THEQuagraine

Recently there has been a political shift in the western world which seems to be heading more and more towards right wing ideologies, thanks to ideas such as blaming immigrants and muslims for most of the issues in society, and blaming government regulation and taxation, along with the poor people on welfare for whatever issues are left over.

I made the comment on a facebook post a while ago where I said that if there is to be a solution to the worlds problems it won’t be found by voting in right wing governments. I wrote that a solution would need to be approached from the left’s core values, if one is to be found. This comment received some backlash, and I said I would write a blog about it because it’s not a simple issue. Let’s start by defining the terms.

Left

• Liberal

• Universal care and compassion central to the political ideology – empathy.

• Highest value placed on fairness and equality.

• Open to new experiences, creativity, diversity, variety.

• Socialism within a capitalist society. Individuals and companies are able to do business and succeed, but the government makes sure no one is left behind, universal healthcare, free education, welfare programs. Let’s call it capitalism with empathy.

• Speak for the oppressed, want change and justice even over order and tradition.

Extreme left, the fringes, clearly not the way to go

• Communism

• Social Justice Warriors

• Political Correctness, trigger warnings, safe spaces

Right

• Conservative

• The well being and success of your own ”tribe”, a survival of the fittest, winner takes all mentality central to the ideology.

• Highest value placed on tradition, the nation state, economic freedom, liberty of the individual to succeed without interference from the government, such as excessive taxation or regulation.

• Free markets, deregulation, privatisation, winner takes all in the sense that people are free to pursue success, and there should be little or no welfare, and in the case of America, no universal healthcare or free education. Let’s call it capitalism on steroids.

• Speak for the nation, institutions and traditions, resist change even at the expense of the oppressed or the weak.

Extreme right, the fringes, clearly not the way to go

• Fascism, nationalism

• Nazies, racial supremacists, nativists

• Patriotism that turns into hateriotism.

One of the major problems in Europe today is immigration. I don’t think it’s a major problem in America, even though the Americans seem to think it is. I think to explain my point best I’ll use immigration as an example, and a discussion about the problem in Finland, but the basic idea works for any problem in society. I’m not proposing a solution to the immigration issue, but explaining why I think the solution will be found by basing it on left wing values.

Part 1: Defining the Problem

A large number of refugees and immigrants are entering Europe and then Finland. This leads to
– crime
– unemployment
– The state welfare, medical services, schools, subsidies, etc. are burdened and it could lead to the potential collapse of the welfare state.
– The rich western countries have a healthy positive culture (human rights, equality, freedom etc.). A large amount of immigrants who don’t share these values could lead to the damage or loss of the positive aspects of our culture.

Solutions need to be found to the above problems. All thinking people agree with this, the above statements are not a matter of opinion, they are real risks. The dispute here is not really about the validity of those claims, but to what extent the points mentioned above actually are or will become problems, and how they should be solved. The right wing exaggerate the problems with anti immigration propaganda, and the left wing belittle and minimise the problems, even going as far as to covering up news about crimes committed by immigrants, in order to not fuel the fire on the right.

Part 2: What to do?

Left

Help the needy the best we can. Solve the above problems by other means, working on integrating and educating immigrants.

Right

Build a wall! Don’t let anyone in! Finland only for Finns!

The world is complex and it is challenging to build and sustain a functioning society. However, there is one in Finland, and there can still be one in the future if the problems are analysed and solved.

Part 3: Arguments

Finnish right wing ideology supporters tend to argue:

• The blacks just hang around in the city centers and don’t work.

• The muslims come here and rape our women and steal our welfare money.

• There are mainly men coming here, they are too cowardly to fight for their country, so they leave their families and come here. What pieces of shit.

• Lazy immigrants don’t want to work, just break the law and live on welfare.

All of the above negative allegations apply to 90% (or an equivalent, however, a clear majority) of:

• Immigrants

• Dark skinned people

• Muslims

Part 4: Counter Arguments

A Finnish left wing ideology supporter could counter those arguments like this:

Crime, unemployment, laziness, and all the other negative right wing arguments are not particular traits reserved for immigrants, blacks or muslims. White Europeans do all of those things too.

Poverty and the lack of an education are a major cause of these problems. When a poor uneducated couple start a family the child does not share the same opportunities as a child born into an educated better off family. We need to accept this.

For example, in the United States after over 200 years of slavery, the black population was still killed, tortured, discriminated against and trampled over when it came to education, work or owning property for another century or more, and they are now in general poorer and less educated in relation to white Americans. Is it then a surprise that the crime rates in predominantly black neighbourhoods is higher than that of crime in predominantly white neighborhoods?

Is the solution to the problem then to blame black people for being lazy, leaches on welfare, ignorant and criminals, or should we possibly try to understand what has led to this situation? Does it make more sense to work on improving education and work opportunities, and figuring out solutions locally with the community in question, or is it better that the police target, harass, and far too often shoot and kill these “thugs” in the street?

Back to immigration.

The majority of the immigrants coming to Finland are normal people who want a good happy and healthy life, for themselves, their own family and all their friends. I can say this because the majority of people in the world are normal people who want a good happy and healthy life, for themselves and their own family and all their friends. It’s not like only the assholes made the trip over. People from all walks of life did.

If Finland continues in the same fashion, as a welfare state where all people are taken care of, supported, educated, and respected, things will continue as they have done so far. If Finland decides to change over to a right wing ideology, which stirs up hatred and division, if we start to fight and to discriminate, things will go to hell. (Look at many communities in USA right now).

Part 5: Counter…Counter Arguments – Why Left wing ideologies won’t work.

If the blinkered lefties, the “libtards” cannot see any problems with immigration and go on naively, without addressing the issues, things will also end badly. (See, for example, certain areas of Sweden). Everything should not be understood or accepted, in the name of remaining politically correct or culturally sensitive. In Finland there is a saying, “maassa maan tavalla”, basically “when in Rome, do as the Romans”, and even though the saying has been hijacked by the more extreme right wing, there is still some truth to it. There are reasons for Finland being a rich country with a high standard of living, and they have to do with the way the society is built to be free and fair.

Religious and cultural practices that trample human rights, freedom and the well being of people in general have no place in a 2017 society. That needs to be made clear from the start.

Religious and cultural practices that trample human rights, freedom and the well being of people in general have no place in a 2017 society. That needs to be made clear from the start. Finland has certain laws and societal norms, and there is no need to bend over backwards to make room for new ones, not on small or big issues. We eat ham while celebrating Christmas, and women are equal to men, and aren’t stoned to death, or murdered in honor killings. As an immigrant you don’t have to eat ham, but you need to accept that others do, and you do have to treat women as equals. See what I mean? There are good ideas and there are bad ideas, and bad ideas need to be challenged, which will lead to their eventual destruction.

Part 6: THE Conclusion

World views can be roughly divided into two parts.

Left = “Libtards” who care for all people and human values.

Right: “We’re better than you, so piss off.”

The rational thinking person understands that the truth, and the solution can be found somewhere between left and right, and the further to one side you go, the more problems there will be.

The rational thinking person understands that the truth, and the solution can be found somewhere between left and right, and the further to one side you go, the more problems there will be.

MY OPINION IS that the best possible result is achieved when approaching a societal problem from the left, that is, basing your ideology on the idea of equal human dignity, human rights and the general well being of all. This is quite universally seen as “left wing” thinking, and that is why I wrote what I did on FB. It does not mean that everyone should have equal opportunities, or wealth, or outcomes in life, but what it does mean is that there are certain non negotiable rights that are inherent to all human beings, and that every persons life and dignity needs to be respected. That means that decisions are made by taking everyone into account, which leads to more equal opportunities for all.

A right wing ideology inevitably creates division, because a right wing ideology focuses on the relevant “tribe”. By stirring up hatred, by fighting, by blaming, by waging war, discriminating, escalating fear, emphasising differences (skin colour, religion, nationality), and viewing your own “tribe” as superior is not a way to solve problems. We have learned that repeatedly throughout history. I don’t understand how people still in this day and age cannot understand this, and how they can’t see the potential catastrophe we face by marching right into it. (Pun intended).

The thing is that today we live in a global world, and in a global world it is not possible to find peace without expanding your empathy level to a global level too.

The thing is that today we live in a global world, and in a global world it is not possible to find peace without expanding your empathy level to a global level too. Like the black eyed peas sing ”if you only have love for your own race, then you only leave space to discriminate.” That’s true when it comes to nations, religions, political ideologies or sexual preferences. More division is not going to lead to peace. If solutions to today’s problems are to be found, they need to be based on the notion that we all have equal human value at birth, and that as a society we should strive for fairness and equality. After that you mix left and right wing values and ideas, but what exists at the core has to be non negotiable.

But what do I know, I’m just a village idiot from Finland.