Finland: The True Finns Ideology and Finnish Immigration Policy

[Harold Schiffman]

The True Finns Ideology and Finnish Immigration Policy

During last weeks the True Finns Party have been much in publicity in
Finland due to party's marginal victory in last communal elections in
September 26th, when the party got 5,4% of the votes (rose from 0,7%
in last communal elections in 2004). Unlike in many European countries
when a claimed-to-be right-wing populist party succeeds, in Finland
the public attention has been quite positive, although there has been
usual accusations of racism and/or xenophobia. Therefore I think it's
more than proper to clarify what is the ideological base of the True
Finns Party, and give a point of view which ideological pathway the
party is about to take in future. Since I'm a member in True Finns
Youth's work group for future principles, I think I'm qualified to do
so.

Since our opinions about immigration and multiculturalism have been in
under the public eye, there's a need to give a profound presentation
of our attitude and political stand concerning them (The most
important concepts that help to understand the True Finns' ideology
and political guidelines are in cursive). True Finns are a Nationalist
party which values are based on Christian Social ideas. We defend
Democracy, Equality and Social Wellfare. By Christian Social values we
mean the Christianity-influenced social ethics developed in our
Western Civilization; Loving your neighbour, stand for the weaker
ones, defend the human value and strive towards justice and equality.
However unlike the Finnish Christian Democratic Party, we do not keep
the Christian values in front of the political facade, but behind it.
To us the Christian heritage in our Finnish culture, which we wish to
cherish, is not religious but a cultural question. That's why even
have many non-religious and/or Atheists as members in our party. We
are culturally conservative party, which drives socially progressive
policies. Sounds clashing to a non used ear, but since True Finns are
a Third Way party, which rejects the traditional narrow left-right
division, it doesn't make a controversy to us.

Our Nationalism appears in our attempt to defend and cherish Finnish
culture, society and economy under the pressure of globalization and
multiculturalism. We love our Fatherland, her language and culture,
but that doesn't mean we'd think that Finland of Finns would be
objectively above the other countries and nations, but alongside the
other nations. Nationalism is based on love for your own country, not
on hate towards others. Loving your own mother doesn't mean you'd hate
other peoples mothers.

Therefore we have lifted up the frase; "When in Rome, do as the romans
do" as one of our principles. We resist putting ethnically different
groups in inequal status or position in society against each other in
the name of "positive" discrimination. Everyone must have the same
rules and be equal in front of law and officials. Unfortunately it
isn't so nowadays because Finnish government is forcing
multiculturalist agenda. We do not tolerate putting ethnic majorities
in worse situation and/or status comparing to ethnic minorities,
because we think it is apartheid racism.

Unlike often claimed in public, we are not against immigration, but we
are against the current immigration policy. This is why we are
profiled as immigration critical party. Immigrants are not guilty for
the problems caused by the current immigration policy, but our
government and some of our officials who deal the immigration policy
with by looking it through rose shaded eye glasses of
multiculturalism. Immigrants are equal to us. They are welcome to
Finland to live here, as long as they follow the Finnish law, work,
and pay taxes as we all do. Same rules must apply for everyone.
Refugees must be helped out of crisis to save their lives, and
primarily they should be helped already in their home countries, or in
a country that is culturally as close as possible to their own, so
that their adaptation would be as easy as possible. The most important
priority is that they survive and are safe. However we don't welcome
wellfare tourists and repulse begging and some other manners which are
against democratic principles, freedom of speech and Nordic culture of
equality. These are mainly because of different cultural background,
religion and world view, which are the main reasons to majority of
problems caused by immigration.

The primary goal of cultural and immigration policy should be the
adaptation of immigrants into Finnish culture, so that their
descendants grow to be Finns by their language and heart. We support
and cherish Common Culture, the traditional idea of more unified way
of culture and society instead of multiculturalism and multi-ethnic
society. To be a Finn is a matter of language, culture and heart, not
of skin colour.

Since Finland is a small nation, we can not take in huge amounts of
immigrants at the same time. European examples show that social
problems caused by immigration begin to show when immigrants form more
than 4% of population and begin to reach a critical point when they
are more than 8% of population, as has happened in Western Europe;
France, Germany, Netherlands, Britain ans Sweden. Excessive
immigration leads to the point where society's resources are not
anymore sufficient enough to take care of peoples treatment, education
and wellfare in equal and just way, which leads to marginalization,
social fragmentation and ethnic conflict on streets and suburbs. This
all will cripple our wellfare system, and destroy social peace and
freedom.

This is why we thing that immigration policy should be changed so that
both the amount and educational quality of immigrants would be
controlled. This is for the common good of both, the Finns and the
Immigrants as the future Finns.

Scandinavian wellfare society prequisites relatively high taxation,
which needs a society of national community (volksgemeinschaft in
German), the spirit of togetherness, a feeling of natural solidarity
among the people, that everyone is ready to work for common good, and
accept to pay taxes "for the good of all of us". National community
a.k.a national solidarity is a phenomenon of human social instinct
that rises from our backbone. It is natural for a human being to deal
other people into two categories; "us and others". Towards all those
who he considers as members of the same herd as himself, he feels
solidarity, and towards those who he considers as strangers he is
reserved. Primary aspects of the forming of this feeling of
togetherness are language, basic values and culture, not the skin
colour or genetic heritage (although the latter does affect in forming
a family). The national community and the idea of a Nation State
(a.k.a Nationalism) are social, political and ideological applications
of this human solidarity and social behaviour.

When national community breaks down, whether it was because of
excessive growth of differences in economic income which leads to
clashing social classes, or clashing of different ethnic groups
against each other, it also brings end to the climate of social ethic,
the moral of society that upkeeps the wellfare system. The rich are no
more willing to pay high taxes to fund the social services for the
poor, and the poor don't want to support universal social benefits
(public education, libraries, etc.) that are also available for the
rich. Also the will of ethnic majority to pay taxes to fund social
wellfare and services for ethnic minorities diminishes. So the today's
multiculturalist policy is accelerating the current downfall of our
wellfare society and takes us towards a multi-ethnic class society. If
that happens, we can say goodbye not only to our fellfare system but
also to the functional democracy and social equality.

After World War II nationalism in Europe has been widely considered a
bad thing since the acts of the nazis' casted a dark shadow of war,
genocide and horrible suffering upon it. This has given a good
propaganda set for the liberal left against all nationalism and
nationalist movements. Leftist and internationalists want to forget
that German ethnoracist nationalism was and is only a dark and minor
sidepath of nationalism. The main stream of nationalism in Europe goes
still together with democracy, and sticks to the core values of the
French Revolution; Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood. Regardless of
the European Union's imperialist project, The majority of European
countries are still Nation States, where nationalism lives solidly on
the healthy and moral basement of democracy and humanity. So it also
is in Finland and in True Finns Party.

http://thrurian.blogspot.com/2008/11/true-finns-ideology-and-finnish.html

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