Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää, Suomi!

Posted: December 6th, 2007 | Author: | Filed under: finland | No Comments »

Tänään on Suomen Tasavallan itsenäisyyspäivä. Paljon onnea kaikille suomalaisille! Te olette rakentaneet valtion, mitä on syytä juhlia.

Congratulations to the Finns for the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Finland. You have built a state worth celebrating.


Unreal

Posted: November 8th, 2007 | Author: | Filed under: finland, thoughts | No Comments »

Finland has always had the reputation as a safe country. The shocking news of the shooting at Jokela school in Tuusula seem unreal. People are already asking all sorts of questions: Was it easy access to guns? Was it teenage angst gone bad? Was it an attempt to immortality and recognition? etc

I do not think we will ever know the answers to these questions as human beings are complicated beings with complicated motives. Could this have been prevented? I do not think so. But I think people should pay more attention to people around them, try to understand them and promote tolerance and peaceful resolution of any issues. We should also think about what kind of society we are building by consuming things that are ultimately harmful (and I am not talking so much about bodily harm, but mental). Like it or not, the shooter was also our creation, in the same way we are products of the genes and the environment that shapes us, which in turn is created by us.

I believe more peace, understanding and tolerance is the best weapon against hatred, violence and war.