The demands of the vandals

I noticed a small piece of news today stating that activists supporting Palestinians vandalized a historical painting in England, at the University of Cambridge. The painting, dating back to 1914, depicted former British Prime Minister Lord Arthur Balfour, best remembered for the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which Britain announced support for the establishment of a "national home" for Jews in Palestine.

Of course, Lord Balfour is no longer alive, and therefore, he holds no significance in today's politics. Thus, the vandalism by activists has no bearing on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

However, the destruction of the painting resulted in the loss of an irreplaceable piece of artwork and was therefore a culturally hostile act. Additionally, it demonstrated that the perpetrators were fanatical individuals whose behavior is guided by primitive instincts, similar to that of a toddler throwing a tantrum if they don't get their way.

The analogy is apt in the sense that a rational person does not heed the demands of their child throwing a tantrum on the ground. Similarly, a rational person does not cater to the potential political desires of these fanatical activists but rather dismisses them as childish whims.

The same thought in Finnish: 
Vandaalien vaatimukset

Previous thoughts on the same topic: 
A white family does not represent real Londoners
Finnish journalist called for British Prime Minister´s head to be placed on London bridge to dry
The activists sought excitement and a boost to their self-esteem in the Stockholm Diamond League

Freudian slip, 9-year-old girl and cultural appropriation

A Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat published an article about the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. In it, they interviewed special researcher Kimmo Elo, who mentioned that the party's popularity is due to the stumbling of the left-wing government in the country. 

While this may be the case, that's not why I wrote this article. Instead, I wrote it because I noticed the special researcher referring to AfD supporters as having created "an image that these refugees from Ukraine are only slightly better than the benefits exploiters who arrived in Germany in 2015."

I had to reread the entire sentence, and indeed, Elo referred to the migrants who arrived in Germany in 2015 as benefits exploiters. It's clearly a Freudian slip. In other words, the special researcher accidentally said what he truly thinks about the asylum seekers from eight years ago.

* * *

The consequences of that migration have been talked about quite a bit this year. For example, according to another article in the same Ilta-Sanomat, teenage boys driving a microcar had robbed a nine-year-old girl in Tuusula.

The article didn't provide descriptions of the boys, and it's possible that they are ethnically Finnish and not related to the events of 2015, yet they are part of the recent increase in youth violence, primarily driven by the population that arrived in Europe and also our country that year.

* * *

This matter was reported in a third article, where a representative of an organization called "Children of the Station" said, "It's pure idiocy. Previously, honor was associated with certain cultures. Nowadays, it doesn't matter. It's the same no matter what the ethnic background is. Honor has become a strange thing that you can't play with."

In other words, it seems that at least some Finnish youths have regressed to the level of the immigrants from developing countries who arrived here. This is an unfortunate fact that none of our country's political parties have anticipated, but both the government and the opposition should address it as quickly and effectively as possible, so that Finland does not become a similar asshole like the departure regions of the migrants from 2015.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Attitudes towards immigrants are not becoming more positive in Western countries
Will an ongoing trial open the eyes of politicians?
Increase of violence by youngsters in Finnish towns