Growing up in Husby outside Stockholm - one of the suburbs that has become both medially and politically debated in recent years - Benjamin Dousa has rhymed a bit with the mindset of Moderate Youth.

As a politician, he has made himself known as a radical voice who has pulled to the right and who is happy to challenge the moderate party line and bourgeoisie. Most recently, in the case of early-school groups, and before that, he pushed for long-term scrapping of Public Service and abandoning state cultural grants. 

Want to guard the boundaries of politics

Today, Benjamin Dousa presents a somewhat more cautious view of culture. 

- It is primarily based on guarding the boundaries of politics, that is, politics should not have a detail-controlling role, which I think sees trends on both the left and the right, says Bernjamin Dousa and continues:

- On the right side you might want to go in and say that some culture is finer than others and that one should safeguard the Swedish cultural heritage more than others. On the left, it may be more about safeguarding diversity and gender and that kind of issues. 

Timbro has been around for 42 years and is the main idea bastion of Swedish bourgeoisie. The think tank was created as a response to the labor movement's opinion dominance in the 1970s and had close ties to the then SAF. Nowadays, Timbro is funded by the Fritt Näringsliv foundation, which was founded by the Swedish Enterprise. 

The think tanks have a great influence

As the number of party members declines, today's think tanks, both right and left, have gained significant and sometimes questioned influence over both the policy agenda and the debate on ideas.   

- Also on the left are several think tanks, such as Dagens arena, Tiden, Catalysis, which are financed by various trade unions. This is what the Swedish model looks like. But Timbro should be independent of direct commercial interests.  

- I want Timbro to be in the epicenter of the Swedish social debate and that politicians and parties listen, read and maybe even be forced to take note of what we have to say, says Benjamin Dousa. 

In connection with the corona crisis, some have argued that we are currently facing an ideological comeback for the strong state. That's what Benjamin Dousa is worried about. 

- I definitely see the kind of warning flags that are waving, both financially and culturally. More people want to claim to take over and control even more. Hopefully, this may mean that the classic right-left conflict is flaring up again.