From time to time it is useful to view Finnish politics in relation to what is going on elsewhere. When you read the newspapers and watch the news today from Europe, the Americas, Russia, China, or Asia Pacific region, you get the feeling that most of the leaders are hopeless at managing things, or that their voters just do not understand who they are voting for… and then when you look at what is going on here you can, perhaps, be reassured that things are not too bad in Helsinki…
Let’s take a few examples:
Macron has sacked his Prime Minister at a time when the president is showing the worst results in the polls… and why is he showing bad results? France has one of the highest numbers of Corona-related death rates in Europe, it has one of the lowest growth rates, and it has one of the highest unemployment rates. This young president wants to make France great again, but voters probably voted for the wrong man! Your corespondent has worked in France – it is a conflicted country with a well-entrenched class system with a proud nationalistic streak, weakened by a long and cruel colonial history that treats immigrants poorly, and strong and strident trade unions. The president is just trying to hide his faults and blame his weaknesses on his former cabinet colleagues – how Trumpian…
Johnson has led the Brits to a suicidal Brexit and achieved the one of the worst Corona death rates in Europe, and still does not know where he is taking the country next. The voters never tire of watching a good comedy – the only problem is that the play they are watching is just a huge mirror. Try explaining to the millions packed on the beaches and in the pubs that social distancing means protecting yourself against the risk of infection. The class system works well with the upper crust and the untouchables co-existing quite happily. The media is so concentrated that they can effectively service these 2 groups. They do not mix except when the untouchables wave at the upper crust from the pavements when the lucky ones with names like “Camilla Cavendish, Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice” ride past in their posh cars! And Johnson has been in denial about the Virus for months and only speaks about his success in fighting the virus. He has claimed so many times that all is fine and that restrictions can be eased… hospitals are full, death rates higher than almost every other European country, and the economy continues endlessly to reel from the double whammy. At least Johnson is doing what Trump told him to do – be strong and leave with a Hard Brexit. That way he will enjoy a great Trade Deal with the Americans, which will almost certainly favour the USA in every possible way…
Putin has been quiet about the Virus too… they can “adjust the numbers” and quietly bury the dead. They have also started to accuse that the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has been funding international vaccine research as a charity while also funding a new coronavirus blamed for the entire COVID-19 pandemic. It appears that the Russian controlled RT media company is pumping out plenty of fake news to distract his voters from the fact that he wants to be Russia’s permanent and immortal leader. He also supports the bombing of innocents in Syria, and is alleged to be paying off mercenaries to kill US troops in Afghanistan. Trump does not appear to object to this piece of news since he cannot bring himself to critic his mates.
Trump, well he is doing what he does best… promoting himself and his businesses… and he also like saying “Let’s Make America Great Again”, but he does little to explain exactly how he intends to do his other than striking a “Great Trade Deal” with the UK, that he will probably renegade on if he is re-elected!
… and if readers are worried about Little Finland, then just look at the figures from the OECD in the 3 graphs below – Finland is doing well enough in economic terms and our death rate is still one of the lowest in the free world…
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.
