Another informative, insightful post by Ian Kummer (from his Blog, “The Reading Junkie”). Particularly important to me because it addresses the shocking decision by Finland to join the most dangerous international terrorist organization, NATO. And once, before moving to the US, I seriously considered moving to Finland. The only reason I didn’t was that my job application to teach at a Finnish university was not accepted. I needed more than just an MA in English Philology. I first had to get a PhD to become competitive in the tough European academic market. And so I eventually moved to the States to work towards my doctoral degree in American studies at the University of New Mexico.
Here is my comment from Ian’s Blog and, below, a link to Ian’s article.
I spent some memorable time in Finland many years ago, working on a farm and traveling around the country all the way up to Rovaniemi. I had been invited by a Finnish student and made some very good Finnish friends in Forssa and Turku. I was impressed by their tactfulness, friendliness, and common sense.
At that time Finland was the epitome of a wise country: prosperous, clean, and peaceful. In Poland, someone said that Finland was like “Pokorne ciele co dwie matki ssie. (“A humble calf that sucks two mothers.”) The Finnish way was how to make the best of the two worlds: the Communist/Soviet Empire and the Western World. It was the kind of smart foreign policy that Polish diplomats could only dream about.
But that was then. Now I am appalled by how Finland has changed. I have no idea what happened. I have no idea why the Finnish government would think Russia could invade Finland and why Finland would even consider joining such a blatant terrorist organization as NATO. And why would Russia ever want to invade Finland? I have written to my Finnish friend. He has remained strangely silent.
You are very much awake. Mielibyśmy świetne rozmowy, gdybyśmy się spotkali. Greetings, from Illinois.
“Mielibyśmy świetne rozmowy”. Maybe.