Finland is still an imperialist country, that’s why it has the system it does without revolution. They simply exported the major contradictions within society to the global south, aligning their proletariat and bourgeoisie against the global south. Capitalists still dominate Finland and workers don’t have power, they just have more generous welfare, which could be taken away at any time by the capitalists if conditions changed and imperialism weakened.
I’d much rather be a part of a revolutionary party that actually stands to move humanity forward.
The “more generous welfare” has been going for a while (source: i live in this shithole), and it will keep going down as conditions have changed and imperialism has weakened. Having joined NATO just in time to witness the US throw the EU under the bus to save its own ass financially speaking, the current European conflict demands our state to increase its defence budget to 5% of GDP. The bourgeoisie government will resort to increasing stripping of social programs, and in turn drive further privatization of healthcare etc. The impotent left and other controlled opposition parties will pay lip service to reversing these policies in hopes of winning some more seats in the next election, but will never manage to do anything substantial because the state lacks the funds to pay healthcare workers (especially the nurses and janitorial services) living wages. Eventually it won’t matter, as all parties serve the same masters and clearly taking care of the most vulnerable and marginalized in this society costs too much. Russia serves as a scapegoat for these policies, as the war in Ukraine is intrinsically linked to these policies but most people will seemingly just stop thinking once the discussion reaches this part. I think there was a conscious effort by the Powers to inflate the amount of public discussion and media directly comparing the Winter War to the Russian SMO in Ukraine, in order to get more of the population on board the NATO bullshit and ever-increasing military spending (which, in a way, isn’t necessarily a false comparison; most just won’t mention the amount of fascists on “our” side in both conflicts, oddly enough). The brainwashing and propagandizing begins at birth for the contemporary Finn, and unless subjected to the monstrous true face of the “welfare state” through their material conditions they lack the capability to reach class consciousness and will be helpless against the overwhelming power of the US/EU misinformation onslaught.
Sorry to hear that, that sounds fairly bleak. This just goes to show the critical importance of organizing work even within the empire, and how consistently building a revolutionary party is an arduous but worthwhile cause. Good luck!
Thanks. I’ve personally mostly given up on surviving all this, given the minuscule amount of local organizing. It could also be that I’ve been at home the entire summer trying to deal with rapidly deteriorating physical and mental health and thus only engaged with the locals online, most of whom disgust me, which all have had an impact on my emotional well-being. Also poverty, but that’s been a mostly lifelong problem. Shit sucks.
Again, sorry to hear that. I’m unfamiliar with Finnish socialist parties, but there should be at least one decent one. Joining a party can be very fulfilling work!
If your starting point is the US you could still move towards something like Finland without a revolution.
Be part of the cultural change that would be required for that.
Finland is still an imperialist country, that’s why it has the system it does without revolution. They simply exported the major contradictions within society to the global south, aligning their proletariat and bourgeoisie against the global south. Capitalists still dominate Finland and workers don’t have power, they just have more generous welfare, which could be taken away at any time by the capitalists if conditions changed and imperialism weakened.
I’d much rather be a part of a revolutionary party that actually stands to move humanity forward.
The “more generous welfare” has been going for a while (source: i live in this shithole), and it will keep going down as conditions have changed and imperialism has weakened. Having joined NATO just in time to witness the US throw the EU under the bus to save its own ass financially speaking, the current European conflict demands our state to increase its defence budget to 5% of GDP. The bourgeoisie government will resort to increasing stripping of social programs, and in turn drive further privatization of healthcare etc. The impotent left and other controlled opposition parties will pay lip service to reversing these policies in hopes of winning some more seats in the next election, but will never manage to do anything substantial because the state lacks the funds to pay healthcare workers (especially the nurses and janitorial services) living wages. Eventually it won’t matter, as all parties serve the same masters and clearly taking care of the most vulnerable and marginalized in this society costs too much. Russia serves as a scapegoat for these policies, as the war in Ukraine is intrinsically linked to these policies but most people will seemingly just stop thinking once the discussion reaches this part. I think there was a conscious effort by the Powers to inflate the amount of public discussion and media directly comparing the Winter War to the Russian SMO in Ukraine, in order to get more of the population on board the NATO bullshit and ever-increasing military spending (which, in a way, isn’t necessarily a false comparison; most just won’t mention the amount of fascists on “our” side in both conflicts, oddly enough). The brainwashing and propagandizing begins at birth for the contemporary Finn, and unless subjected to the monstrous true face of the “welfare state” through their material conditions they lack the capability to reach class consciousness and will be helpless against the overwhelming power of the US/EU misinformation onslaught.
Sorry to hear that, that sounds fairly bleak. This just goes to show the critical importance of organizing work even within the empire, and how consistently building a revolutionary party is an arduous but worthwhile cause. Good luck!
Thanks. I’ve personally mostly given up on surviving all this, given the minuscule amount of local organizing. It could also be that I’ve been at home the entire summer trying to deal with rapidly deteriorating physical and mental health and thus only engaged with the locals online, most of whom disgust me, which all have had an impact on my emotional well-being. Also poverty, but that’s been a mostly lifelong problem. Shit sucks.
Again, sorry to hear that. I’m unfamiliar with Finnish socialist parties, but there should be at least one decent one. Joining a party can be very fulfilling work!