There’s a new site that publishes quotes by your favorite Perussuomalaiset (PS) politician in English. Those PS politicians are none other than Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari and Juho Eerola.
You can visit the site at truefinns.tumblr.com
The editors state the following: “Quotes by some leading politicians of the True Finns party. Note that we do no approve of the views they represent. Actually we just want to show what kind of crazies they are. Complaints about the opinions of the True Finns should be directed to the True Finns themselves.”
Here’s one quote by Hirvisaari: “A hate crime was committed in Helsinki some time ago. I believe it was a rare and unique event. It is not always racism if a skinhead beats up a black man, it can be just boys being boys. But if it was a typical case of molesting women, maybe it the black man deserved it.”
And another one by Juho Eerola: “I am attracted to fascism and especially (to) the economic policies.”
Let’s not forget Halla-aho: “What is relevant is that all terrorists are Muslim.”
The translations have been made dishonestly. For example Halla-aho’s Tehtaankatu faggot case doesn’t specify the context, where the faggot actually sexually harrassed Halla-aho first. In that translation it looks like Halla-aho thought about shooting only because he was gay, thus giving totally incorrect image of the situation.
Farang
There are certainly problems with the translation of that remark. In particular the word “gratification” used in the translation is a very mild way to render the Finnish term hekuma. Wiktionary explains this term as follows:
Halla-Aho actually says that he would have derived sexual pleasure from shooting the man in the head, and indeed of sufficient impact to weigh against the “annoyance” of a long jail term.
Aside from the obvious point about appropriate and lawful use of firearms in Finland, there is something fundamentally pathological about Halla-aho’s remark that in my view should be sufficient to revoke his gun licence immediately.
On the general point of responding to words with violence, Farang, I refer you to your own remark about acceptable responses to provocation.
Actually every Finnish speaking persons understand that using word hekuma has nothing to do with sexual content, unless the work hekuma is especially preceeded with the word sexual.
As you propably know, Halla-aho never used violence, it was just a thought. Are you starting to punish people from thinking crimes, huh?
So how does that stack up against you wanting to punish people for being African or Muslim, I wonder?
I have never wanted to punish anyone based on their background. Punishing is only to be done based on someone’s actions.
So you disagree with Halla-aho when he says he doesn’t want African or Muslim immigrants in Finland? And you disagree with him stigmatising people from those groups who already live in Finland by constantly trying to tie them to every human depravity imaginable? Because that is punishing innocent people!
Farang
How wrong could you be!!!! It wasn’t just a thought, he posted that thought onto his blog, a famous and sadly popular blog in Finland particularly among the Far Right, the counterjihadists and the fascists. And yes, many of them are very homophobic, but I guess your ignorant pimp wouldn’t know that, would he?
Now where did the violent imagery come from if he isn’t, as he later claimed, a ‘violent maniac’? Perhaps he thought that his fascist chums might think he actually was gay himself, if another gay had targeted him on the street; maybe the stranger on the street had sensed something, – you know, gay radar! Now that’s a reasonable thought but one that might scare him – that other people might think HE was gay!
So, when faced with that powerful feeling of social homophobia, men typically use violence or violent imagery to reinforce their manliness in the eyes of other men. It’s a textbook case of social homophobia, Farang. And it only takes a smidgeon of self-awareness to figure it out.
Farang
You are trying to mislead us about the Finnish language, Farang. Just as you did in one of your previous incarnations.
I think I will stick to the definition of hekuma and its cognates in the second impression of Suomen kielen perussanakirja (KOTUS/Edita Prima Oy 2004):
Google finds no examples of lapsen hekuma, whereas lapsen ilo is commonplace. Naisen hekuma seems to find pornographic and otherwise explicit links.
Do you understand difference between thought and action? It is still a thought, even if he would post it to all blogs and newspapers in the world.
As you like to compare real life with movies, do you consider that movie director who makes a movie where is violence, is also violent himself? You really think that a person who is not violent, can’t think about violence in his head? Why don’t you just call all men who have sexual thoughts in their heads rapists and perverst. That would follow the same logic.
Farang
So posting an article detailing ones thoughts on a blog is not an action? Don’t be ridiculous. Of course it was an action. We wouldn’t be here discussing his ‘thoughts’ if he had not acted on them by posting the blog! ‘And yes, he is responsible for exactly those actions!
Ignorant. They were books that were later adapted to the screen. The rest of your comment was irrelevant drivel.
The issue is not that he had a violent thought and is being brought to task for that but that he posted a blog detailing it, with apparently no conscience or compulsion to explain it other than he thought it was a perfectly normal response. It’s only normal when you realise that homophobia builds a world view where anything that is not heterosexual is viewed as unnatural. People who are homophobic often think their view is ‘natural’ and therefore see no reason to question it, in just the way that J-Ha saw no reason to question his use of violent imagery to reinforce his heterosexuality.
Mark
How would you describe the case if it was otherwise similar, but a woman who was sexually harrassed by a man?
Farang
I see you are fully up to date with how J-Ha tried to process this in his blog.
Actually, the same scenario for women would be if a woman came up to a woman. I asked my wife about this and she said she would not like it and find it a bit strange, maybe even aggressive on the part of the woman. When I asked if she would likely entertain the thought of going inside to get a gun to blow the woman’s face off, she gave me that look that says ‘are you insane?’. I asked her what would she think if another woman told that story to her and the idea of getting a gun to shoot the other woman and she said that it would seem a very strange reaction, a very strong reaction.
Also, I do not think that a man harrassing a man has direct equivalence. Not, as J-Ha argued, because of sexism towards men, but because of a man’s potential violence towards a woman adds a different ingredient. Now if this man harrassing J-Ha was a gorilla, then maybe there is more equivalence. But I also don’t think there is equivalence in the frequency or persistence of the kind of harrassment that women experience – repeated harrassment in the workplace, in bars, in public too. It is obviously far more common.
Mark
Yes, it is an action. But that action is “posting a comment”, which is not a violent action.
You desperately try to combine “violence” and “action” here, thus trying to make it look like “violent action”.
Following the same logic you can also say that thinking is an action… breathing is an action… Typical distracting of discussion from you.
Farang
So you have been forced to change your mind that it is merely ‘a thought’. Actions, especially putting information or thoughts into the public space, carry consequences and we should be held accountable, whether legally or socially. It should not always be a matter for judges to decide. At the same time, it should at the very least be a matter that he can be criticised for if he is seen to perpetuate homophobia, either wittingly or unwittingly. He does say he has learned a lot about discussions of gays by talking to Greens, but he hasn’t really been honest about his own level of homophobia as revealed in that particular comment.
No. I’m not. I agree with Halla-aho that trying to make him look like a violent maniac is just ridiculous. I think it nevertheless reveals a strong homophobia, and it is exactly this kind of social homophobia, where men use violence or violent imagery towards gays so as to reinforce their own hetersexual identity that is very damaging. And in many cases it actually does result in violence. In that sense, he is at least guilty of perpetuating a very unhealthy response to ‘gay’ things. I don’t think the harrassment in itself warrants that kind of ‘violent imagery’. But it is very clearly explained by the social homophobic explanation.
Pardon? If you want to go on a logicl carousel, don’t blame me if you get distracted. As usual, I have to point out the obvious to you…and in fact you were forced to agree, because it really is so obvious. You just never stop in trying to make this personal. Good, it means I get under your skin!
Mark
So, you like to treat heterosexuals differently than homosexuals? You don’t believe in sexual equality, or equality in sexual orientation? Why do you treat them differently?
Farang
Are you on acid?
JusticeDemon
Much of the Finnish vocabulary used by people (humans) differs from the actual book examples, so it’s pretty ignorant to stick to that definition.
I asked my Finnish wife, and she backed up what JD has said – she said that she cannot imagine a context where this word is used without some kind of sexual meaning – unless someone was perhaps trying to be very poetic. But she doubted you would be poetic if you are describing shooting somebody!
So, your wife now represents all Finns 🙂 Sorry, I just can’t handle that much of arrogance at one time 😀
Once again you are being a prick! Who said she represents all Finns? No-one. So stop putting words in people’s mouths to try to make them look bad. You only make yourself look bad and annoy people. I am getting quite fed up with this, Farang, as I’m sure you are aware.
Basically she provided the opinion of an educated native Finn, one that contradicted your opinion.
Here’s a bit better reference to you:
http://suomisanakirja.fi/hekuma
Farang
The gun is smoking and there is a large hole in your foot, Farang. Take a look at the recommended English translation on that page.
But why don’t you humour us by putting the first Finnish language sentence on the web containing the expression lapsen hekuma? Isn’t it really surprising that lapsen ilo gets over 25,000 Google hits and lapsen hekuma gets none at all, even with safe search filters off?
Farang
This all sounds very similar to your nonsense about Finnish conscription laws some time ago.
Do you know how modern lexicography works, or are you now trying to tell us that KOTUS are also ignorant because they don’t bend the language to protect your racist criminal Master?
JD
No, it’s not surprising at all, because they are different words and mean different things. Read the definition I provided, don’t concentrate on the translation. Word hekuma is very rarely used nowadays, as it’s quite unneeded word, since other words usually are more fit, depending of circumstances.
I would say that mostly in the cases where hekuma would fit, people use the word nautinto as it is better Finnish and suits better in Finnish speak.
It’s very arrogant of you as non-Finn to claim that you know better than Finns how Finnish language work.
Farang
That is a peculiar blend of argumentum ad hominem and argumentum ad verecundiam, and a very poor one even as such. Presumably it also applies to KOTUS, who have the temerity to apply their diligent research in the form of a standard dictionary of the Finnish language. It would be much cheaper to ask Farang to define words in the language according to whatever is necessary to conceal the perversions of his racist criminal Master.
I asked a very experienced government translator today about his quote, and she said it was very strange. She did say that hekuma is often used in a sporting context, and I found that interesting, because it’s part of the often homophobic ‘locker-room’ banter.
If I was really looking for a reason why J-Ha would use a word like that, I would say that somehow there was semantic bleed, that the sexual context of the encounter was acting to prime certain ‘sexualised’ words in his subconscious. I think this ‘priming’ is a very normal and real phenomenon studied in both psychology, psycholinguistics and syntactic research, but which doesn’t seem to be well understood by the ‘lay’ public.
On that, I would give him the benefit of the doubt over the word ‘hekuma’.
What he doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt over is this:
Translation: violence is under-rated as a problem-solving tool.
Humour? Wry observation? Or a man willing and capable of ditching any moral principles to satisfy violent whims and urges? For a man who is a cult-hero to the Far Right, a comment like this is very troubling.
I agree, that is very disturbing phrase to use in public. That brings people like Breivik in my mind.