Show no mercy

It seems to me that we are living in a tough world. Values have changed. Our society, this welfare state that we live in was built upon the belief that we must all take responsibility for each other. The poor are as good as the rich. In order to build the best possible country we must make sure that we have the maximum number of citizens who are healthy and capable of working. This is what people believed after the wars when Finland slowly started to find its path as a modern welfare state.

“Kovat arvot palasivat Suomeen. Yhä useampi suomalainen uskoo siihen, että talouskasvu on hyvinvoinnin jatkumisen edellytys.” (Tough values made a comeback in Finland. More and more people believe that in order to maintain wellbeing the economy must grow.) (IS 13.4.2010)

“Sosiaalietuuksia ajaisin voimakkaasti alas. Se on vaan näin.” “Mulla on sellainen ongelma, että mä en oikein ihan umpitollojen kanssa mielelläni ole.” (I would cut down social allowances drastically. That’s just how it is. I have this problem that I don’t like to spend time with dumbasses.) (HS Mitä rikkaat todella ajattelevat 1.9.2019)

In my opinion, the first quoted article tells a sad story. People have this utopic dream of continuous economic growth that should prevail everything. There’s simply no room for the weak, poor and the sick. The economy must grow and everyone that gets in the way can and has to be silenced.

Photo: pxfuel.com

The second article is based on interviews with the richest of the richest people in Finland. In this article they say how things really are, in their opinion. Social allowances are a burden, dumb people suck. “The speaking manners and styles varied among the interviewed people but tough values, pessimism and blaming others were the attitudes to show up throughout the whole material” (HS Mitä rikkaat todella ajattelevat 1.9.2019)

Show no mercy. Everyone is responsible for their own success. If you fail, it’s a sign of wrong choices and lack of intelligence. I would rather choose to live surrounded by people that form a system that I know will support me if I fall. In my world, writing this feels ridiculous. Doesn’t everybody want a safety net? It seems to me the answer is no. Every time social allowances, funding of public services, education funds are cut I can’t help but wonder how short-sighted the people responsible for these decisions are.

One thing that I’m never tired of talking about is mercy. I have come to the conclusion that there is never too much empathy in this world. The most important thing that I would love people to learn is that if something isn’t difficult for you, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be extremely difficult for someone else. We all have things that we struggle with. For me making new friends is relatively easy but I struggle to keep up with deadlines and am not the most organized person in this world. It doesn’t help if someone calls me irresponsible and lazy and tells me to grab my self by the neck. It’s also equally useless for me to tell a lonely person to get up and talk to people, like I do. People make mistakes, people have their reasons for not knowing how to do something and not being able to do somethings. This all sounds simple when I write it, doesn’t it? Then honestly, can you tell me you’ve never thought: “Why can’t this person just solve this problem like I would? It’s easy!” I bet you have.

https://www.is.fi/taloussanomat/oma-raha/art-2000001669372.html

https://dynamic.hs.fi/2019/promille/

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1 ajatus aiheesta “Show no mercy”

  1. Thank you for your post, Anne. It is a good reminder of the values and principles that our social welfare model is based upon, and some alternative, individualist values that threaten to undermine it.

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