<
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/04/finland-progressive-rightwing-government>
"Oulu is five hours north from Helsinki by train and a good deal colder and
darker each winter than the Finnish capital. From November to March its 220,000
residents are lucky to see daylight for a couple of hours a day and
temperatures can reach the minus 30s. However, this is not the reason I sense a
darkening of the Finnish dream that brought me here six years ago.
In 2018, moving to Finland seemed like a no-brainer. One year earlier I had met
my Finnish partner while working away in Oulu. My adopted home of Italy, where
I had lived for 10 years, had recently elected a coalition government with the
far-right Matteo Salvini as interior minister, while my native UK had voted for
Brexit. Given Finland’s status as a beacon of progressive values, I boarded a
plane, leaving my lecturing job and friends behind.
Things have gone well. My partner and I both have stable teaching contracts, me
at a university where my mostly Finnish colleagues are on the whole friendlier
than the taciturn cliche that persists of Finns (and which stands in puzzling
contradiction to their status as the world’s happiest people).
Notwithstanding this, I feel a sense of unease as Finland’s prime minister
Petteri Orpo’s rightwing coalition government has set about slashing welfare
and capping public sector pay. Even on two teachers’ salaries my partner and I
have felt the sting of inflation as goods have increased by 20% in three years.
With beer now costing €8 or more in a city centre pub, going out becomes an
ever rarer expense.
Those worse off than us face food scarcity. A survey conducted by the National
Institute for Health and Welfare found 25% of students struggling to afford
food, while reductions in housing benefit mean tenants are being forced to move
or absorb the shortfall in rent payments. There are concerns that many
unemployed young people could become homeless.
Healthcare is faring little better. Finland’s two-tier system means that while
civil servants and local government employees (including teachers)
paradoxically enjoy private health cover, many other people face long waiting
lists. Not having dental cover on my university’s plan, I called for a public
dental appointment in April. I was put on callback and received a text message
stating I’d be contacted when the waiting list reopened. Six months later, I am
still waiting. A few years ago I could expect to wait two months at most.
The current government, formed by Orpo’s National Coalition party (NCP) last
year in coalition with the far-right Finns party, the Swedish People’s party of
Finland and the Christian Democrats, has been described as “the most rightwing”
Finland has ever seen – a position it appears to relish."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
