It’s markedly different from the US, sure. But for one I’d say racism is way more prevalent. Genuinely a huge majority of the people I went to school with as a teenager still, to this day, admit they’re casual racists, and even sort of defend it. It’s a very different type of racism than in the US, but the very hateful kind exists here as well. It’s just a very casual type is super common. No exaggeration.
Authoritarianism is also prominent. Finland has had mlrr complaints of police abuse to ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) than other Nordics combined (so our 5mil pop against some 40mil). And not nearly all the abuses go to ECHR. I wanted to complain, as I was abused by the police, kept in isolation for 3 days, shut off my water at one point, denied me my prescription meds for the whole time, despite me literally writing on the walls in my own blood.
I’ve tried complaining to every single institution, and all of them say the police did nothing wrong.
I know several people who buy into all sorts of shitty conspiracy theories like antivax, because their English is subpar and the idiotic rhetoric of those conspiracies is easier for them to follow. I know antivaxers, flat earthers, moonlanding deniers. Like too many.
So no, despite us having some decent regulations on paper, we’re no utopia. You know the “happiest country in the world” bs? It actually measure contentedness, and it’s in Finnish culture you’re “not supposed to complain”. So when asked how things are, even ppl in shitty situations would say “eh, it’s fine”, so overall we’d score high in that.
Such sadness depression and shittiness in the whole country I can’t wait to escape somehow. Looking rather bad though, as the healthcare is managing jack shit to help me because they all still have attitudes towards cannabis that were common in the US in the 60’s. And because I don’t get a proper diagnosis I keep suffering and not getting the support I actually should be getting. The fucked up healthcare has made it so the fucked up bureaucracy treats me even worse.
I’ve basically been floating in a hellish limbo for some years now. Completely alone and isolated. Well, my codependent grandma keeps calling to complain just how shit her life is while not ever asking a single question about mine. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her laugh, now that I think about it.
She was part of the richest family in the town in her youth, then her husband (my grandfather) died and my dad wasted everything and got in debt and now she’s poor and knows how much she’s getting fucked over by the right wing parties and acknowledges it, and still says she will alway vote for them.
Same with my late father. I once showed him a clip which was never aired, where his favourite politician straight up said “let’s do another take, as I’ll deny that anyway” referring to a straight up lie he said. Dad just literally blanked it and it’s as if he genuinely didn’t see it while watching it. And when I asked about it afterwards, like instantly afterwards, he just mumbled something and completely pretended said thing didn’t happen.
And that’s just a few examples. I’ve thousands more.
Yeah, I don’t much have to fear being homeless or starving for lack of food (I am starving for lack of being able to absorb nutrients tho on occasion, because doctors won’t acknowledge a problem, blaming everything on me having admitted cannabis use 15 years ago, despite objective evidence). So there are positives, sure. But a lot of negatives as well.
For one, I had my home searched by the police. Without a warrant. I asked them for one. They sayd “It’d take like 5min to get one”. I said “do that, please”. They grabbed my door and ripped it open, came in. I started filming, they ripped my phone from my hands, saying “you’re not allowed to film the police”.
And to prove that last bit, I actually have a news story from the largest paper in Finland, and there’s a supreme Court case, which I won. And for winning it, guess what I got? Literally nothing. In the US, I could’ve sued the fuck out of these police and would’ve settled for millions.
Here even my own family doesn’t recognise the police having abused me. Such a deep level the authoritarianism. My own mother doesn’t believe me, even with photographic evidence and a supreme court decision.
Well shit, that could be better! Hopefully you can find the right person to help figure the things out. Fwiw, it’d be a similar story in a lot of places in the US, with the possible exception of the cannabis. And without your protections against homelessness etc. plus a lot more guns.
That said, try some comedy. Standup, movies, records, whatever. Laughter is the best medicine.
Well shit, that could be better! Hopefully you can find the right person to help figure the things out.
Thanks. I recently found a great therapist. British, and we use English. Because he’s not Finnish, he’s not blinded by the culture and I can actually get someone to understand the issues I have.
Well, since the US had a lot of police abuse things, you now have pretty strict laws on procedure, warrants issued by a judge, Miranda rights, etc. I’m not saying those always get followed, but if they’re caught not following, people can sue for a lot. Here I the warrant just needs to be a oral permission from a high ranking police, but when I actually got the warrant in paper, it was backdated 2 months after the search. And I can’t find anyone who’d find a problem with that.
At least the US has the sort of defense lawyer that Better Call Saul parodies a bit.
Essentially Finnish people trust too much in their systems — and not without reason — but that trust for a long time has made it so that no-one sees if they work. And unchecked power does what unchecked powers does, no matter the nation.
That said, try some comedy. Standup, movies, records, whatever. Laughter is the best medicine.
Dude I think I’ve watched all the comedy. And drama. And fantasy. And scifi. Several thousands of hours, I’d say. ST: TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise. Tng at least 3x Voyager 2x. House MD like 5x. Fry and Laurie. All QI. All WILTY. All Taskmaster. All big fat quizes. All specials from a lot of standups. Family guy, American Dad, Taika Waititis shows; What We Do in the Shadows, Our Flag Means Death.
Laughter might be the best medicine, but things which make me laugh nowadays are pretty rare.
Yeah no chance.
Finland really isn’t the utopia people think.
It’s markedly different from the US, sure. But for one I’d say racism is way more prevalent. Genuinely a huge majority of the people I went to school with as a teenager still, to this day, admit they’re casual racists, and even sort of defend it. It’s a very different type of racism than in the US, but the very hateful kind exists here as well. It’s just a very casual type is super common. No exaggeration.
Authoritarianism is also prominent. Finland has had mlrr complaints of police abuse to ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) than other Nordics combined (so our 5mil pop against some 40mil). And not nearly all the abuses go to ECHR. I wanted to complain, as I was abused by the police, kept in isolation for 3 days, shut off my water at one point, denied me my prescription meds for the whole time, despite me literally writing on the walls in my own blood.
I’ve tried complaining to every single institution, and all of them say the police did nothing wrong.
I know several people who buy into all sorts of shitty conspiracy theories like antivax, because their English is subpar and the idiotic rhetoric of those conspiracies is easier for them to follow. I know antivaxers, flat earthers, moonlanding deniers. Like too many.
So no, despite us having some decent regulations on paper, we’re no utopia. You know the “happiest country in the world” bs? It actually measure contentedness, and it’s in Finnish culture you’re “not supposed to complain”. So when asked how things are, even ppl in shitty situations would say “eh, it’s fine”, so overall we’d score high in that.
Such sadness depression and shittiness in the whole country I can’t wait to escape somehow. Looking rather bad though, as the healthcare is managing jack shit to help me because they all still have attitudes towards cannabis that were common in the US in the 60’s. And because I don’t get a proper diagnosis I keep suffering and not getting the support I actually should be getting. The fucked up healthcare has made it so the fucked up bureaucracy treats me even worse.
I’ve basically been floating in a hellish limbo for some years now. Completely alone and isolated. Well, my codependent grandma keeps calling to complain just how shit her life is while not ever asking a single question about mine. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her laugh, now that I think about it.
She was part of the richest family in the town in her youth, then her husband (my grandfather) died and my dad wasted everything and got in debt and now she’s poor and knows how much she’s getting fucked over by the right wing parties and acknowledges it, and still says she will alway vote for them.
Same with my late father. I once showed him a clip which was never aired, where his favourite politician straight up said “let’s do another take, as I’ll deny that anyway” referring to a straight up lie he said. Dad just literally blanked it and it’s as if he genuinely didn’t see it while watching it. And when I asked about it afterwards, like instantly afterwards, he just mumbled something and completely pretended said thing didn’t happen.
And that’s just a few examples. I’ve thousands more.
Yeah, I don’t much have to fear being homeless or starving for lack of food (I am starving for lack of being able to absorb nutrients tho on occasion, because doctors won’t acknowledge a problem, blaming everything on me having admitted cannabis use 15 years ago, despite objective evidence). So there are positives, sure. But a lot of negatives as well.
For one, I had my home searched by the police. Without a warrant. I asked them for one. They sayd “It’d take like 5min to get one”. I said “do that, please”. They grabbed my door and ripped it open, came in. I started filming, they ripped my phone from my hands, saying “you’re not allowed to film the police”.
And to prove that last bit, I actually have a news story from the largest paper in Finland, and there’s a supreme Court case, which I won. And for winning it, guess what I got? Literally nothing. In the US, I could’ve sued the fuck out of these police and would’ve settled for millions.
Here even my own family doesn’t recognise the police having abused me. Such a deep level the authoritarianism. My own mother doesn’t believe me, even with photographic evidence and a supreme court decision.
So that’s a bit fucked, don’t you think?
Edit shit forgot the link to the story here https://www.hs.fi/suomi/art-2000009654524.html
Well shit, that could be better! Hopefully you can find the right person to help figure the things out. Fwiw, it’d be a similar story in a lot of places in the US, with the possible exception of the cannabis. And without your protections against homelessness etc. plus a lot more guns.
That said, try some comedy. Standup, movies, records, whatever. Laughter is the best medicine.
Thanks. I recently found a great therapist. British, and we use English. Because he’s not Finnish, he’s not blinded by the culture and I can actually get someone to understand the issues I have.
Well, since the US had a lot of police abuse things, you now have pretty strict laws on procedure, warrants issued by a judge, Miranda rights, etc. I’m not saying those always get followed, but if they’re caught not following, people can sue for a lot. Here I the warrant just needs to be a oral permission from a high ranking police, but when I actually got the warrant in paper, it was backdated 2 months after the search. And I can’t find anyone who’d find a problem with that.
At least the US has the sort of defense lawyer that Better Call Saul parodies a bit.
Essentially Finnish people trust too much in their systems — and not without reason — but that trust for a long time has made it so that no-one sees if they work. And unchecked power does what unchecked powers does, no matter the nation.
Dude I think I’ve watched all the comedy. And drama. And fantasy. And scifi. Several thousands of hours, I’d say. ST: TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise. Tng at least 3x Voyager 2x. House MD like 5x. Fry and Laurie. All QI. All WILTY. All Taskmaster. All big fat quizes. All specials from a lot of standups. Family guy, American Dad, Taika Waititis shows; What We Do in the Shadows, Our Flag Means Death.
Laughter might be the best medicine, but things which make me laugh nowadays are pretty rare.