The first debate between Senators John McCain and Barak Obama ended pretty much a draw. There were no knockout punches by either candidate. What probably came out of the debate was their differing positions on US foreign policy. However, one of the matters that shun through McCain is that he aims to conduct foreign policy…
Month: September 2008
Kauhajoki, Finland, killer — the darker side of a man
The fatal shooting of 10 classmates by Matti J. Saari, 22, in Kauhajoki in western Finland came as a shock. It was only in November that another young Finnish man went on the rampage in Jokela and killed and injured a number of his classmates. Certainly a lot of questions clamor for an answer: Why?…
Finland’s difficult quest for foreign laborers
In a recent article in the London Financial Times. there is an article about how Finland is aiming to become a magnet for foreign laborers. While this is understandable, taking into account Finland’s aging population and the shortage of workers in some sectors of the economy, the country’s policy makers still have a lot of…
Finnish “culture and personality”
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED I just looked over an ”adaption guide to Finland” for Russians that move to the Kymenlaakso region in the southeast of the country. While these types of publications may have good intentions, they tend to generalize complex matters such as Finnish culture and personality. One of the matters that is surprising…
Two-sided dabate on immigration in Finland
One of the interesting matters that has been seen in this blog is that debating an issue such as foreigners living in Finland is a polarized black-and-white debate. The more extreme views on the topic, go as far as to claim that it would bring destruction to Finland and its culture. Those on the other…
The culture of fear of outsiders in Finland
Can an open and honest debate on multiculturalism take place in Finland when people feel directly threatened by it? Can we ever aspire as a nation to integrate people into our society when some of us are not even ready to give the time of day to foreigners? Racism is a serious problem in Finland…
Finland of Mayberry syndrome
Mayberry used to be an imaginary town in North Carolina where the 1960s sitcom called The Andy Griffith Show took place. In this make-believe town and world, life was simple, traditional values were cherished, and people respected and cared for each other. There were two sitcoms during that decade that portrayed the same world view…
Discrimination undermines society’s values
Some of the comments on Muslims in this blog have been outright discriminatory and a cause for concern. They sound like people who have been gripped more by fear than by common sense. If Finland is not at war with Iraq, what is it that these Finns fear so much? The Yale social psychologist on…
Being an immigrant in Finland: A letter from Ida
I do not usually do this. But I thought it was such a candid comment that I had to bring it to all of your attention. It reveals, in my opinion, what some foreigners feel about Finnish society but do not dare to say too loudly in public. Thank you Ida, I hope others follow…
Who is Sarah Palin – what’s going on in the United States?
With only two months left until the November US presidential elections, one wonders what the world will be like after George W. Bush retires back to Crawford, Texas, after plunging his country and the world into an abyss led by colorful-named crusades such as “the war on terror” – an enemy that is everywhere but…