Finland became independent a hundred years ago. To celebrate the anniversary year there have been many stories in Finnish media glorifying our country and saying how Finland is ”the best country to live in”.
But there are things Finns aren’t so proud to talk about. If you look at our history, there are grim and shameful times and events throughout the past hundred years.
The use of narcotic substances was common during the war. Some of the soldiers coming back from the battlefront were highly addicted to methamphetamine, morphine and heroin.
In 1918, only a couple of months after becoming independent, Finland was amid one of the bloodiest civil wars in modern history relative to its population. The failed revolution of the left-wing Red Guards ended up killing almost one percent of the population.
Most of the casualties came not from the battles but from executions after the battles or from famine and diseases in prison camps established by the White Guards after the war.
Next few decades were the times of white terror. Fascistic movement Lapuan liike kidnapped leftist activists and drove them to the border of the Soviet Union. The Social Democratic Party was also left out of the national decision making even though it was the largest party in the Parliament during these decades.
When the Second World War broke in 1939, the torn nation came together to defend against the attack of the Soviet Union. World War became eventually another stain in Finnish history as Finland fought the end of the war side by side with Nazi Germany.
The use of narcotic substances was common during the war. Some of the soldiers coming back from the battlefront were highly addicted to methamphetamine, morphine and heroin.
After the lost war, the influence of the Soviet Union in Finnish domestic policies started growing. During this time of ”finlandization” the Soviet Union dictated the suitable politicians and ruling parties. This lasted almost to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
In 1990s, after a long period of economic growth, Finland underwent a devastating economic depression. The unemployment rate rose to new heights and hasn’t returned to the numbers before the depression. Today nearly half of the unemployed people have been without a job for over a year. There is a great risk for them to be excluded from most social networks.
Today Finland is one of the top countries by many international standards: most stable, freest, safest, best governance, least organized crime, best primary education, most literate, lowest maternal mortality.
When the state of the country is painted so rosy, it shifts focus away from the least fortunate and their problems. Professor of Social and health policy, Juho Saari from the University of Tampere, who has specialized in the research of welfare and loneliness, thinks that defining risk groups has gotten harder than before.
”It has been easy to define a sick or an unemployed person as a member of a clear risk group. Now there are more people with problems that are harder to identify. This is challenging for social security systems because of their need to identify a certain risk or reason to function properly”, says Saari.
Another challenge comes from the wealthy but unequal society we live in. Saari mentions loneliness as one of the root causes for many of the problems.
”Mostly people think of loneliness as a personal thing or common to a certain type of people, but in reality it is strongly connected to social status.”
In most European countries people turn to their families for support, but in Finland the support comes more often from friends.
”This means that the supportive social relationships are more and more the product of negotiation. There is a risk, that people can be left out of these relationships. It leads to a rising number of transparent people. Nobody seems to notice them. They are left out of social relationships and opportunities.”
Saari estimates that the paradox of Finnish welfare society isn’t the cumulation of disadvantages for certain people, but that some people can’t get onboard of the advancement like most of the Finns.
”When you are in a common Finnish path of rising prosperity, there are no limits to what you can achieve. The situation for the people who have had difficulties in life, is not getting worse than before, but the gap between them and the general population grows larger.”
When the state of the country is painted so rosy, it shifts focus away from the least fortunate and their problems.
Hopeless situations lead to many of the more visible problems in Finland. For example, Finland has one of the highest suicide rates in Europe. The amount of suicides has been decreasing for 25 years, but in 2015 the suicide rate was still the 8th highest in the European Union.
Another problem for Finland has been alcohol consumption. Finnish drinking culture is heavily centered on getting intoxicated as fast as possible. Also, nearly half of the alcohol is consumed by 10 percent of the total population.
And in many cases alcohol consumption leads to violence. Most homicides, rapes and assaults are targeted at the perpetrators’ family members or friends. Large number of them are done under the influence of alcohol.
In 2014 a study by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency showed that Finland was the second most violent country in the EU for women to live in. In 2015 Amnesty International criticized Finland for not providing sufficient support for women who have been victims of violence.
There are also long-term societal matters with conscription army and gender reassignment. All Finnish males must undergo a military or civil service.
UN Human Rights Committee and Amnesty International have repeatedly condemned the imprisonment of conscientious objectors who refuse to serve in military or civil service. The exemption of women is also a gender inequality problem.
The treatment of transgender people has raised some questions. For example, if you want to change your legal gender, you must undergo a sterilization procedure.
Finland is a great country for most people. It’s still far from perfect.
Grillimaisteri
I’ll have to emphasize that most of the comments have to be either parody or pure ignorance.
For the foreigners who moved here and now want to leave: OK, too bad that this place wasn’t the happy, progressive wonderland you were told it would be. What did you expect? A place where people come to you with open arms ready to hug you? No.
Just admit it: you came here for the free stuff. You believed that this would be the perfect stepping stone to build your career: you wouldn’t have to worry about anything because everything from healthcare to income gets paid by someone else. You could focus only on yourself and not have to worry about anything.
But then the reality kicked in.
The weather is bad, as it happens to be here, near the arctic circle. Nothing is actually free, since you have to pay taxes.
The last thing I’ll have to state is the fact that most of the commentators have so inadequate language skills that it’s not a wonder that 1) employment, 2) socializing, and 3) studying form enormous difficulties.
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Don
Grillimaisteri.
I crossed the Finnish border with no expectations.
The presumptions about me as a foriegner on the other hand were non stop and incorrect on a daily basis for 16 years.
Luckily the Helsinki youth abandoned the insecure ways of the culture and chose a more honest aproach to individuals without the rampant denial and insecurity that was spoiling the place. Viva Uuzi Finsinki. 🙂
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Sauvage
I agree with all this. Been living in Finland for 22 years now, basically my whole life. The weather is so bad it’s making me depressed, it’s literally dark all the damn time, except maybe for spring and summer but yeah.. even then it can be cloudy and rainy. Autumn and winters are long here and very dark.
People are ok, Finnish people are respected for being pretty laid back and they can keep their privacy. But getting into social circles has never been this hard to me. I can get friends anywhere else except Finland. Last time i had a Finnish friend call me out to play was when i was maybe 11-12 years old. Now as a 24- years old, people are mostly good to me when they are drunk. I’ve met many people in my workplace, bars, clubs etc.. nobody of them wants to hang out with me during free time unless they are going out for a drink. People in Helsinki are way more social and pretty open minded. But rest of the Finland ( even Vantaa ) tend to be more closed minded towards strangers.
Anyways.. education is free and i am doing everything i can to get myself a better future. Maybe i will move to Australia or New Zealand sooner or later, i can’t stand living in Finland anymore. Cold, dark and loneliness are really bad for human beings.
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Tom
No Western people immigrate to
shitty finland, it says a lot!
Do not make a mistake in coming here,
if you do, you’ll be sorry later.
These people are masters at playing from both sides of fence.
Extreamly envious and untrustworthy!
Look at history of finland and you’ll start to understand.
I jwish I could just go away
and never come back, but I can’t.
Btw, why don’t finland have any true
friends and allies?
What’s up with that?
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Simon Simon
Lousy country Finland is!
Real Two-Faced people for real.
Highly untrustworthy people.
Just like the gov playing from both sides.
Such envy and maliciousness.
I made a big mistake in coming here,
I now live in Fin against my will!
Just a disgusting combination of all things to consider.
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John
Full agreement. You missed one: racism. People in this country are very racist, and it’s getting worse. If it didn’t mean ending up in a much much worse personal situation, I’d have left this country a year ago. Total depressing shithole.
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notfinn
Oh, you hear all the time that Russians are racist but you never hear it about the Finns. Well, over 150 different nationalities call Russia home and they are all treated with respect. While in Finland – the Finns hate everyone who is not Finnish. Evil people
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depressing shithole
The government spends a lot of money on marketing, so it always sounds like utopia whenever anything about Finland is mentioned in the media. The ground reality is totally different.
Country of zombies and drones. Very hive minded, different opinions are like threats to them. Small-minded people. Also, food is terrible.
Bottomline : Do not fall for marketing, it’s all lie. If you still wanna come, welcome and see it for yourself.
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Lets go brandon
And i thought Finnish people were racist
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Saara
I am very shocked at the amount of what seems like hate and racsism against the Finnish people and culture with a leaning toward a pro-American trash culture which has done a fine job of segregation in society as well as screwing up the planet as it spews its consume buy die ethic all over the world. I have lived in many countries, including USA which we all know isn’t united at all but more a dog eat dog world where the biggest ego wins. What I don’t understand is how vomiting your hate for Finns is a good use of your intellegence… I’m reading a lot of hate and racism against Finns for being Finn and living their life in their culture. The orher thing… There is a lot more addiction and homelessbess in America, land of opportunity and big dreams. As a journalist, I interviewed many suffering the onslaught of The American Dream. What I do not understand is why, if you want ’The Good Life’ whatever that is to you, why did you make your way to Finland? Why bot go to America land of dreams and big money? As far as I know, the people of all kinds that I have met here in Finland are most likely protecting themselves from the people who’s wants and desires exceed their own. I mean, what is it that foreigners want Finns and Finland to be? By the way, lets not forget we are all individual beings not just ’Finns’ in Finland, we’re all people with different backgrounds and different struggles. Like with any country, for eg: Africa or Iraq, a ’foreigner’ is expected to resoect the traditions of the culture and varioys people for eg: maybe a woman will have to wear a hijab or refrain from talking with a husband or wife. As with many cultures, Finland has its ways and I believe its important to protect all cultures of the world. I don’t imagine a Finn going to Africa or the middle east expecting tge people to change culture for them. And also, what is happiness? It’s a perception, different for each of us, is it a smile on your face? I mean sure, a smile is nice, but psychopaths are masters of the smile as deception. So for all you Finn haters, please go where you are most happy and leave these people to their dull and boring lives. You seem to know so much about each and every person that lives here probably without ever meeting them and it’s obvious you couldn’t drop your ego to try to learn the culture you live among. Also, I agree, there is a massive problem here with racism and hate of all kinds against the Finnish people and their culture and this needs to be fixed. I am Australian born with a Finnish father and I find some of the hate comments against Finnish people appaulling. You really need to spend your energy and brain power on more productive things, like moving to a country more in tune with your culture.
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Tony
I’m so tired of this Fin after many years here that I have become kind of numb
and allergic to this whole place!!
It would save my life to be able to leave but it looks like a real remote possibility and most likely not gonna happen!
I wish I could return back home
to U.S.
If that was to happen, I would never
even complain about real hot weather
like I had it in NV, AZ etc.
I would not complain after having suffered greatly here in Fin
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HappyMaterialist
I think I’m materially happy living in Finland. I never had problem with money, cause benefits always flow. I had free education that thank god I didn’t have to take so much loan. I think theory educated in Applied science universities is high quality, it would actually be worth of money. But I think by over educating people society is doing disservice to its youth, cause there’s no jobs in certain fields like design and establishing your own practice or company is very hard. And consumers favour big chain stores over boutiques so keeping shops ain’t profitable. Also people are not willing to pay for higher quality products that are made here. Importing goods from outside of Finland comes also expensive cause there’s not that much to export, and that’s one reason for higher prices.
Culture is very homogenous. It’s fusion of Nordic and Eastern Europe that’s result is quite neutral. I think Finnish identity as blank canvas – cause there’s no strong original culture you can customise it to look like your own. That’s also why people here are so good at English cause there’s not so much content in Finnish and people are very into foreign cultures too – even though from surface this looks like self satisfied monoculture.
You also have to recognise that this is a small country, so mentality can be like in a small village. That’s why you can stand out easily without effort, unfortunately.
As a Finn I have lots of antipathy towards Finland, yes. But when I count my blessings I think I’m quite fortunate to live here. My tragedy is that I live in limbo and stuck in my situation as unemployed professional in creative field, and to develop and grow professionally you have to move out of the country. They also say that the future is in youth – but the youth doesn’t have future. They live in high rent apartments (especially in Helsinki) and can’t afford spend their poor salary on anything extra like travelling like their peers in Europe.
I only wish that this country would have bigger population and not geographically isolated, but at least this isn’t as small as Estonia or Iceland and not so isolated as Australia or Mongolia.
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Aura
they are quite miserable people if we talk about money, i have worked in a second hand shop and i have seen Finns steal things that cost 2, 3 ……2,3 euros please!!!!……..they are envious, false and miserable, if you sell something in tori.fi they always want to pay less even if it has a good decent reasonable price, or i have received ironic messages from all this buch of envious Finns, for not lowering the price, and i have answered them badly, blocked them and sent them to hell, they want a new thing, unused, almost for free, they have this miserable mentality in many aspects, even emotionally , but Ohhh to buy alcohol, and gambling, there you see them spending a lot of money even when they are unemployed.
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Tim
Mademyday what is wrong with you? Y you can not assimilate the truth and that your country and your people are backward, racist people.
You are no one to tell people where to live or not get in your own fucking business
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Toni
I have lived in Finland my whole life, 35 years, i as adault, i have learn one thing: Living in Finland, is expensive, if you do not have job (when you are adault but not elder yet), because those people who are unemployed one way or other, do not get much money from social system of Finland, and it is not always easy to find job.
That is only downside living in here, and it has bad effects to many people, here in Finland. So sometimes i dream, that i can someday move in some other country, or this Finnish social system chages to better.
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Max
I’m sick of the Finns and their stupid rules of subnormal people, I’m sick of workers coming into your house or being able to come into your house to repair something while you’re not there, in normal European countries this idiocy doesn’t happen, they talk a lot about it here the supposed honesty that is a big lie, I have worked in a store and I have seen Finns steal. try to rip alarms off clothes, and even steal buttons from clothes, or cut clothes, so don’t talk to me about stupid honesty, no worker is going to enter my house to repair anything if I’m not there, that’s a crime , it is trespassing, I do not know if the worker is going to steal something or check my house to see what I have, because i do not know him, another thing that bothers me is that these workers knock on the door and do not wait even 5 seconds, they think they have the right to open the door even when the tenant is inside, NO!! they have to wait a reasonable time for the owner or the tenant to open the door and if not, then yes, they can enter, I have chosen to close the door from the inside and they have to wait for me to open it, already twice unpleasant situations that had happened to me because of these people who do not wait or respect, and I never leave the house without locking it, this country some finns are already breaking into houses and apartments to rob, but of course they blame foreigners when many of those who steal they are finns
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Mick
Racist, envious, narrow minded, two faced people, they think and beleive they are superior, lazy at work, they are also racist with sami people.
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Telling the truth
All these Finns think that if a foreigner is here it is just because of papers, or Kela money, well it can be, but that is not my case i speak several languages, i have gone to university,
i come from a family with a very good economic position and with money i do not need your stupid kela of 600 miserable euros, i have learned that you don’t have to be nice to them, you don’t have to trust them, they’re fake, racist, and envious. they do not accept third opinions or other points of view, they think they are better than others and superiors and no, they are not. they have a lot of mental problems they don’t know how to act like normal people, not even good morning, thank you or please, if you are a foreigner even if you have a good education like me forget about getting a job, they won’t give you one because they are racist and then they complain that the ”mammu” this is the way they use to call foreigners come to steal their money, a ”mammu” does not want the miserable 600 euros from the kela, what the hell can you do with that? wants to work and have a good salary and a good boss, the foreigners are fed up with the dictatorship and of the manipulation of the TE toimisto and the KELA a foreigner with good preparation does not have to be cleaning, or taxi driver or do shitty jobs, by the way you Finns are dirty, many of you go to work smelling bad, do me a favor go and take a shower before you leave home, my advice for other non finn people, there are better places to live, do not waste your time here, they are envious, narrow minded, lazy and frustrated people.
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Liz
Some workers came to fix some problems in the building recently, these people are very rude and wild, they arrive without warning and they don’t tell you please, we need you to remove this, no, they don’t say anything, they don’t give a shit about hitting objects that you have the lamps that you have, they are wild and rude, because it is not theirs and they have not paid for it, and the downstairs door, every day that they are here they are always banging on it, and it is annoying to hear BUM BUM BUM all the time, they do not know how to close a door like normal people, or behave with manners.
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Dream Big
This country is full of commies and socialists. And, oh boy do they get jealous
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Elisabet
I have a question for all the people complaining, Who told you that we want you here?
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Involuntary "Mammu"
Elizabet
Your government SHOUTS they need to attract and retain international talent.
So, YOU TOLD US
to come and study…
to work …
to integrate with Finnish society,
Only , it was a LIE, and this makes youI LARS …
Which prospects for foreigners who studied engineering…cleaning toilets ?
Which future for said ”international talent”, years at a row in KELA after being laid off ?
Ffs, stop all this utter BULLSHIT !!
If you don’t want people from different backgrounds, SAY SO, IN YOUR INSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATION.
It would save everybody’s time and patience !!!
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Max
I had to do work doing some kind of ” working practice” with a Finnish woman who was unbearable and wanted to tell me what i had to do with my life, she pretended to give me orders about what i had to do with my life and i refused, the ” working practice” lasted 3 months and the last two months i went without any desire, with anxiety and stress because of this woman, who had me fed up and harassed me every few days, another stupid thing about this country and its stupid system of idiots, it is the job searching system, the system is obsolete , stupid, outdated, in other more advanced European countries you open an account on the employment page, create your CV, that CV is stored in a database and when you apply for a job offer from the same page you can send it with just a click, here no here you have to send an email to the employer, absurd and obsolete method, and then after a few days …if they do not call you the job seeker starts calling the employer…..what the hell is that, if they don’t call you it’s because they are not interested, but in other Europeans countries we DO NOT HARRASS employers with calls, this system in Finland is ridiculous, stupid and absurd
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Matt
that is true, in other European countries the person who is seeking employment does not call or harass the employer. If you call, or send an email to the employer, they will get upset and they will think that this person is out of his mind, that is harassment, they will be able to contact you, if your CV interests them. And for Elizabeth, it’s not your problem what people do with their lives, so shut up.
All the Finnish integration system is a BIG FAIL AND A BIG LIE
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The big lie
I had a racist Finnish teacher, who looked at my classmates badly, on two occasions I had to record videos in class, because the situation got out of control, and it was because of the teacher, the same one who said that we should hang up our coats outside in the corridor because we could have a bomb, or in another situation she said, I don’t care what degrees you have from your countries, i would put all of you to do work cleaning
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Matt
The worst country in the EU no jobs, discrimination, bullying towards foreigners, rude and uneducated Finns, what else i can do here ” only working practice” because the employee do not need to pay, or years in Kela? NO THANKS sooner or later i am moving out of this LIE called Finland average mentality and country for average low profile people
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Leaving Soon
I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity to escape this wasteland. Finland does have some positive aspects but the negatives far outweigh the positives. I can sympathize with others’ frustration but action is important. Do everything in your power to get out. Peace.
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Oikeaoppinen
Laughing at you fools. Trusting what the government and media says about anything. No normal Finn wants more of you lazy foreign bums here. Go to Sweden, Germany or UK or any other downwards spiraling country and enjoy that multicultural mess. Leave us alone if you dont want to integrate to our culture and learn the language. Expecting us to bend over for you and treat you special when you dont even try to learn the language.
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Tony
This country is very, very TIRESOME!!
You’ll get older here faster than before you ended up here!
They talk so much shit here that
it’s unreal.
Big imitators too,
copy-cat nation!
I live here against my will!
STAY AWAY FROM HERE!!
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Donnie
What a wasteland Finland after all is!
Just mentally empty land,
no spirit, no atmosphere.
Real big on imitating,
copy-cat type people.
STAY AWAY FROM HERE!!
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Mary
The only fool who is talking stupidities is you oikeaoppinen do not be ridículous
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Viktor Schacher
Well, Finns rushed to desperately join NATO for a potential protection from Russia. Was it the FEAR? It seems we’re entering a new era of uncertainty.
As for Finns, well the earlier writers expressed their frustrations and some Finns proved the point. Finnish society is described in the comments well enough to understand. As for as the future is concerned, it is going to get worse.
There are also good people here. Unfortunately the majority is quite bad.
Google
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.
Hmm.. yes it is pretty shitty in helsinki and some cities but there are a lot nicr people in other parts of finland, i know it.
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Engineer
Take the extremely critical comments here with a grain of salt. Some of them may be trolls judging by the poor grammar and argumentation.
Finland is an OK place. It’s perhaps not the best for the extremely ambitious. Or for someone who is rather outgoing and adventurous. Alcohol abuse is an issue, but not much more so than in your average Western country.
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Qro
Artikkelissa mainitut Suomen puutteet ovat asioita, jotka vaativat välitöntä parannusta. Tilannetta, jossa palvelua kieltäytyvät, ei voida hyväksyä normaalissa maassa. Yleensä se tosiasia, että Suomella on kulutus, ja lampaiden kaltaiset miehet ovat yhtä mieltä siitä, että valtio päättää heidän elämästään, omatunnastaan ja tukahduttaa heidän vapautensa, pitäisi antaa ruokaa ajatukselle. En ole evä ja ehkä se on vielä parempi, koska tämän ansiosta voin katsoa sitä ”rationaalisemmasta” näkökulmasta. Olen yllättynyt siitä, että Suomi on pohjimmiltaan EU: ssa, eikä mikään maa ole vielä estänyt pääsyn eurooppalaiseen palveluihin. Jos Amnesty International ei voi tehdä asialle mitään, niin jotain on oltava valmis. Joten miten tämä maa eroaa Venäjältä ja muista autoritaarisista valtioista?
Trans -ihmisten tilanteen suhteen tilanne on onneksi muuttuva, ja nyt voit muuttaa seksiä itse määrittelemällä. Valitettavasti pääasiassa 18 -vuotiaana, joten olet kaveri, jonka todennäköisesti pakotat menemään armeijaan (sic!).
En myöskään ymmärrä näitä kielteisiä kommentteja. Suomi on todella hyvä maa. Lähellä ihanteellista minulle, ainakin mentaliteetin suhteen. Kyllä, se voi olla ehdottomasti parempi, mutta se ei ole huono.
Joku täällä mainitsi amerikkalaisen kulttuurin kritiikin. Miksi meidän pitäisi tarkastella amerikkalaista kulttuuria tällä tavalla? On parempi piirtää paras jokaisesta maasta ja muuntaa se suomalaiseksi maaksi. Esimerkiksi Amerikan tapauksessa kuluttajakulttuuri ja talouspolitiikka voitaisiin lainata heiltä. Tässä suhteessa Suomella ei ole mitään tarjottavaa.
Ei vain Amerikasta, koska on maita, jotka saattavat yhtä hyvin toimia mallina.
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Tomas
Basicly Finns are West Russians. So nationalistic, so fake.
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Luc
Finland joining a group of countries in conflict with their neighbour, doesn’t seem like a very smart move at all.
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