Ecoblogi – A Blog by Daniel Elkama

Most people in the world are not free. Liberal democracy is the result of a long development, which was influenced by e.g. the philosophy and ideals of ancient Greece, the Reformation and the Enlightenment of the 18th century. However, it is a rare treat. Only 1/4 of the world’s countries are democracies and at the moment even this free world is seriously threatened not only by external but also by internal threats. More and more authoritarian and aggressive states, parties and the extreme right are consolidating their power. The most dangerous situation is in the United States, where Trump’s rise to power could lead this centuries-old democratic country and the world’s defender of democracy to totalitarianism and fascism. In the same way, Hitler came to power democratically in 1933. So democracy is not a guarantee that crazy people’s agitators will not come to power. Civilization and general good will of the people are also required, otherwise freaks like Trump will take power patted on by fools, while lying to incompetent and ignorant people. Even the wise philosophers of ancient Greece warned against populist liars, which were the end of democracy and freedom.

Putin’s pursuit of an empire and multipolar world that ignores rules, and the lust for financial resources of Europe, which is moving to clean energy and giving up gas, threatens the independence, freedom, and democracy of Europe as a whole. The fate of Ukraine determines the fate and future of the world, the entire future world order. Ukraine must not lose this war! A multipolar world is a world where dictators and autocratic corrupt governments do whatever they want. We should strive for the exact opposite, i.e. a unipolar world based on cooperation, common rules, global responsibility, solidarity, freedom, equality and liberal democracy.

I am also worried about what is happening in Europe. Even in Finland, steps are being taken away from democracy and the welfare state built over decades is being dismantled by the most right-wing, racist and economic libertarian government in history. The legal protection of people with a foreign background is being completely taken away in the name of selfish nationalism. As in Germany in the 30s, we are removing comprehensive collective agreements, minimum wages, the right to strike and limiting activism and citizen influence. German philosopher Jurgen Habermas stated that a healthy democracy is one in which there is activism, strikes and civil disobedience. Now these basic pillars of democracy are under threat. The reason is the right-wing government’s effort to increase its authoritarian power, silence political opposition and pursue the interests of greedy business operators and big companies. Habermas also called for deliberative democracy, where all parties and actors were listened to and through a long and careful dialogue, mutual understanding and consensus were sought. The loud extreme right has broken the principle of consensus that has prevailed for a long time in Europe. The value-based debate has been replaced by harsh words and aggressive, hateful and populist rhetoric. The average heart of Europeans Civilization has weakened. Likewise reason and intelligence. On the other hand, there are many people for whom it is important to bear responsibility for the well-being of people and nature around them and the entire world. On the other hand, there are even more people who are blinded by hard values and hatred or are indifferent and completely devoid of morals and conscience. The extreme right does not even understand what democracy is: democracy is not the dictatorship of the majority, but liberal democracy is closely related to the rule of law and the egalitarian welfare state. The goal of liberal democracy is the happiness of all.

In Finland, the right wing coalition party was previously the so-called ”civilized bourgeois party”, which called for responsibility for society and those who are weak, there is almost nothing left of that. The coalition has moved more and more to the path of the Trumpian Republicans. Thatcher destroyed the welfare state in Britain and Reagan in the USA. Petteri Orpo in Finland. When taking the basic Finns as a government partner, the coalition made a conscious choice to support racism. In Finland, with the blessing of the coalition party, Wilhelm Junnila a neo-Nazi was appointed to as minister of economy. Junnila e.g. was active at neo-Nazi events and shared pictures of swastikas and  General Lee, who supported slavery in the southern states of the United States, and a snowman representing the Ku Klux Klan. He was followed after his resignation by Wille Rydman, who is e.g. said the disappearance of Nazi architecture from Germany was a shame. Riikka Purra, the Minister of Finance and chairman of Basic Finns, has written numerous times racist hate speech about ”negroes”, ”black garbage bags” and ”Turkish monkeys”. The Speaker of the Parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, is a hate speaker admired by Norway’s far-right mass murderer Anders Breivik. It’s sad how these bad people are destroying our country and its community and unity. The rise of the extreme right seen in Finland and elsewhere in Europe has been mainly supported and engineered by Russia. It is useful for Russia to weaken Europe, its unity and well-being. The irony is that democracy is being scrapped right here in Finland, which already in 1906 gave women the right to vote and widely guaranteed workers’ rights.

Throughout history, democracy and the liberal world have fought against the old enemy, anti-liberalism. Anti-liberals hate freedom and equality and want to maintain the bad old world with its hierarchies and oppression. Anti-liberals are blinded by hatred and often fanatical religious fundamentalism. They understand nothing about global responsibility, justice or the value of the environment. Populists ride with fear and lies, but this does not carry them indefinitely. Sooner or later, the people will realize their lies.

Daniel Elkama