Comment: Thank you Martti Ahtisaari! Great idea!
This gesture by former President Ahtisaari (1994-2000) is an example of what makes Finns such nice people.
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Presidentti Martti Ahtisaari toivoi, että kaikki suomalaiset, jotka eivät rasisteja ole, osoittaisivat sen käytännön tasolla osoittaen vieraanvaraisuutta maahanmuuttajille.
So, if you’re not inviting an immigrant for a cup of coffee, you’re a racist? I don’t even invite my friends for a cup coffee.
But when you think about it, the message is pretty clear. If you value something, it should turn to actions. Otherwise it’s just talk.
Method, I don’t think a man like Martti Ahtisaari meant that. It is a postive suggestion. That is why it should be applauded.
I agree with Method. I really do not know what adjective to use here to describe this opinion….naive…perhaps. I have learnt from Finns friends and Finns relatives that they will be friends with a foreigner…. because “we” really need to do something…some of them have already “adopted” a friend…(I see these action like “adopting a pet” more than to have a real friend BTW) because when I see them, in practise, they patronize these “new friends”….all of them do that….therefore, I really do not think the real solution is to invite for a cup of coffee but rather to start dismantling the fake “nationalism” ideology that took over this country since the end of the war with the Russians….Finns you are not better than other human beings, most of human beings all have “sisu” as well…..you are just equal to the rest of human beings on planet earth
Bored
You captured the core of it. I mean, most immigrant people I’ve ever known, that I call my friends, I’ve known because I’ve met them randomly, not because they are immigrants.
These national myths are also very common in human beings. By that the Finns aren’t very different.
The old nations were born on racism. Before genetic science it was the language groups that were considered races. It’s not a very good base to build open and borderless world. I mean, before a nation called Finland, who were we? Nobody?