The True Finns Ideology and Finnish Immigration Policy

During last weeks the True Finns Party have been much in publicity in Finland due to the party's victory in the recent communal elections on September 26th, in which the party got 5,4% of the votes (up from 0,7% in the last communal elections in 2004). Unlike in many European countries when a claimed-to-be right-wing populist party succeeds, in Finland the public attention has been quite positive, although we have experienced some of the usual accusations of racism and/or xenophobia.

Therefore I think it's more than proper to clarify what is the ideological base of the True Finns Party, and give a point of view concerning which ideological pathway the party is about to adopt in the future. Since I'm a member of True Finns Youth Working Group for future principles, I think I'm qualified to do so.

Since our opinions about immigration and multiculturalism have been in the public eye, there's a need to give a profound presentation of our attitude and political stand concerning them (The most important concepts that help to understand the True Finns' ideology and political guidelines are in cursive).

True Finns are a Nationalist party which values are based on Christian Social ideas. We defend Democracy, Equality and Social Welfare. By Christian Social values we mean the Christianity-influenced social ethics developed in our Western Civilization; Loving your neighbour, standing up for the weaker ones, defending the human value and strive towards justice and equality. However unlike the Finnish Christian Democratic Party, we do not keep the Christian values in the front line, but behind it. To us the Christian heritage in our Finnish culture, which we wish to cherish, is not a religious but a cultural question. That's why we even have many non-religious and/or Atheists as members in our party. We are a culturally conservative party, which drives socially progressive policies. Sounds clashing to a non used ear, but since True Finns are a Third Way party, which rejects the traditional narrow left-right division, it doesn't make a controversy to us.

Our Nationalism appears in our attempt to defend and cherish Finnish culture, society and economy under the pressure of globalization and multiculturalism. We love our Fatherland, her language and culture, but that doesn't mean we'd think that Finland or Finns would be objectively above the other countries and nations, but alongside the other nations. Nationalism is based on love for your own country, not on hate towards others. Loving your own mother doesn't mean you'd hate other peoples mothers.

Therefore we have lifted up the frase; "When in Rome, do as the romans do" as one of our principles. We resist putting one ethnically different group in an unequal status or position in society against another one in the name of 'positive' discrimination. Everyone must have the same rules and be equal in front of law and officials. Unfortunately it isn't so nowadays because Finnish government is forcing a multicultural agenda in Finland. We do not tolerate putting ethnic majorities in an inferior situation and/or status as compared to ethnic minorities, because we think this is apartheid racism.

Unlike often claimed in public, we are not against immigration, but we are against the current immigration policy. This is why we are profiled as an immigration critical party. Immigrants are not guilty for the problems caused by the current immigration policy, but our government and some of our officials who deal with the immigration policy by looking at it through rose-coloured eye glasses of multiculturalism. Immigrants are equal to us. They are welcome in Finland to live here, as long as they follow the Finnish law, work, and pay taxes as we all do. The same rules must apply for everyone. Refugees must be helped out of a crisis and to thus save their lives, and primarily they should be helped already in their home countries, or in a country that is culturally as close as possible to their own, so that their adaptation would be as easy as possible. The most important priority is that they survive and are safe. However we don't welcome welfare tourists and oppose begging and some other actions which are against democratic principles, freedom of speech and Nordic culture of equality. These are mainly because of different cultural background, religion and world view, which are the main reasons to majority of problems caused by immigration.

The primary goal of cultural and immigration policy should be the adaptation of immigrants into the Finnish culture, so that their descendants grow to be Finns by their language and at heart. We support and cherish Common Culture, the traditional idea of a more unified way of culture and society instead of multiculturalism and a multi-ethnic society. To be a Finn is a matter of language, culture and the heart, not of skin colour.

Since Finland is a small nation, we can not take in huge amounts of immigrants at the same time. European examples show that social problems caused by immigration begin to show when immigrants form more than 4% of population and begin to reach a critical point when they are more than 8% of population, as has happened in Western Europe; France, Germany, Netherlands, Britain and Sweden. Excessive immigration leads to the point where society's resources are not anymore sufficient enough to take care of peoples treatment, education and welfare in an equal and just way, which leads to marginalization, social fragmentation and ethnic conflict on the streets and in suburbs. This all will cripple our welfare system, and destroy social peace and freedom.

This is why we think that immigration policy should be changed so that both the amount and educational quality of immigrants would be controlled. This is for the common good of both Finns, as well as immigrants as the future Finns.

The scandinavian welfare society prerequisites relatively high taxation, which needs a society of national community ('Volksgemeinschaft' in German), the spirit of togetherness, a feeling of natural solidarity among the people, that everyone is ready to work for common good, and accept to pay taxes "for the good of all of us". National community a.k.a national solidarity is a phenomenon of human social instinct that rises from our backbone. It is natural for a human being to deal other people into two categories; "us and others". Towards all those who he considers as members of the same herd as himself, he feels solidarity, and towards those who he considers as strangers he is reserved. Primary aspects of the forming of this feeling of togetherness are language, basic values and culture, not the skin colour or genetic heritage (although the latter does affect in forming a family). The national community and the idea of a Nation State (a.k.a Nationalism) are social, political and ideological applications of this human solidarity and social behaviour.

When national community breaks down, whether it was because of excessive growth of differences in economic income which leads to clashing social classes, or clashing of different ethnic groups against each other, it also brings end to the climate of social ethic, the moral of society that upkeeps the welfare system. The rich are no more willing to pay high taxes to fund the social services for the poor, and the poor don't want to support universal social benefits (public education, libraries, etc.) that are also available for the rich. Also the will of ethnic majority to pay taxes to fund social welfare and services for ethnic minorities diminishes. So the today's multicultural policy is accelerating the current downfall of our welfare society and takes us towards a multi-ethnic class society. If that happens, we can say goodbye not only to our welfare system but also to functional democracy and social equality.

After World War II nationalism in Europe has been widely considered a bad thing since the acts of the nazis' casted a dark shadow of war, genocide and horrible suffering upon it. This has given a good propaganda set for the liberal left against all nationalism and nationalist movements. Leftist and internationalists want to forget that German ethnoracist nationalism was and is only a dark sidepath of nationalism. The main stream of nationalism in Europe goes still together with democracy, and sticks to the core values of the French Revolution; Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood. Regardless of the European Union's imperialist project, the majority of European countries are still nation states, where nationalism lives solidly on the healthy and moral base of democracy and humanity. So it also is in Finland and in the True Finns Party.