Finland's 100th independence day: my thoughts
Today 6th of December 2017 is Finland's 100th independence day. Independence day has always been very important day for Finns but this year is special. As a result, multiple famous landmarks across the world have been lit in white and blue, the colors of the Finnish flag in celebration of this occasion. The whole year of 2017 has been full of events celebrating 100 years of independence. While this year definitely is something worth celebrating, this celebration takes some very grotesque forms.
My main grievance with the celebrations is the glorification of war. During world war two, Finland fought two wars against the Soviets and this fact is given way too much attention. Among the public the military is one of the most respected institutions which is one of the main reasons why conscription still enjoys as much support it does. Now, I've already made four posts about that topic, so you already know what I think about that. The military is essentially considered to be above criticism which is something I've seen personally since I talk about this topic. This glorification of war is especially weird, considering there's a lot more about this country to be proud of. Finland has been at the forefront of gender equality and technological advances. Alternatively, Finland has historically been one of the most successful countries in sports, having most Olympic medals per capita than any other country in the world. The point is, considering there are so many thing to be proud of, it doesn't really make sense to focus on war, especially considering that during the second war against the Soviets, Finland was fighting alongside the Nazis. This is especially frustrating to see, considering my personal opposition towards militarism.
There's also the fact I personally don't really understand patriotism. Ultimately, the fact that I was born in Finland was simply by chance. I didn't do anything to earn it, so why be proud about that? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm happy to live here. Finland is by far one of the best countries to live in and I'm grateful of that. Also, if you're patriotic yourself, I won't necessarily hold it against you. Problem is, that when it goes too far, it becomes destructive. That's when you get racially motivated attacks against immigrants and a lack of empathy towards people in need, if their not from your country and unfortunately that is something I've seen happening here, especially after the refugee crisis.
Independence day has always been a popular day for demonstrations and this year is not any different. Later today Helsinki is seeing three separate demonstrations. Two of them are organized by the Nordic Resistance Movement, which, if you remember one of my previous posts was recently banned. You may wonder how their able to organize demonstrations if the group is illegal. Well, the courts decision about the ban has not yet been put into action. Also the group is appealing the case, meaning that most likely this won't be happening anytime soon. The ban also is towards the groups name and symbols; but the demonstration is officially organized by a private person and not the organization itself. They actually do this a lot: instead of using the groups name, they inform authorities about their plans as private citizens. One of the demonstrations carries the name "Kohti Vapautta", which roughly translates to towards freedom. This one, they are openly organizing themselves also includes members from from other branches of the group. The other one is the 612-march, where the group is still involved with the planning, though not so openly, in an effort to hide their involvement and get more support for it. Apart from these two, there is a counter protest carrying the name "Helsinki ilman natseja", or "Helsinki without Nazis". The Facebook event for it says that there are over 2000 people taking part and over 5000 interested in the event, meaning it's by far the largest of the three.
The 612-march actually caused some controversy. Töölöntori in Helsinki, the place where the march is supposed to start, had been double booked as a group of parents were planning a children's independence day celebrations there. Ultimately the children's event was forced to relocate, because of a quirk in Finnish law. Since the march is considered a demonstration the organizers simply have to give a notice to authorities about their plans. On the other hand, the children's event was a public event and thus the organizers need a permission from the owners of the venue to organize the event. Because of this, the owners of Töölöntori, where the event was supposed to be held, revoked the permit for safety reasons. This caused a lot of backlash for the authorities, but there was really nothing they could do. The organizers of 612-march had given a notice of their plans before the children's event got their permit and since the march is considered a demonstrations, there really is no way to actually force them to change their plans. Thankfully, a local soccer team allowed the children's event to relocate to their home stadium.
What am I doing today? Well, I'm definitely following the news about the demonstrations. Last year things got violent between Nazis and counter protesters and multiple people were arrested. Now last year some of the protests actually were organized at the same time and partially in the same place, which may have caused that. Based on what I know, at least the previously notified protest are organized at different times and different locations, meaning there shouldn't be that many altercations. However, you never know about these things. I've also tried getting more attention to the issue of conscription, by Tweeting my posts about the topic and using the hashtags #Finland100 and #Suomi100. Success on that has been limited, but points for effort I guess. I'm still waiting for butt hurt responses from people, since this is, as I've previously mentioned, considered a controversial position to hold, especially on this special day. But, we shall wait and see.
My main grievance with the celebrations is the glorification of war. During world war two, Finland fought two wars against the Soviets and this fact is given way too much attention. Among the public the military is one of the most respected institutions which is one of the main reasons why conscription still enjoys as much support it does. Now, I've already made four posts about that topic, so you already know what I think about that. The military is essentially considered to be above criticism which is something I've seen personally since I talk about this topic. This glorification of war is especially weird, considering there's a lot more about this country to be proud of. Finland has been at the forefront of gender equality and technological advances. Alternatively, Finland has historically been one of the most successful countries in sports, having most Olympic medals per capita than any other country in the world. The point is, considering there are so many thing to be proud of, it doesn't really make sense to focus on war, especially considering that during the second war against the Soviets, Finland was fighting alongside the Nazis. This is especially frustrating to see, considering my personal opposition towards militarism.
There's also the fact I personally don't really understand patriotism. Ultimately, the fact that I was born in Finland was simply by chance. I didn't do anything to earn it, so why be proud about that? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm happy to live here. Finland is by far one of the best countries to live in and I'm grateful of that. Also, if you're patriotic yourself, I won't necessarily hold it against you. Problem is, that when it goes too far, it becomes destructive. That's when you get racially motivated attacks against immigrants and a lack of empathy towards people in need, if their not from your country and unfortunately that is something I've seen happening here, especially after the refugee crisis.
Independence day has always been a popular day for demonstrations and this year is not any different. Later today Helsinki is seeing three separate demonstrations. Two of them are organized by the Nordic Resistance Movement, which, if you remember one of my previous posts was recently banned. You may wonder how their able to organize demonstrations if the group is illegal. Well, the courts decision about the ban has not yet been put into action. Also the group is appealing the case, meaning that most likely this won't be happening anytime soon. The ban also is towards the groups name and symbols; but the demonstration is officially organized by a private person and not the organization itself. They actually do this a lot: instead of using the groups name, they inform authorities about their plans as private citizens. One of the demonstrations carries the name "Kohti Vapautta", which roughly translates to towards freedom. This one, they are openly organizing themselves also includes members from from other branches of the group. The other one is the 612-march, where the group is still involved with the planning, though not so openly, in an effort to hide their involvement and get more support for it. Apart from these two, there is a counter protest carrying the name "Helsinki ilman natseja", or "Helsinki without Nazis". The Facebook event for it says that there are over 2000 people taking part and over 5000 interested in the event, meaning it's by far the largest of the three.
The 612-march actually caused some controversy. Töölöntori in Helsinki, the place where the march is supposed to start, had been double booked as a group of parents were planning a children's independence day celebrations there. Ultimately the children's event was forced to relocate, because of a quirk in Finnish law. Since the march is considered a demonstration the organizers simply have to give a notice to authorities about their plans. On the other hand, the children's event was a public event and thus the organizers need a permission from the owners of the venue to organize the event. Because of this, the owners of Töölöntori, where the event was supposed to be held, revoked the permit for safety reasons. This caused a lot of backlash for the authorities, but there was really nothing they could do. The organizers of 612-march had given a notice of their plans before the children's event got their permit and since the march is considered a demonstrations, there really is no way to actually force them to change their plans. Thankfully, a local soccer team allowed the children's event to relocate to their home stadium.
What am I doing today? Well, I'm definitely following the news about the demonstrations. Last year things got violent between Nazis and counter protesters and multiple people were arrested. Now last year some of the protests actually were organized at the same time and partially in the same place, which may have caused that. Based on what I know, at least the previously notified protest are organized at different times and different locations, meaning there shouldn't be that many altercations. However, you never know about these things. I've also tried getting more attention to the issue of conscription, by Tweeting my posts about the topic and using the hashtags #Finland100 and #Suomi100. Success on that has been limited, but points for effort I guess. I'm still waiting for butt hurt responses from people, since this is, as I've previously mentioned, considered a controversial position to hold, especially on this special day. But, we shall wait and see.
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