Finland has voted, and more to the point Finland has decided. Roughly (or precisely) 70 days after celebrating their victory, we have some measure of unity in the country the Finns proudly proclaim. Meanwhile the skeptics are asking themselves what can possibly come of a union comprising  a flip-flopper, a hater of all things foreign that don’t match the optics and a pusher of a minority language most likely lured with a promise of more exposure of Finno-Swedish culture and language. It is a strange threesome indeed and one that points more to an act of resignation in which you sell your soul to the devil in exchange for sitting at the cool kids’ table. 

Analyses have been done and will continue to be made, so here’s where the anecdotal part comes in. It is, of course, very subjective, but it has provided me with insight into the mindset of some of the people I have spoken with. The first is by proxy, but I found the context interesting, as it was described to me by someone who had voted differently but respected their family member who had voted for the business guy. 

The Flip Flopper and His Followers / Tribe

According to my acquaintance in the know, their sister-in-law voted for him because he promised to do good by smaller business and that’s what their sister-in-law runs. Quick, easy, simple. Most business are just trying to survive, runneth the logic, and if that means making some unsavory compromises, well then at least my skin has been saved. 

I’ve noticed this pretty frequently in Finland, especially with women. They like to be in their comfort zone and stay there, and will fight tooth and nail not to get out. At one work place, where the idea was to create new ways of bringing across certain concepts (and I was hired for precisely that), I was told by my direct supervisor not to bring in so many ideas “because I don’t want to work more.” That person looked me right in the eye at a chance meeting much later and acted as though nothing had happened and she had never told our boss not to extend my contact. The boss meanwhile kept stalling me for six weeks on whether my contract would be extended or not while having me fill out paperwork that clearly stated I was not welcome there anymore. Even when I asked directly, I was told “I’m just here but not working.” It wasn’t the first time this had happened either. And the reason I was ultimately given in an email mentioned reasons that had never been brought up by my direct supervisor, though they were very convincing ones. 

In writing this down the parallels are astounding. We do look for someone who is like us only stronger when we seek a leader, so this makes a lot of sense. Annoying? Yes. Condescending? Equally, yes. Disrespectful towards another human being? Even more so, but it really is business as usual. And while this happens everywhere in the world, I find it particularly jarring when it is paired with blatant dishonesty in a country that not only prides itself on honesty but cites foreigners as not belonging here for this lack of honesty. It reminds me of something I read about Russia not too long ago. The expression of disrespect towards another can be measured by the outrageousness of the lie told. The more blatantly obvious the lie, the less respect you have for the other, and when you don’t even try to disguise it, well then you know you’re at the bottom-of-the-barrel level bottom. Add to this the reluctance to lose face so frequently associated with the Asian continent and the Middle East and you begin to understand how some genetic and social traits were able to survive from the time of human migration in the Ice Age. It’s not just the slightly almond shaped eyes and stocky build many associate with the Mongolian Steppes more than a country bordering Russia to the right and Sweden to the left. And yet, not facing our fears will invariably lead to karma (or whatever other power you believe in) stepping in and making us live through them.  That’s the law written somewhere in that Great Book of Things That Govern Our Known Universe, whether you want to call it The Almighty, Murphy or Karma). So the more you try to stick your head in the sand while keeping your ass in the air, the more it will hit you. Unless everyone plays along, continuing to pass the baton on and on and on. Until there is no one left to pass it to, but the scapegoat.

My last two years in Germany, this song was playing everywhere. If memory serves it was due to a denim commercial, I’d venture to say Levi’s 501. In fact, I’m pretty convinced it was, along with Stiltskin’s Don’t Keep It All Inside. I remember hanging out at a club where the music was basic but the people were interesting, so I’d drag her there every Saturday because much as I love music I can always put up with something dire if there are interesting people to project stories on.

Again, it comes down to one of those surface things. Barring sarcasm, this song has nothing to do with the current situation. On the surface. In reality, it could once again be the soundtrack to my life. But looking for an even deeper reason, the situation in Germany at that time was pretty similar. The same childhood friend I kept dragging to that night club we both didn’t think too much of confided in me that she had voted for the most rightwing party allowed in the German government for the sole reason that her Sicilian boyfriend had dumped her and she was pissed. The distinction became important, because as everyone knew Italians were people who made your vacation go well (when they weren’t doing the dirty work no one wanted to do) while Sicilians were there for manual labor with no other redeeming qualities (the pizza and ice cream parlors were all owned by Italians). These were important distinctions that people where we lived made daily, ready to correct you if you got it wrong.

Does the present political climate in Finland scare me? I left Germany because I knew that I would. That was clear to me from the day we moved there again when I was nine going on ten, and it was also the pact I had in place with my parents. My higher education will be elsewhere and for me there was no question that this elsewhere – providing I decided to stay in Europe – would be Paris. Due to this the political climate in Germany didn’t faze me. And there’s a similar train of thought here. I’m an EU citizen, if things go south, I can always leave. I honestly don’t think there’s really that much of a change. Only difference being that it has been made more socially acceptable to voice all those thoughts people were thinking but never dared express. It was the same in Germany and it looks the same in Finland these days. How they handle it here, remains to be seen.