Posted on 04/09/2010 5:31:50 PM PDT by Justaham
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No multiculturalism and diversity.
Yup. Among the most non multicultural countries in the world. Swedish Finns are a big deal and usually aare looked down on. The Finns also say very little to each other. Serious people and among the smartest in the world.
If I can have the answer to one question, I think I can give a very cogent opinion: Does Finland have a lot of African-Finlanders, illegal hispanics and native tribals to try to educate?
I lived two years in Helsinki. Finland has two official languages, Finnish and Swedish.
Er, they are mainly still Scandavian, no injection of 3rd Worlders.
When I worked at Nokia, my orientation instructor told us that during a job interview, it is common in Finland to ask questions that would probably land employers in hot water in the US. For example, if an overweight person applies for a job (any job), the interview can legally ask that person about the possibility of his/her weight to be a barrier in doing an excellent job.
I went to Espoo in Finland, and most of the people I met very serious (at Nokia headquarters) and they seem to forever go to school even when they work during the daytime.
The answer to your question is a resounding NO.
The Finns are honest, hardworking, very industrious and respectful. They keep everything around them neat and clean and are too intelligent to make excuses. They take responsibility for their actions. I have family who still lives there and a neighbor who married a Finn and decided to stay in Finland to raise his family rather than America.
And also, some KA music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL4i2rXJhnU&feature=related
And Nightwish, with Tarja Turunden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VgLKXD-BoY
parsy, who digs this stuff
More time and energy spent on education rather then indoctrination?
Yup. They don’t say too much but when they do - they do not pull any punches. You are expected to preform too.
They are crazy smart and very studious. I remember having a few of them in college classes. When you realized it you would think “oh s**t I am going to have to work hard cause there will be no grade curve cause these Finns were getting A+’s.” It takes a bit to lower the barriers but when they do they are great people.
Hey, now! They have Swedes! And of course the Lapps.
Bingo!
“..too intelligent to make excuses.”
“They take responsibility for their actions.”
Obama supporters are 180 degress in the other direction on both counts.
The Finns remind me of Americans in the 1950s.
You’re absolutely right! Finns are very smart but very quiet and unassuming.
I remember when the CEO of Nokia held a townhall meeting (via live telecast from Finland.) The announcement was for a new board member. I can vividly remember his words, “The company has decided to add another board member. We decided to choose an American white male...” Every in the US was quiet, especially the colored folks.
I prefer this:
Linda “Brava” (I forget her real Finnish last name)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWi0x_aOzeM
She has a bunch of videos. Check her out because she looks like Pamela Andersson before Pam had all the freak silicon work done. Pam is a Canadian Swede but she must be Swedish-Finnish cause she has the slightly more Asian Finnish eyes. She and Linda Brava look a lot alike.
Also, my boss at Nokia was from Denmark. His staff was located in the US, while he was in Findland. On a visit to the US, he called our admin (who was Chinese) a Chink, and called one of the product managers (who was an overweight black dude) and overweight epic failure. Since that happened in the US, the HR in US was called and my boss was essentially demoted to appease the two wronged employees.
Maybe, this could be a little like comparing apples to oranges, somewhat. Finland’s population is about 5.2 million people. America’s population is about 303 million people. Finland’s landmass is about 117 million sq.mi. about the size of Arizona. Arizona also has about a half a million more people. Comparing a very large and ethnically diverse country as ours to Finland is skewed. A better comparison would be among China, India, Indonesia, and Brazil and the U.S. I think it would be safe to say that cherry picked, affluent, county in a urban area of America would do quite well in most comparisons, but to average all U.S. students in, that would definitely lower the overall scores.
Don’t get me wrong, there is whole lot of things that needs fixing with our educational system, mostly in my opinion is due to the stranglehold that the teachers’ union have over local and state school boards. Dissolving teachers’ unions, giving local authority to hire and fire, in one generation, I feel that we (U.S.) would be right back on top. Remember John Dewey, the father of the Modern Education system in America was a socialist. Socialism and unionism, twins from the same sow.
A Marine friend now lives in Espoo with his Finnish wife and their two kids. They’re all pretty quiet and somewhat serious. Although in his 40s, he’s now fairly literate in Finnish and works for Suunto.
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