6/12, war heroes and global capitalism

In Finland, independence day is a quiet and serene day. The streets are empty. A day for reflection on war & peace. The film Unknown soldier is shown every year by public service TV. (Fittingly, yet another film about WW2 is released today.) There is a big ball at the persident's castle to which celebrities and the élite are invited. War heroes are the first to enter the ball and greet the president. The clothing of the élite is criticized by commentators, whose task it is to entertain the TV watchers with gossip and information about who-is-who. The state of the nation. One TV channel has the good taste to broadcast a program about dirt after the president's ball. I salute you, FST5!

I am celebrating independence day reading Proust, Guermantes way. He has got an excellent nose for the rhetoric of the élite, of what it is to consider oneself or others parts of "the cream of society". In Finland, creme de la creme consists of stern-looking politicians, war heroes, million dollar corporate managers and musicians/actors who have "made it" abroad.

Finland as a land of societal order and success is praised in the editorial of Helsingin sanomat (the dragon of newspapers in Finland). This year it is 90 years since Finland was approved as an independent state. The bourgeoise bias of HS is revealed in the historical role they assign to right wing party politics - it is almost as if they say: it is right wing politics that created the foundation for this country's success. The periods of social democrat governments are described as a continuation of right wing politics - this is stated clearly in the editorial and, historically, there may be some truth in that as well.

In the editorial, there are hints of criticism of global injustice, but I am surprised to see the intepretation that this is due to technological changes, rather than political forces. "Maailmanlaajuiset suuryritykset toimivat oman logiikkansa mukaan, ja poliittisten päätöksentekijöiden täytyy siihen haasteeseen osata vastata." (Global corporations are acting according to a logic of their own, and political actors should respond to their challenge.) I am not really sure in what way the concept of "logic" is employed here. The use of this concept will lead to the reign of corporations bein seen as a necessity. All the surrounding world can do is to respond. HS warns us against too much scepticism about global capitalism. It is due to global capitalism, they argue, that Finland has achieved its present wealth. "Yritteliäisyyden merkitystä ei voi liikaa korostaa." (The impact of entrepreneurship cannot be emphasized too much") For this reason, I am also surprised to see that the editorial is defending the role of the public sector. Of course, I would not want to argue with this.

Still, there is something about the tone of the editorial that is quite typical of a particular Finnish way (common in the press) of impersonating the State in a peculiar way: as the worried, responsibility-taking, advising voice of the Father, to whom one should not act rebelliously. Exhortations the force of which are grounded on belief in the authority of "the deciding parties".