Ilkka Kokkarinen sends a link to a Finnish government video recruiting skilled immigrants from other European Union countries. It provides some insight into Finns' quietly self-confident sense of their competitive advantages in appealing to the kind of people they want:
"Skilled people enjoy living in Finland. ... Quality of life also includes peace of mind. An ordinary, normal life is good. Finns expect quality, freshness, and functionality as standard. The starting point is that everything works, in any weather or season. Everyday matters are easily taken care of."
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
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I was in a hostel in Bosnia a few years back and a group of Finns were there, also a Norwegian couple. The Finns -- and to be fair they were late teens or early twenties -- left the bathroom and kitchen a mess. When I told the Norwegians this, they laughed .. .apparently in the Nordic area the Finns have the reputation as being somewhat dirty and unkempt. Guess its all relative.
Their langauge has 14 cases, which might deter the unready.
Hmmm, don't they know that they should be recruiting to match the diversity of the world rather than according to skill? Their economy must obviously suck with huge unemployment, homelessness and negative GDP growth. I heard "diversity" being mentioned, but even in a gov't video they could only find a single clearly African-Finn. Interesting also with the stress on "you have to have a job to come here" and "the pay kindo of sucks, but we hope you will like it here anyway". I wonder what the US "recruitment video" would look like...
It has to be that way in Finland. People who're disorganized or sloppy probably still die if they lock themselves out in the winter.
The Finns are all descended from people who could make daily life run smoothly and plan for the future.
The others froze.
"Quietly confident" and white-predominant Finland dares to produce a video like that only because it is safely removed from proximity to a country like Mexico. I wonder how scenic, orderly, and well-educated the Cool Attic would remain after about 15 million mestizos took them up on their invitation and rampaged into the country illegally ("Skills? We don't need no stinkin' skills!")? How long would the motto "Everything Works" endure after their meticulous social service infrastructure is swamped by a birth-rate evolved to keep pueblo populations stoked and a gene pool that transmits ancient fantasies of turf conquest thru force of numbers -- as well as some of the lowest IQ and academic performance in its hemisphere. Imagine those well-ordered, whitewashed Finnish communities scarred with graffiti, with some staring, glaring gang-bangers milling in the midnight sun.
It looks like a video put together by a bureaucrat.
It talks about "women's sense of equality" - as it shows women engaged in lots of occupations that are taditionally female (beauticians, daycare, dry cleaning).
It talks about the high level of unionization and equal wages for equal jobs, so I'm guessing it's not the same video they use to recruit businesses.
But what I really love is how they talk about "diversity" at the very beginning of the video - then you never see a single non-white person in the entire thing (oh no wait - there was one black dude). Now that's my kind of diversity.
I remember years ago, during the cold war, a Finnish television program was aired in Estonia. It was an innocuous brama, but the Soviets raised hell over it. Why? Because of one brief scene at a butcher's, whose display case was loaded with meat.
I almost get the same sense here. Every person in the video is white, including those in care-taking roles (In places like Sweden those jobs are filled in part with immigrants).
Could it be that Finland (where Swedish is an official language) saying to qualified Swedes: Come to Finland: It's more like the Sweden you used to know...
Be careful about what you wish for!
Look at all the "skilled" workers Canada has imported over the last decades.... I hope Finland doesn't end up like Canada, with Shariah law and all the global riff raff cluttering their cities!
It talks about the high level of unionization and equal wages for equal jobs, so I'm guessing it's not the same video they use to recruit businesses.
No, our pro-immigrationist lefties believe that this makes perfect sense. We have a peculiar system with the unions and employers settling things together; it's probably utterly inexplicable to foreigners. Few people understand that speaking about unionization gives an entirely different impression to most foreigners. Also, unionization here is very often the only protection workers have, so of course it's higher than in countries that have minimum wage laws and the like.
For another example, last time I read the nation's largest newspaper (with the usual left-wing pro-immigration bias), they were speaking about how Finland spends such a low proportion of the budget on welfare compared to the EU average. Their commentary that demanded higher welfare spending included such a massive gem of wisdom as declaring that weak welfare spending isn't going to lure in any skilled workers! Argh. When I tried to argue this with my leftie friend, she joyously pointed out from the graphic that those EU states with the highest welfare spending indeed tend to have the highest numbers of immigrants. So, as far as she's concerned, she noticed that welfare attracts skilled workers! Double argh.
People here have no idea how the rest of the world works (or how it doesn't work and why it doesn't work...). That's why a lot of people think it makes sense to attract workers by talking about unionization, welfare and the like.
Could it be that Finland (where Swedish is an official language) saying to qualified Swedes: Come to Finland: It's more like the Sweden you used to know...
I wish it were, but in Finland the Swedish minority (which has its own political party) is the most vocal proponent of multiculturalism. They complain about Finnish xenophobia all day long and then want the immigrants and especially the refugees that they love to settle in Finnish areas, of course...
Do they take Americans?
Jaakkeli :
Do you think that the swedish minority is acting like this because they want other minorities to become the finnish majority's focus of attention ? Were they in control of the country in previous centuries ? Have they suffered real (or imaginary) oppression on the part of the majority Finns ? I'd imagine that the swedish , being germanic speakers , were more in contact with the rest of europe throughout the centuries. Was that the case ?
Whetever you guys do, I hope you guys aren't airing those ads in Mogadiscio :) :) You wouldn't wanr to give too many ideas to some people .
This video reminds me of government bureaucrats and politicians from just about any Western city/state/nation these days.
Why do I get the sense that when politicians and government officials look at us as constituents all they see are widgets?
I think we're all pretty much used to corporate suits seeing things that way, and even expect them to. But citizens are another matter. Listening to Western enthusiasm for immigration and for guys like Dick Florida (the "creative class" guru - remember him?) makes the following scenario seem perfectly plausible in my head:
Guy running for mayor of Liberalville promises that he will double the per cpaita income within four years. Wins office. Promptly kicks out all the current residents and replaces them with people who earn twice as much. Promise made, promise kept.
Not much good for the people who actually voted for him, though.
Another question economists can't answer. In a rational world, Americans should be in great demand as immigrants. We've had a Third-World (sweatshop) work ethic battered into us but we have First World skills and a sunny can-do spirit.
But our politicians simply look at immigration in tactical terms - how to placate agribusiness/race hustlers instead of a strategic opportunity to negotiate benefits from other countries in return for immigration loopholes.
Certainly there's something we could give Europe in return for emigration rights. Mexico and India should be willing to give up all kinds of concessions.
Do you think that the swedish minority is acting like this because they want other minorities to become the finnish majority's focus of attention ?
They're facing demographic doom, having gone from 15 % to 5 % through assimilation and migration to Sweden. That means increasing pressures from Finns to cancel the bilingualism and multiculturalist policies we have (there's eg. affirmative action for Swedish-speakers in certain fields). Increasing the proportion of minorities and embedding themselves into a more general framework of multiculturalism is appealing to many Finland-Swedes.
They can also insulate themselves well from the main flow of immigration. Few immigrants will want to learn both Swedish and Finnish, meaning that they're not going to move into Swedish areas.
Were they in control of the country in previous centuries ?
Uh, yes. The whole country was a part of Sweden until a Russian conquest 200 years ago. (Looking at Sweden today, it seems like the Russian conquest was one of the luckiest moments in Finnish history, actually...)
Have they suffered real (or imaginary) oppression on the part of the majority Finns ?
Certainly. During Swedish rule they had all sorts of privileges which we & the Russians of course pretty soon started canceling.
Whetever you guys do, I hope you guys aren't airing those ads in Mogadiscio :) :)
That ad is for Eastern Europe. The page says they've translated it into Romanian and Polish.
On the other hand, the Minister of Migration (who just happens to be from the Swedish minority party, yay) thinks it's a bright idea to focus on a set of non-EU countries to import people from, since a small country with an unknown language won't have the resources to handle every language in the world. Her specific picks are Ukraine, Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey. Hmm - what could go wrong with this?
As for the Swedish minority in Finland, they are the former ruling class and regret having been dethroned. They probably also get a lot of inspiration from the more "progressive" policies in Sweden, welcoming a large number of non-employment-based immigration. One mayor even went to the US Senate to complain about Iraq being transplanted into his town. Naturally, the Swedish-speakers in Finland feel embarrassed about their lack of diverse neighbors. Sweden in not France yet - generous welfare policies provide food, shelter and satellite dishes to placate the fresh imports, but they are working on it.
Steve, you are such a git. You hardly acknowledge Europe. You don't understand Europe. You ignore political news in Europe. To a California boy like yourself, Europe means very little.
Meanwhile the Right has routed the Left in Italy and Britain. Labor suffers a 40-year setback in the UK and "conservative" Americans like Steve Sailer... yawn. Thanks iSteve for the updates! We can count on iSteve to keep us abreast of racio-political realities across the globe!
Here's the news: every other EU state exposed to Islam will follow suit. The future of Europe is the angry and purposeful Right. The future is white rage. But that topic is not something Smooth Steve Sailer wants to talk about.
Steve, you are not interested in Europe, but Europe is interested in you.
I saw the video and made a conclusion. I would like to live in Finland the video presented.
Think.. all people white and everythinh is safe, clean and neet.
Now the problem is I am a Finn and already live in Finland in Helsinki area. The Finland where I live has a lot of black people, mainly somalis. Plus of course arabs and kurds. Twenty years ago there were no guards in the super markets, nowadays there is at least one or two. The feeling of security is gone.
The question is why isthe Finnish elite selling Finland as a all white, Finnish country while it really is something else.
acc
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I was in a hostel in Bosnia a few years back and a group of Finns were there, also a Norwegian couple. The Finns -- and to be fair they were late teens or early twenties -- left the bathroom and kitchen a mess. When I told the Norwegians this, they laughed .. .apparently in the Nordic area the Finns have the reputation as being somewhat dirty and unkempt. Guess its all relative."
Well Norwegians - teens. Go and ask, what hotel owners think in finnish Lapland. Reasently drunk norwegian youth group destroyed a rental cottage totally. Damage was between 50 - 100 000 €. Alcohol is cheaper in Finland so Norwegian teens go boosing in Finland nowdays.
In Bavaria the swedish were considered to be a pest when drunk in local skiresorts.
In Germany and in the Netherlands were I lived over decade ago the Brittish were considered worst boosers and badly behaving. Only time that I have been vommited on my shoes in official university dinner happened by a British totally wasted student aged in late teens or 20-24 or so..
Personally I don`t really think that there is much difference in alcohol consumption or attitudes or tidynes between Finland -Sweden ja Norway.
Usually norwegians dont know close to anything about Finland. Or they know "Piirka" a local caricature comedy figur.
http://phinnweb.blogspot.com/2005/02/piirka-rules.html
If "Piirka" would be white - it would ne considered rasistic and slanderous. In Finland it would be impossible to do similar caricatyre
for example from russians. Even russian girl disqualifed in Finnish "Top model-contest" boasted - reason for her drop out - rasism ;). So russian national in Finnish Top model..
Why don´t you go to Finland and find out? In perspective it still is a tidy land with high living standart.
A former Yugoslavian (Croatian) origin immigrant who lives in Stockholm visited his long time friends funeral in Finland. He praised the tidyness. In Sweden nowdays he said - country is turning untidier and more unpeaceful than before. He has lived in Sweden over 40 years so he has some perspective.
"I'd imagine that the swedish , being germanic speakers , were more in contact with the rest of europe throughout the centuries. Was that the case ?"
Not really. That idea is their brainchild . In history people that were educated had to lern swedish, bacause it was a only official language untill 1863. Upper class spoke also other european languages, that were taught in higher levels in school. Both finnish and swedish are minor languages in world perspective. Ligua franka in baltic for centuries were german.
My family traded grain from Russia and sold timber and industry products (yes Finland did industrialise earlier and faster than Russia. Russian needed to put up a taxborder to protect their own starting production. So in Terijoki railway station stood customs cheking passports and produce -even Finland was a autonimical part of Russia 1809-1917 ;)) to ST. Petersburg - that was in that era as advanced metropol and big in Europa as Berlin, London and Paris.
And they were finnish speaking - who spoke russian, german and swedish as well.
Most swedish speakers in Finland were rural peasent farmers or fishermen, living in same way as finnish speaking. In Uusimaa /Nyland -province that was obvious. Different villages spoke some finnish some swedish. Livelyhood was the same.
In cities the upper class spoke swedish - also the finnish origin . Because it was the official language. Many in social rise adopted swedish name and status during the centuries.
Tradesmen spoke also german, russian, dutch.. City of Viipuri /Viborg was coverned few centuries in german.
In late 1800;s early 1900;s the upper class started to take finnish surnames and even some changed their domestical language to finnish - it was a political movement fennomanism. It grow when finnish became official language in 1863 onwards. The politics were driven by Snellman.. ;)
Here a view written 1885 by russian Peter Kropotkin about rise of the finnish nationalism.
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/kropotkin/Finland/Finland.html
And here Fennoman movement in a nutshell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fennoman
Greetings from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland:
"1.However, the aforementioned provisions of the Act on the Exercise of Freedom of Expression in Mass Media are only applicable to publishing in Finland. If illegal material is distributed from a server located abroad, it is impossible, for instance, to obtain identification information without legal assistance from the foreign authorities in question. The same concerns the enforcement of an order to interrupt the distribution of a network message or to render a website unavailable to the public.
2.In practice, racist material is very commonly distributed from servers located in the United States. In these cases, the USA as a rule refuses to provide requested legal assistance on the plea of its own legislation on the freedom of expression. This substantially restricts the opportunities of Finnish authorities to intervene in the publishing of racist material on the Internet."
If someone is bold, or humorous enough to read a whole report, here it is. Englanniksi means "in English"
Anyway: You can allways listen to an abstract.
By the way: We have 15 cases, not only 14, so we are going to win this game. Solly about my Engrish. Carry on!
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