I don’t know how much you follow Finnish politics,
Pretty closely. Occupational hazard.
The Orpo cuts are part of a long term problem, exacerbated by the rampant spending on nothing useful during Covid, which was on top of the terrible response to the 2008 GFC. The governments have been very anti-invest for two decades, and when they do invest, they invest into useless.
People are also to blame though, because they put to much thoughtless faith in the government, as if it is infallible. They keep looking at it as if it is what it was forty years ago, without recognising the global influence.
The Russia thing was a big hit of course and not just trade, but also production that was there, like Nokian Tyres new factory.
Unemployment is close to 10% right now.
Over 10 now. Worst since 2008/9.
And of course, this hits my own finances too, because I mainly work with Finnish companies.
Yes, which is my issue too. Even as I pick up some work in one area, I lose it in another due to internal cutbacks and layoffs.
The magic that Finland had was always based on one thing: governments invested in people. Education, healthcare, social safety nets. That was the whole foundation. Finland never became successful because the state invested in companies. That is not even what governments are supposed to do. Their job is to build an environment where both people and companies can flourish.
Right now, that environment is collapsing.
The current government is not just making long-term adjustments. They are wrecking the basic structures that held the country together. I just saw a TikTok yesterday showing that the new unemployment support next year will be something like 287 euros per month. Two hundred eighty-seven euros. For a whole month. That is not welfare. That is a punishment.
And that is exactly why people are terrified. Finland used to be a safe haven: predictable, stable, humane. Now it is not. People are saving because they have to. They know that if they fall even slightly, there is nothing left to catch them. And when people stop spending out of fear, the whole economy shrinks, companies go under, and even more jobs disappear.
It is not about Finns having too much faith in the state. It is that the state literally changed its role. It went from protecting people to abandoning them. And everything else is just downstream from that.
But they invested into conditions where people had the right skillsets to be in companies, and thrive in general. In the last decades, they have been more populist, putting money into handouts, and education into nothing that is in demand. Lots of meaningless degrees. Now because of all the past failures, the current government has to continue on the path of more failure. More unnecessary useless debt, whilst cutting spending in areas that matter. It doesn't matter which party is in, the result is the same.
I completely agree, but I have been saying it for 20 years already. It is inevitable, because they have taken the approach they have, and it is just a slide down. It will get much worse.
The state is the people, the people the state. People can make a difference, but instead they spend their time arguing over and caring about useless topics instead.
You should read this about the state of the education in Finland, it gives clear picture what has been happening since 2003
https://brokenchalk.org/challenges-in-the-finnish-education-system/
Since 2003 education has not faced nothing but cuts and it shows. Right now they are taking what's left of it. There has not been handouts, 90's were the golden era of everything.
Can you clarify what exactly are useless topics?