Pardon the ignorance, I’ve just learned about all of this.

Last night, someone in the Instagram comments had mentioned that they’ve also been having some sociopolitical problems themselves as of late in Finland. When I asked what was up, they mentioned that not only were the usual misogyny and all popping up, but apparently a far right party was gaining the second most spots in the upcoming election’s polls.

Not only did the account saying this seem legit (confirmed Finnish in profile, had info to back it up, etc,.), but the polls also tell [that they are, in fact, fighting the second spot with the social democrats](https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/finland/).

Granted, this party (Finns Party) in particular doesn’t seem as egregious as most far-right parties and movements these days (the Republicans, PP in Canada, the AfD and the growing attitudes in *Germany* somehow, the Tories in the UK, Israel’s own shit, the farmer’s movement in the Netherlands, France’s near-hit with LePen, Italy and Sweden’s far-right parties with questionable histories and goals, etc,.). Still, to see it go from a low point 6 months ago to literally fighting the second spot now is surprising.

I was also surprised by the person’s mentioning of misogyny and, assumingely, other social issues as well. I couldn’t find too much (at least in English) about this, so I’m open to correction on this portion (and all of this, really), but if true? I’m genuinely shocked!

I’ve also heard here and there that there’s also been some economic issues as well (expensive housing, expensive child care even *with* benefits, birth declines as a result, apparently part time work sucks when compared to full-time, etc,.), though I’m not sure if this would have an effect on political attitudes like this.

I honestly thought ya’ll had the education system and benefits system to be one of the few countries these days that’s *not* falling for the far-right, and while I do realize that the party isn’t as bad, some of its goals [don’t seem too great in my eyes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finns_Party#Ideology). Like, ethnic nationalism? Eurosceptic?

Apparently, some members broke with the party in 2017 just to [start a new one](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Reform_Movement) and say [“Hey, we respect human rights!”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Reform_Movement#Politics) Maybe I’m not looking at the defection right here, but still.

My main questions being: What’s up in Finland? How did this party and far-right attitudes get popular recently? Why does there seem to be some social issues as of late, especially in a country one wouldn’t expect (at least on the outside and looking at things like education and happiness ratings)? Why is Finland also seeming to look into following the rest of the world and falling into the right-wing in some way?

This is not an attack on all Finnish citizens (trust me, it’s been rough trying to tame the extremists in my country as of late), I’m genuinely curious what’s going on.

15 comments

  3. Euroscepticism is pretty popular in Finland btw. Not necessarily as “we need to leave EU” but if you ask a Finn if Eu federation should be a thing 99% of them will say not in a million years.

  5. I don’t think far right means what you think it means.

    Finns party has been around in one incarnation or another for a long time. They only lost the previous elections by a few hundred votes. Their popularity goes back and forth a bit, but they are always up near the top.

    It doesn’t matter too much who wins, they still need to form a coalition government in order to rule.

  7. The far right has been growing since the refugee crisis of 2015, not all have had exactly good experiences with foreigners.

    Some things that have gained popularity recently are nationalism, militarism and patriotism. Much fewer people view them so negatively as before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

  10. The Finns party effectively hold a monopoly on criticizing immigration and as long as they do, they will remain quite a relevant party in Finnish politics. It is not really a new thing either and their popularity has been quite constant for a decade now.

  11. PS are center right, their party leader is a woman so misogny is out of the table. You have to understand context too.. In different parts of the world the general political axiom is diff.. PS is not against abortion for example but in some south american countries even left are against it

    Finland is by far generally lot more conservative country compared to western europe. Medical cannabis is good example of a position that no party is pushing for in their party line.

  12. The Finns party are kind of racist towards middle-eastern and African immigrants, but I can’t see how they would be misogynist.Their current leader is female and many of their members are too. Much of their output is pretty nasty things about certain women, but that has maybe more to do with all leftist-green parties having female leaders, than about misogyny.

    Large part of their support comes from the (debatable) concern for how certain mentioned young immigrant men are dangerous to ordinary Finnish women, as they are overly represented in the rape and violent crime statistics.

    In the 90’s it was perfectly safe for women to walk alone at night but now in many cities it has become more hazardous. Not going to argue that native Finnish men don’t rape, but the latest phenomenon of audacious rape of random people is very strongly linked to immigrant men.

    Finns are more used to hearing about domestic violence, that is still the leading cause of the mentioned crimes in the country.

  14. Was wondering that sinimusta liike will be second on elections, too bad its not true, ps aint far right

  15. Anti-immigration parties are growing in Finland and everywhere because people, in Finland and everywhere else, are fed up with immigrants. Simple.

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