I'm sure Erkki Tuomioja and The Bimbo of Finland will continue to put their ultimate trust in the wisdom of the UN, even though UN "peacekeepers" continue to have sex with children.
Would be interesting to see if the Finnish media will even report on this.
Would be interesting to see if the Finnish media will even report on this.
posted by Finnpundit at 4:07 PM
14 Comments:
this is ugly post. dont mix two things, organization and individuals.
how about us soldiers in bagdad? no rape cases?
But UN "peacekeepers" are supposed to be uniquely qualified, given that they come from such a benign organization. Such "peacekeepers" are what Erkki and the Bimbo put their faith in.
And this is not just an isolated incident. There is a culture of abuse within the UN, which gets spread to all around the world, wherever UN staff are posted.
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This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Finnish language posts have been deleted.
So mr. "Finnpundit" puts the censorship hat on. Home of the brave, land of the free, eh? Truth is too much this double standard hypocrite?
You, "Finnpundit", have commented in English language to Finnish language blogs. Should we now, as mutual and equal grounds, delete them also?
If you really insist to be a civilised person, and not only pretend to be a such, I'll advise to adjust your attitude, as a guest in a foreign country.
Actually, I want Americans see what kind of bigots Finns are. That's why comments have to be in English.
Because I've observed this curious phenomenon, both in the Finnish media, and in conversation with Finns: all the most virulent anti-American bigotry is expressed in Finnish, yet toned down in the English version.
And the reason for that is clear. It basically says, "we hate you, but we still want to do business with you". It is my hope that by exposing the bigotry more Americans will become aware of what a loathsome little country Finland is, after all, and that doing business with such a country is not in America's interests.
Well, well. I thought in advance that you would eventually come up with that.
First. Do not post anymore to Finnish forums in English language if you do not tolerate to be commented in Finnish language on your forum. Your attitude is bigotry (what a weird word, how about smallgotry?).
You try to confuse the matters. Very many reasonable US citizens critisise the current official foreign policy (or certain aspects of it) of USA, that works against their long term intrests. And we are yet to know on whose behalf you are speaking? Could you please elaborate on your social status? Until we know that credibly better, you are only one (I would say twisted) opinion on the crowd. Nothing more.
Not liking official US policies abroad does not mean hating US citizens. But it does mean disliking certain praticies of USA (repeated after deleted). I did happen to know couple of US citizens working here in Finland (on the same workplace) and they were treated as ordinary members of working community. No problems at all. But because of US policies, your compatriots are threatened in certain parts of the world. Not in Finland. This is of course very unfortunate, but is a consequence of big business fatcat-driven US foreign policies. And there are consequences. Do not underestimate intelligence of the rest of the world.
But do not feel too sorry, don't drain to self-pity. Finns do not like also particulary Russia's way of handling it's finno-ugric minorities, either. I think you do not have the historical or social perspective of the Europeans. You are superficial.
Let me quote a certain US personality:
People like me point out problems in the system. Whether it is the social system or computer system, it ends up with the same result. [sic] Instead of responsible parties fixing the problem, they are much too intent upon trying to place blame on the people that found the problem. Don't make excuses, fix the problem.
You do need to fix your certain policies and practicies. Somehow it looks you have some personal life trauma (having gotten in Finland?) that you try to revenge. Try to grow up.
As for US business with foreign countries, you are not the person to decide on it. We do business on fair and square grounds, we have paid our debts to US, and we will work to keep our European-American relations on reasonable levels. You feel so pitiful sometimes.
It is interesting that you should link to an American activist group that is concerned with American policy issues. Why is it that Finland lacks the same kinds of self-critical groups? Especially as there is so much to criticize in Finland…
The answer, of course, is that Finland has a statist mentality that fosters an extremely inbred kind of thinking. Critical thinking from an outside point-of-view is not only not tolerated, but attacked, and always attacked from an attitude of social superiority. Social democratic values are taken as a given, even if they are extremely prejudicial and discriminatory to the outside world. It is this kind of elitist thinking that has lulled Finland into a false sense of righteousness.
America and Americans have enemies in Finland. And it is not just confined to “criticism of America’s policies”. It is pure hatred, expressed over and over again in the media, and also tolerated on a personal level.
I am concerned that the truth about Finland is not known to all those Americans considering vacationing in Finland, or doing business with Finns and Finnish companies. And that’s where the blogosphere becomes useful: it can provide interested parties with an alternative point of view that cannot be found in MSM, or in the pamphlets of tourist offices.
If Finns feel so free to criticize the US in such vehement terms, it does seem that they should be able to tolerate criticism in return.
Look Pundit, that was only an example. There is much more besides to it in USA. And about your perceived vision of self-criticism in Finland just shows that you don't know the political scene in Finland. You only pretend to know. The political pluralism is alive well in Finland, much better than in USA, which is essentially a two-party country, with parties that seem to resemble each other. Free elections are being held here regularily and people are not restricted to join political parties and change them from within. The only thing I could critisize the Finns is that they do not seem to care enough about politics, they are somewhat passive.
About our country, it is small and has had hard times along the long history of the Finns (several thousand years), having been colonised by two Indo-European regional superpowers. You still don't seem to get it.
Could you please elabore, exactly, our "enemism of USA"? Precisely. My god, are we a threat to superpower U.S.A or what? You really look paranoid, a mental case. And you did not address my criticism. Try really first to improve your own country's foreign political habits. You seem to resemble more and more the Russians, who also see nothing wrong that they do or want. Like imperialists or colonialists. Pinch yourself, now.
May I guess what your "freeriding" means, essentially. It means that we are not a member of NATO, guided or advised by USA, directed to take part USA's global intrest protection. That's why you seem to hate also the France, isn't it? Be honest. But hey, you have now a flock of eager followers in Eastern Europe, or what? Why worry about Finland, that can't pose a threat to USA? Btw, may I remind that the CIA supported Finland's Social Democratic Party (SDP) during the cold war to thwarth off the communist influence in Finland. And now, communists nonexistent, you attack the SDP. Shame on you.. really. You are dirty.
Do not try to intervene our domestic politics as a foreigner. You have still not revealed who you really are.
You don’t need to lecture me about Finnish history, since I am a Finn myself, though I’ve been out of the country for many years. And it is during these years that my eyes were opened as to what kind of a miserly, exploitative country Finland really is, after all.
Yes, I am aware that the CIA funded the SDP for many years. It was a good strategy, as it split the left effectively, and SDP was certainly the lesser of two evils. But now that communism has been defeated, it is social democracy’s turn. For though welfare state social democracy is more benign than communism, its effect is as pernicious, perverting as it does any kind of objective analysis of socio-economic reality.
Finland needs to be confronted with criticism, since it refuses to address key issues in its political thinking. Domestic politics are a joke, as even the right wing has co-opted welfare state politics to pursue its aims. And as for NATO, Finland needs to be kept out of that. Finland is way too cowardly and indecisive. Its participation in NATO would only be a detriment to an organization that has too many other cowardly Old European countries already as members.
I certainly agree with your sentiment on NATO. Actually in current age of global politics, I hope that soon some european members of NATO can pull apart from it.
I really have opinion critical of Finnish goverment. I also see that US goverment is not really any better, and in some cases much worse. However opinions don't matter, real things do.
You just seem to be proper neo-con or republican poster boy advocating the current US regime.
Ohhh... I've been away and missed all the excitement. I think Anonymous view of NATO is the normal ill-informed claptrap one often hears around these parts, but in balance Finnpundit writes:
"Critical thinking from an outside point-of-view is not only not tolerated, but attacked"
and this is simply not true. HS published an op-ed I wrote in which I called the President a hypocrite. No invite to the Independence Day ball yet, but no one at all has "attacked" me in any way what so ever. My experience is that most Finns, even those who totally disagree with you, are interested to hear a foreigner who is actually interested and informed on the Finnish debate.
There is absolutely no debate in Finland on such subjects as the abolition of SAK, or the wholesale dismantling of the welfare state system, which is the most exploitative form of government in the world in that it is so insidious.
Once again, welfare states can only survive if they have market access to workers that are without welfare state protections (i.e. Americans).
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