Comment: I once sat next to True Finns elected MP Vesa-Matti Saarakkala at a panel last year and was disappointed that such a young man had his head stuck stuck so deep in prejudice. Saarakkala, who is vice chairman of the True Finns, was one of the thirteen who signed last year the Nuiva immigration proposal, which was drafted by the far-right Suomen Sisu wing of the True Finns.
Helsingin Sanomat recently reported that some of the books that Suomen Sisu has on its shelves are by Nazi war criminal Alfred Rosenberg and David Duke, the former head of the Klu Klux Klan.
Another “threat” that Saarakkala sees Finland facing is art. In an interview in Helsingin Sanomat below, he reiterates that the state should stop funding post-modern art. He feels that more funds should be earmarked for art that strengthens Finnish identity. These include the Kalevala and artists like Edelfelt, Gallen-Kallela and Sibelius, which he felt are losing ground in Finland.
Thanks to Saarakkala and the True Finns, this blog has never seen such a growth in daily hits. Thousands have visited us recently, even publications like Time magazine have cited Migrant Tales.
The aim of this blog “is to debate some of the salient issues facing the immigrant and minority community in Finland. It aims to be a voice for those whose views and situation are understood poorly and heard faintly by the media, politicians and public.”
With the True Finns having entered the political landscape now, that voice is needed more than ever.
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Teemu Luukka
Perussuomalaisten eduskuntavaaliohjelmassa on poliittiseksi ohjelmaksi harvinaisen pitkä kulttuuripoliittinen osio. Kulttuuri on 14-osaisen ohjelman alussa heti aatelinjausten jälkeen – siis paljon ennen talous- tai sosiaalipoliittisia osioita. Kulttuurista kirjassa kirjoitetaan yhtä paljon kuin veropolitiikasta.
>Helsingin Sanomat recently reported that some of the books that Suomen Sisu has on its shelves are by Nazi war criminal Alfred Rosenberg and David Duke, the former head of the Klu Klux Klan.
If I had porn magazines would you think I am a rapist?
Have you read Alfred Rosenberg or David Duke? And, hey, I think it would be pretty weird to advertise on our website the type of porn you can watch at our club.
Rosenberg was a war criminal. His racial “theories” were one of the reasons that encouraged the Final Solution. Duke is an offshoot of that type of warped thinking.
The message is roughly “none of us understands anything about art, so we can safely recommend whatever seems to fit our political agenda”.
All art was new at some time, and most art is a commentary on contemporary conditions.
War criminal or criminal like Katainen, you mean other criminals are worse than others?
In war killing is ok as long as you do it the right way?
You can learn a lot from war books written by people who have killed a lot of people. How many people presidents Bush have killed?
Serial killers help FBI and CIA to solve crimes. Why not use their skills?
–War criminal or criminal like Katainen, you mean other criminals are worse than others?
Are you justifying Rosenberg and Duke? Are you stating that we’re cool with their ideas?
I don’t know their ideas nor what they have done. But there must be something interesting when they are so often referred. I need to read some…
I don’t like Kokoomus and I don’t agree with their means, still it is usefull to read their opinions.
–I don’t like Kokoomus and I don’t agree with their means, still it is usefull to read their opinions.
So should we start reading Mein Kempf? All these ideas by people like Rosenberg, Duke and others are against our values. Millions of people perished and died in the war so we wouldn’t have to live under such a system. National socialism is good? I don’t know about that…
>All these ideas by people like Rosenberg, Duke and others are against our values.
What are your values? It is normal people have different values and yours are not right for all the others. Scientists have studied and run simulations with some “values” and some are not as good as others.
>National socialism is good? I don’t know about that…
Perhaps there are some good points in it worth copying for?
–What are your values?
The values of our society in our Constitution and in the laws.
I have books and movies about Third Reight, Stalin, Mao, Hitler and so on. Does this make me a communist or Nazi? I found them fascinating and they made permanent mark to human history (not the good kind of way). It doesn’t mean I support their ideologies.
I wonder what will happen in royal wedding (Kate & William)
Militant Muslim warns Royal wedding terror attack is ‘highly likely’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1372291/Muslim-Anjem-Choudary-warns-Royal-wedding-terror-attack-highly-likely.html#ixzz1IHEUUa3U
Laws are changed every year, so are values… What values did our fathers’ fathers have when they stopped russian invasion? And now we are letting russian to buy our land.. and to somalis we give our land? Our fathers’ fathers wouldn’t understand todays’ values.
–What values did our fathers’ fathers have when they stopped russian invasion?
What do you think? What are your values? Do they change every day? Mine don’t.
Sure my values have changed in last years when I have seen how Finland is sinking because of current “values”. And yes, my values keep changing every day when I learn new stuff. Are you stuck on the values that someone tought you 30 years ago?
–Are you stuck on the values that someone tought you 30 years ago?
Values like human rights, Western democracy and social equality never become passé. They are the benchmarks of our way of life.
The media and the public has rightly denounced and vilified anyone who has been associated with Nazism and the KKK. But also isn’t it sad and inconsistent that members of the same movements but for the black race are held in high esteem and viewed as role models. These movements also wanted non-mixing of races and areas for ‘Blacks only’, namely the Black Panthers with Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam with Mohammad Ali. Even Nelson Mandela was leader of the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (translated Spear of the Nation, and also abbreviated MK), which he co-founded and wanted bombing campaigns against military and government targets, making plans for a possible guerrilla war if they failed. Mandela also raised funds for MK abroad and arranged for paramilitary training of the group. So he could be viewed as terrorist in that aspect. But ofcourse since these people are of a different race the same rules do not apply to their equally extreme white counterparts.
Art is usually the first casualty of intolerance. It ceases to be an individuals form of free expression and degenerates into the propaganda of the state. Art is first and foremost the expression of the artist. That is its only purpose.
And by the way, who will decide what art “strengthens Finnish identity?” Will it be parliament? Will it be the universities? The president maybe? Do we make an inventory of works of art that “strengthen Finnish identity?” Do we then rate these on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the strongest in terms of Finnish identity?
Will the architecture of Alvar Aalto rate higher than that of Eliel Saarinen because the latter migrated to the USA?
The True Finns are celebrating their victory but if you look at the international news coverage of these events, Finland has nothing to be happy about.
Hi Juan, I totally agree: art is first and foremost the expression of the artist.
But imagine the parodies and the art that will evolve from this type of mentality. I doubt that Finnish artists will take the True Finns’ aim to control what they express lightly. I side 100% with them.
The whole idea of returning to some nationalistic myth of what Finnish art is will improverish Finland because it will exclude.
It appears that the True Finns deny their history and want to bend our perceptions of ourselves to suit their narrow-minded view of the world. It smells of ultra-conservative populism.
Enrique, So you believe human rights walk over planet survival? More people come here more it stresses the earth and the nature. But you don’t care because humans come first?
Toni, I have difficulty in figuring out your logic. OK, let’s ask the asylum seekers that come here to dish out their carbon checks when they enter the country. Oy vey!
Was that a question to me?
Congratulations Toni on your new political philosophy: Environmental Fascism.
Sounds like something you would get if the True Finns and the Greens form a coalition.
Against the absurd even the gods fight in vain!