The fact that 19.1% of Finnish voters gave their support to an anti-immigration and anti-EU party in April 2011 speaks volumes about who we are as a society. Many things can be said about the Perussuomalaiset (PS) and their election victory, but one matter stands out for me: The chickens of intolerance have come home to roost.
Even if academics, the Finnish media and general public are still scratching their heads over what the PS represent, we at Migrant Tales have never had any doubts from day one.
In a recent blog entry, we wrote the following: ”The PS are an anti-EU, anti-immigration, anti-Islam, anti-gay and anti-minority rights party with ties to the far right.”
Classifying the PS as a far-right party reveals the same challenges that Norway had in declaring Anders Breivik sane after he carried out his murderous rampage in July 2011.
By declaring Europe’s first Counter-Jihadist mass-murderer sane, Norway sent an important political message: Our society and way of life are being seriously challenged by a violent ideology.
Instead of being complacent, what would happen if we in Finland had the courage and wisdom to clearly state that the PS is a Trojan Horse that flirts with the same ideology that encouraged Breivik to terrorize Norway and Europe?
Certainly those people who would not wish to answer the above-mentioned question are those who have the least to lose but the most to gain from the situation. Those that have the most to gain are parties like the PS and those that have the least to lose is your common white Finnish John Doe with a steady job.
It’s a completely different story, however, if you are a visible minority.
There is no simpler way to put it: The PS, like other anti-immigration and anti-Islam groups in this country and in Europe, are a threat to our way of life. Their growth and influence will mean ever-growing polarization and radicalization of our society.
If you are a political party or group that openly lobbies for greater social exclusion of different groups and lesser minorities’ rights, the only outcome will be social strife.
In many respects it will look like Russification all over again in the 2010s but with different players: the PS are the Russians and immigrants/visible minorities are personified through Eugen Schauman.