see. Chesterton came to my rescue:

Allan Ranusch

Great quote from GKC “You will hear everlastingly…this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The fact is, of course, that the rich man is bribed; he has been bribed already. That is why he is a rich man. The whole case for Christianity is that a man who is dependent upon the luxuries of this life is a corrupt man, spiritually corrupt, politically corrupt, financially corrupt. There is one thing that Christ and all the Christian saints have said with a sort of savage monotony… It is quite certainly un-Christian to trust the rich, to regard the rich as more morally safe than the poor.” I thought about this quote practically every day from January of 2016 to January of 2020. /

Al Peabody

The key to this quote is twofold.

First Chesterton says the rich man who is 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 on luxury is corrupt. There are many wealthy people who are just fortunate, but not dependent. And really, who in this feed is poor? We 𝘢𝘳𝘦 the wealthy.

Second is that Chesterton says 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲. Do we prefer to be around the wealthy rather than the poor? Why? If it’s because of an attitude that the poor are where they are because of immorality, you’re in dire need of an attitude adjustment.

Now, some people who do not like the idea they could make a difference for my situation by republishing do have the idea that if I'm poor, it's because I am lazy. Hence immoral. Hence deserving to remain poor until adjusting.

Some may think, I am myself guilty of the fault here discussed. After all, the people at a certain place for the homeless are poor, and I am not going to their company. Because they are poor? No, because they are often enough over concerned (to my taste) with comparing virility in measures like what kind of work you do (brick-laying is respected and deservedly so), and this leaves me, an intellectual, at a certain social disadvantage.

I am 53. It is not the time in life when you take up a new line of work. Bricklaying is not just about muscles or stamina. It requires precision. And a type of precision my hands and fingers are not likely to learn. At least not the first year. Look at the sum : Total amount due in SEK 81 652. And that's the total for this year. The overall total for the 9 terms under three systems I had taken loans is about 380 000 Swedish crowns.

This is not the kind of sum you try to get out of by learning a new trade and not the most well paid one, at 53. The other guys at the homeless shelters don't have this kind of debt, some are pensioners and some are retired in advance of the age, for an illness. But some of these also prefer not going there. I recall a group (in fact somewhat heavy drinkers compared to me) where one man was retired as a cook because of hepatitis C. Cook was his line of trade, he was not required to get another, and hepatitis C means, he was not allowed to work as a cook. And as a cook, he very certainly didn't have any kind of similar study debt to me. When cooks study, they do lots of work that's already paid. But people who take literary baccalaureate in Sweden don't go to those, usually.

My stakes are set out. The only excuse one can have of keeping me back is pretending I'm not facing adult responsibilities. I am actually facing daunting odds, and CSN has year after year made my life unpleasant in the street in Paris and also had no money for their trouble. B U T they have succeeded in placing me in a situation where I am less likely to get the means to pay them. They seem to prefer my misery over their money.

You see, my proposal to CSN (via the debt collector) was also one to Pope Michael and to Creation Ministries International - these go together to get something published on paper from my blogs (and not a complaint like this one, but something that's readable for people who don't know me) and they send royalties to the debt collector, or to the account of CSN he advised.

Obviously, these are not the only people who could do that. Obviously there are more books to be made from my extensive work than just the example I gave Pope Michael and CMI. That one would not have by itself colected 81 652 Swedish Crowns. Adding more of them - if it's done - could. And pestering me while I'm homeless and without "income" (apart from money I receive in the hand) even if I have some on the bank, cannot. A County Court bailiff, as far as I have been told, will not let creditors take money from the account of a homeless man.

Meanwhile, the fact that these demands are being made is known some latitude of social networking in my surroundings. This helps to block both trials at getting an apartment and at getting things published.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Paris
St. John of Matha
8.II.2022

* In Swedish it is called ALU or Arbetslivsutveckling - unemployed people got half a year at a time a job that could not be a normal part of the jobs at the work place, but was an extra part of their work - like rearranging archives when two police archives were going to be fused or establishing an archive (with systematics references) of a collection of news paper clips, and for which the remuneration was what one would have got as unemployed, but half of it paid by whoever had been paying the unemployment, the other half by the employer. Cheap labour for him, not very valorising experience for the one getting that arrangement. I had two such the short time it existed.