By Remiel*
Since social media is out there today and everybody is connecting with everybody all over the world, is Finland afraid of losing its identity to other cultures? Is this why there is so much hatred and prejudice towards immigrants in this country?
Remiel asks if Finland is suffering from an identity crisis. Is this the reason why there is so much racism in Finland?
I remember when I lived in a neighborhood of Helsinki. My immigrant friends’ apartment kept getting harassed by thugs, who sprayed on the door swastikas and the n-word. They even yelled at him when he was going back home from school.
I have to say there’s no future in a welfare country where the government is giving its inhabitants cash that people don’t appreciate. The whole situation feeds low self-esteem. If you have a child you’re not going to give him or her candy everyday, right?
Finland is suffering from a new economic crisis in 2014 and we’re going to be 90 billion euros in debt. This is easy money, it’s lent money. When I was younger, I was taught that I had to earn money if I wanted to have it. In my opinion this is still true. Finland needs change but who’s going to save you from yourself?
Nokia went down and Finland needs urgently an atmosphere and culture that supports entrepreneurs. The “candy” money and good education we get for free, and which pampered my generation, isn’t going to do it.
Back in the days when I grew up in the 1990s, people in Finland had principles back then. Our youth doesn’t have any or the courage. This country needs actions not words if it wants save itself from its economic crisis and ever-growing debt. People need to start to change.
We Finnish citizens need to change as well. As citizens we need to be united and we can start from our apartment building where we live. In Finland, there is a culture of code of silence and too much reminiscing of the past. We don’t talk openly many times about the underlying issues.
Finland as a beautiful nation, which rose up from practically nothing after World War 2 and still managed to pay their debt to the United States before that, didn’t lose back then its independence even if we lent money from abroad.
We shouldn’t forget this important lesson and where you came from. You people begin to appreciate your past and your marvelous unique history for what is and what made you who you are today.
As a nation, we need to stop dwelling on those past scars and show the world what we’re made of. Rising from the poorest countries in Europe to one of the best in Europe with the best educational system is quite a feat.
I personally don’t know of any country that can beat that.
* Remiel is a Finnish citizen with an immigrant background. He needs to write anonymously because, according to him, there is discrimination in Finland.