Votes for Sale: Sweden’s Changing Political Culture

In Sweden, electoral fraud was discovered earlier this week that enabled Mohamed Abdukadir Ali (Swedish Left Party), who has an immigrant background, to gain a seat in the Riksdag. Last night, another case was reported.

This case also involved a candidate from the Swedish Left Party who has an immigrant background and who had secured a seat in the Riksdag by paying voters a reward for voting for him. In other words, by buying votes and bribing the electoral cattle.

* * *

These cases show that Finland´s western neighbour is changing from a civilized Western democracy into something resembling a developing country in spiritual terms. They also confirm that a person from a developing country does not become Western merely by moving from a developing country to Europe, but retains the values and practices of their old culture when they arrive.

This is why the mass migration across the Mediterranean at the beginning of this millennium will profoundly transform Europe and European identity. Moreover, this development is accelerated by the fact that the problems caused by these migrants have been treated—at least in the mainstream media—time and again as isolated incidents, while refusing to understand that their underlying causes are deeply rooted in their culture and possibly—even probably—in their genes.

One can only hope that this error of thinking will be corrected and that people will learn to look at the facts as they are. This is so despite the fact that those facts are strongly at odds with the prevailing value-liberal dogmas about human nature and culture in the West.

* * *

Otherwise, it will be interesting to see how the cases that have now come to light are dealt with in Sweden. The election result was extremely close, as illustrated by the fact that replacing the two left-wing party candidates caught engaging in electoral fraud with right-wing candidates would also result in a shift in the balance of power between the right and the green-left bloc in the Riksdag.

This will of course not be done, but, for example, holding repeat elections in the constituencies of these two candidates would be justified and could lead to a change in the balance of power. But only if voters genuinely wanted to defend Swedish democracy, withdraw their support from the party of the candidates guilty of fraud, and cast their votes for preserving Sweden as a Western democratic society.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Will European Culture Collapse Under the Weight of Islamic Immigration?
Will an ongoing trial open the eyes of politicians?
A notable difference between Social Democrats in Sweden and Finland

Why It’s Crucial for Germans to Vote Wisely

Japan has been one of the countries that shut down its nuclear power plants. The reason for this was the Fukushima plant accident that occurred in 2011.

However, the Japanese relatively quickly came to their senses and restarted their first nuclear power plant already in 2011. Now, 14 nuclear power plants have been restarted in the country.

In Europe, Germany has shut down its nuclear power plants—the last ones in 2023—as it transitioned to using Russian fossil energy. As a result of the war in Ukraine, however, Europe’s economic powerhouse has found itself in a difficult position, as its natural gas purchases are financing Putin's war campaign.

Therefore, it is time for Germany to follow Japan’s example and restart its own nuclear power plants. By doing so, it could join the international group of countries that are genuinely trying to help Ukraine emerge victorious from Russian aggression.

In this matter, the decision-making power lies with German voters, who have the ability to shape the outcome. It is therefore to be hoped that they will recognize the importance of voting wisely. Failing to do so could make all of Germany a laughingstock.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Germany Then and Now Resemble Each Other
The Fall of Germany’s Government Could Open the EU’s Path to a Better Future
Elections in Georgia and Japan: The Future of Democracy on Different Paths

A Message From and To Vladimir Putin

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin stated that his favorite candidate for U.S. president is Kamala Harris. He explained that she might possibly refrain from imposing sanctions against Russia.

The question, of course, is why Putin commented on the U.S. elections. Did he genuinely want to express his support for the Democratic candidate, or was he rather trying to sabotage her campaign, knowing that not many Americans trust him at all?

My guess is that it's the latter. After all, he got along quite well with Donald Trump during Trump's previous presidency and probably assumes that it would be the same during a second term. This may or may not be the case, but in any case, Harris has already declared her support for Ukraine in its struggle for survival against Russia.

Therefore, for Americans, it's safest not to listen to Vladimir Putin and to make their voting decisions based on their own considerations. This ensures – if nothing else – that Putin cannot interfere in the elections of the largest democracy in the Western world.

Here in Finland, it has been noted with satisfaction that U.S. F-35 fighter jets have landed in Finland. These are the same aircraft that the Finnish Air Force has ordered for its next fleet, and the visit of the American planes sends a message to Putin and other Russian war hawks that it’s in their best interest to keep their own fighter jets out of Finnish airspace.

The visit of the top U.S. fighter jets to Finland was beneficial for the Americans as well. This can be inferred from the statement made by a U.S. Air Force general, who said, "The opportunity to learn from our Finnish counterparts enhances our ability to rapidly deploy and operate airpower from unconventional locations and reflects the collective readiness and agility of our forces."

This is exactly how cooperation should be: mutually beneficial for both parties!

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Finland Will Thrive with Any US President, Trump Survived the Assassination Attempt
Joe Biden Must Step Aside, But Can a Suitable Candidate Be Found?
Did the Finnish Prime Minister promise Hornet fighter jets to Ukraine?

The most effective Russian agent in the UK

Finnish general, member of parliament, and MEP Pekka Toveri (National Coalition Party) called the UK's Nigel Farage (Reform UK) the most effective Russian agent of the island nation. According to him, Farage has succeeded in undermining, among other things, the economy, healthcare, and domestic political decision-making of the former European military power.

Toveri was apparently motivated by Farage's blunder, in which he claimed that the EU and NATO provoked Putin into attacking Ukraine. With this opinion, Farage placed himself in the same group as individuals like Viktor Orbán or Alexander Lukashenko, who are completely uncritical in their relationship with Vladimir Putin's dictatorship.

However, the difference between Orbán and Lukashenko on one hand, and Farage on the other, is that they use Putin to stay in power in their own countries. Farage, on the other hand, is unable to gain power even with his help. Not now, and not in the future.

This does not mean that Farage does not have significant influence in British politics. If he manages to attract enough conservatives to his side, it will ensure a victory for the Labour Party in the island nation with all its consequences, and a loss for the Tories.

It remains to be seen how Farage and his party will succeed in attracting votes. And at the same time, whether a harsh electoral defeat will lead the Conservatives to consider moving the UK towards a proportional voting system, whereby the mandate received from voters would be more evenly distributed among the various parties.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Putin's useful idiots in Finland
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 European Parliament elections were a celebration for the far-left in Finland

The result of yesterday's European Parliament elections in Finland certainly surprised everyone following politics. It also surprised me, so a few words about it.

The big winner of the elections was the far-left formed by the Left Alliance and the Greens, which seemed to get the largest share of votes in all elections during Finland's independence. As much as 28.6 percent of the voters gave their vote to them.

This means that the Finnish European Parliament group will henceforth provide even more support for centralization, the migration of people from developing countries, wokeness, and efforts like Euro-taxes. At the same time, the result also means that the Finnish far-left knew how to take advantage of the low voter turnout.

This, however, was not understood by the supporters of the Finns Party. They decided to stay at home, perhaps cursing the entire European Union in their minds or protesting minor issues in the Finnish government's policy, where the party participates.

And they fulfilled my warning from a few days ago that the green-left would get one more representative in the European Parliament if people supporting other political directions did not go to the polls. Thus, the voting behavior of Finnish national conservatives was, to put it nicely, foolish.

* * *

If this kind of thinking had prevailed in all EU countries, the people from Africa and the Middle East seeking to come to Europe for welfare reasons would have thanked and set off in even larger numbers. Similarly, the preservation of raw materials for the Finnish forest industry would have become a real threat, and only imagination would have been the limit to what could be achieved on the wokeness front.

The silver lining was that the national conservatives in other countries were not as foolish as the Finns, but instead achieved an electoral victory while the entire left lost support. Of course, this victory would have been greater if Finnish voters had decided to support the Finns Party candidates instead of the far-left.

With the EPP group, including the Finnish National Coalition Party, achieving an electoral victory at the Union level, we can breathe a sigh of relief and hope to see healthier politics in the EU over the next five years than in the past term. Additionally, we hope that the most idiotic plans of the previous European Parliament will not be implemented.

* * *

In addition to EU politics, the election results will also impact Finland's domestic politics. Within the government, the National Coalition Party's victory in the European elections and the Finns Party's crushing defeat will increase the influence of the Prime Minister's National Coalition Party and decrease the influence of the Finance Minister's Finns Party. Thus, the issues important to the National Coalition Party will progress better than the wishes of the Finns Party.

This will be particularly evident in Finnish immigration and asylum policies, where the lines of the National Coalition Party and the Finns Party differ. My guess is that it will be even more challenging to bring related government program policies to the Parliament and thus into law during the current parliamentary term.

The danger, therefore, is that Finnish politics will see a repeat of the phenomenon witnessed during Juha Sipilä's (Centre Party) government from 2015 to 2019. Its immigration policy program was sensible, but ultimately it was never implemented. And to top it all off, a tremendous number of people from developing countries rushed into the country without the government taking any measures to prevent it.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Mass immigration is the greatest concern for EU youth
During the Eurovision song spectacle, the incompetence of EU officials was revealed
The EU's 7.4 billion euro aid package is intellectual dishonesty

Risk of dementia in the U.S. presidential elections

In Finland and the USA, presidential elections are taking place. We have two middle-aged men facing each other, both in good health, with no significant decline in mental and physical condition expected in the upcoming term. In this sense, things in Finland are quite exemplary.

It's a different story in the world's leading superpower. The Democratic candidate and the incumbent president, Joe Biden, was born in the midst of World War II in 1942, making him 82 this year and, if he were to serve another term, he would be 86 at its end. At times, there have been signs of both mental and physical deterioration in him.

Biden's likely opponent in the presidential election is the former president of the USA, Republican Donald Trump. He is slightly younger than Biden, also an older man. Thus, it is clear that the onset of old age symptoms is likely for him during a potential upcoming presidential term.

If the scenario unfolds in the U.S. elections where these two candidates are pitted against each other, there is a significant risk that the grip of the world's leading superpower on realpolitik weakens. In the worst-case scenario, power transfers to the vice president, but a president turning senile may hold onto power for an extended period.

This, in turn, implies that undemocratic forces gain more weight in global politics. This is especially true for the strongest among them, China, but Russia will undoubtedly seek to exploit such a situation as well, potentially even militarily.

Therefore, it would be excellent if Americans across party lines understood that their country needs a younger leader, one likely to remain functional throughout his term. This is particularly crucial now, as European leaders believed that world history ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and allowed their crisis response capabilities to deteriorate – capabilities they certainly won't be able to fix over the next four years.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Military confrontation between China and USA highly probable in near future
Will China ally with Russia against Ukraine?
Leaders infected by a parasite

Competence of the political left

Finland is in a process to choose a new president for itself. The contenders are Alexander Stubb (National Coalition Party) and Pekka Haavisto (Greens). 

Therefore, I thought of writing about the general competence of the political left, using the example of the Red Vihti in 1918. As a source for my writing, I will be referring to Seppo Myllyniemi's work "Vihdin historia 1800-1918," which is available for potential fact-checkers from various antiquarian bookstores.

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Vihti is a medium-sized municipality located in Uusimaa, where, before the Red Rebellion, around 10,000 people lived, of whom over three-quarters supported the Social Democratic Party of Finland. This refers to the overall entity that initiated the rebellion, whose descendants include today's Social Democratic Party and the Left Alliance, as well as the Greens to the extent that the party was founded in the 1970s by former communists.

In fact, the Greens have also shifted increasingly to the left over the years, becoming more and more a typical socialist party, aiming to strengthen central authority at the expense of the ordinary person's economic and ideological freedom. Therefore, it is clear that in the ongoing election, Pekka Haavisto can be considered a political heir of Vihti's Red Guards.

* * *

Vihti's Red Guards took control of the municipality's administration on January 28, 1918, by intervening in a meeting of the investigative committee handling tax complaints. They instructed the committee to recalculate the tax decisions based on the red municipal tax law published in the People's Delegation's newspaper. However, the outcome did not satisfy the workers because the calculation method used would have resulted in an increase in their taxes.

To rectify the situation, workers were then granted a substantial one-third deduction from their incomes, and new taxes were calculated. However, this revised outcome was not acceptable to dwellers of rented farms, as their taxes would have increased in relation to bourgeois Finnish tax laws.

Afterward, there was one more attempt to find a model that would be acceptable to everyone, but such a model couldn't be constructed. Consequently, the new leadership of Red Vihti eventually decided it was best to revert to the old model, namely the taxation system of White Finland, which was then implemented.

* * *

Red Guard of Vihti varied in size during the rebellion, ranging between four and six hundred men. Thus, it was relatively strong compared to its surroundings.

This strength provided the Red residents of Vihti with the opportunity to conduct raids into neighboring municipalities. They did not pass up this opportunity; the Red Guards not only operated in their own municipality but also imposed levies on the inhabitants of outlying areas in neighboring municipalities. They showed little concern for whether the seized food would be of use to the local revolutionaries.

The military strength of Vihti's Red Guards was well-known in neighboring municipalities, preventing similar raids from being carried out in their direction. Thus, the socialist principle of might makes right was realized even in Red Finland.

* * *

Actual terrorism can, of course, be discussed in connection with the bloodshed committed against known right-wing individuals in the territory of the Reds. Already at the end of January, a steward was shot in Olkkala Manor, and a person with a master´s degree in Kourla Manor. Additionally, over a dozen young men heading north were killed because they were suspected of joining the White forces.

Prisoners were also taken and subjected to abuse. When the "Flying Squad" of the Red Guard arrived from Hyvinkää, prisoners were shot, including a local police. In total, eighteen civilians were killed in a short period in Vihti.

However, the acts of bloodshed did not end there. In February, one farmer and one technician were murdered. After a brief pause in the killings, more murders occurred in April, as the looming defeat approached. The victims included the son of the parish priest, a railway clerk, the chairman of the food board, and a farmer.

Interestingly, in addition to their raids, the Reds of Vihti extended their acts of violence beyond their own municipality, also committing murders. They went as far as taking the lives of some residents of their own municipality who lived elsewhere.

* * *

The above has revealed that the Vihti Red Guard was not only a terrorist organization but also a significant power factor in its own territory. One might imagine that it would have posed a formidable challenge to the White Guard led by Jägers (Finnish soldiers trained in Germany).

The Guard, a battalion consisting of four companies, was sent for this purpose via Tampere to Kuhmalahti - approximately 160 km towards north - where it fought for a couple of weeks and eventually came close to being encircled. As a result, the Guard withdrew to Hämeenlinna, from where it was ordered to return to the front.

However, this did not happen. Instead, the group devised a creative solution and hijacked a train, speeding back to their home region. This, of course, did not sit well with the Red Headquarters, which ordered the Vihti Red Guard to send its forces back.

The order was immediately attempted to be carried out, but it became apparent that hardly any of the former Red warriors were willing to fight anymore. Thus, the Vihti rebel leaders had no other option but to gather a new guard. Once ready, they sent it to the front in Vesilahti - also around 150 km towards north - where fighting resumed for a few weeks.

However, the fighting ceased when the Vihti rebels learned that the Germans were advancing from Hanko towards their home municipality. At that point, despite orders, the guardsmen set out for home once again.

There, they had to defend themselves against the Germans in well-prepared positions built in southern part of the municipality and succeeded in achieving victory. Or at least, after a brief battle, the Germans decided to bypass the entirety of Vihti, instead capturing Helsinki and advancing through there towards Hyvinkää, intending to challenge the main forces of the Reds from there.

At that point, the Red Guard was once again ordered to the front outside its home municipality, specifically to Riihimäki, just 50 km away. The group was mobilized, but after advancing only about ten kilometers in the neighboring municipality of Pusula, they decided to return home and lay down their arms.

This did not spare the Vihti residents from the white terror that followed the war. Over two hundred Reds from the area were unlawfully executed in field courts-martial, placing Vihti among the ten largest execution sites in the entire country.

Moreover, the lives of nearly fifty Vihti residents, one of whom was a woman, were lost in legal internment camps. Consequently, the rebels of the municipality ultimately paid an exceptionally high price for their revolutionary attempt.

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The small piece of local history above, in my opinion, is a highly interesting and instructive tale. The fervor for the Red ideology led people to seize power, but the new socialist authority immediately proved incapable of planning rational governance. It swiftly became corrupted, transforming from a herald of egalitarian humanity into an unscrupulous band of robbers that looted from its own ideological comrades and killed the innocent. In the end, it didn't even want to defend its "achievements."

All of this aligns perfectly with everything we have seen worldwide in states where Red power has gained a dominant position. Examples are easy to list, from the Soviet Union to Nicaragua, Cambodia to Venezuela.

Therefore, this story was worth publishing now as we Finns prepare to choose a new leader for our country and the top decision-maker in foreign policy for the next six years. The options, as I mentioned at the beginning, include a successor of the Vihti Red Guards and another candidate.

This blogpost is a slightly modified version of an earlier thought in Finnish:
Presidentinvaalit ja punainen hallinto

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Is the Finnish left-wing radicalizing?
Finnish women have enjoyed a privileged position since medieval times
History of Finland XII: Bloody civil war

Elections in Finland enlight journalistic views

Finns will vote for the members of their national parliament in early April. Accoprding to opinion polls, the Conservative party (21.6 % of those, who told their opinions) is the most popular one followed by Social democrats (19.3 %) and True Finns (18.4 %), the latter one being a more conservative but economically slightly less market oriented right wing party compared to Conservatives.

Today also another opinion poll was published. According to that, True Finns were by far the most popular one among those, who will vote for the first time. Their share of told opinions was a remarkable 35,9 %, whereas the secondmost popular Social democrates were favored by only 16,7 %. 

Interestingly though, the main newspaper in the country, Helsingin sanomat, had the latter opinion poll made. And that it published its figures in an unusual way for gallups measuring popularity of political parties - namely, including also those, who did not tell their opinions. 

In this way, the share of opinions to True Finns was lower than it would have been, if expressed in a normal way (as above) - "only" 28 %. As Helsingin sanomat is well known for its disgust for true Finns, this way of presenting the results was probably made by purpose. That is, by an intention to make their popularity among youngsters to look smaller. 

I am not saying that politics in Finland would be exceptionally dirty nor media would be highly corrupted. But definitely journalists are trying to support their favorites as much as they can (another example). And therefore those entitled to vote should be cautious, when following the media stream on politics.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
The beautiful PM of Finland has driven herself into a trouble
Misuse of taxpayers´ money in Finland
An ignorant mediahouse failed again in historical facts

  

Wolfs affect nature conservation

King Friedrich II of Prussia has been said to have stated in 1789 that "dog is a man's best friend". That may or may not be true, but there is no question that dogs are beloved companions of an extremely high number of people, both men and women.  

But actually, dogs are not a real species but only domesticated wolfs. And the latter ones are definitely not beloved animals, but baddies of children´s fairy tales and hated risks of farmed animals in countryside. Only in urban areas you can find people, who wish the number of these beasts to be increased as an important part of natural biodiversity.  

Therefore it was interesting to read about a research, which analyzed the effect of wolf´s return to the voting behavior in Germany, where the sustained environmental conservation has allowed this large carnivore to make a comeback during the recent years. 

This development has been applauded by conservationists, but not by local residents living in the countryside. Therefore researchers collected data on wolf attacks on livestock and popularity of different German parties. As a result, they observed that wolf attacks were accompanied by a significant rise in far-right voting whereas the Green party suffered electoral losses. 

In other words, increasing the number of wolfs - and thus losses of livestock due to this wild predator - may ultimately lead to a reduction in the popularity of policies intended to restore the environment. And therefore it may prevent the success of efforts to keep sustainable sizes of wolf populations in Europe.

Wolf is also an issue in the Finnish countryside. We have right now a pack of animals that include hybrids between wolfs and dogs. Those are considered as harmful alien organisms, and should thus be removed. 

Accordingly, a permission to shoot them was applied, but hybrids were not executed as environmentalists appealed to a court to save them. That act definitely did not increase the popularity of wolf´s protection in the area, and may lead to a growth in the popularity of parties that are most skeptical to big investments in nature conservation efforts urged by the European union. A reflection hardly lauded by the environmentalists of the country.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
90 years ago in Germany
Leaders infected by a parasite
A new justification is needed for environmental activists