Is it better to play it safe and fail small a lot, or take some risks on a big win and fail quickly?
Does your answer change if it is in regards to governing a country?
The government in Finland has become accustomed to playing it safe for a very long time, and while it has served it well in the past because they invested into things like education and healthcare after WWII, it has not been able to keep pace with a volatile global economy and is increasingly failing to provide enough for the people and are in a constant process of economic cuts to social services. Since this is a social democracy that has prided itself on being able to support its people's welfare, it is a big kick in the nuts.
The problem isn't providing for the people, but rather not putting anything into generative investments. They have barely backed any Finnish business over the years, relying on people to do all the hard work themselves and even when successful, the only exit option is to sell to investors abroad. This means that even when there is great innovation, the benefits ultimately end up in the pockets of international investors who don't pay corporate or personal tax in Finland. This leaves massive holes in public finances, but the only people who can cover the hole, are those who live here, the workers.
It has been decades of poor policy.
And the outcome was very predictable, because even with my bare bones knowledge, I was able to "foresee" where we are today within the first few months of arriving in Finland. Not that I could affect policy, but the Finns I talked to about it always took the "what do you know" position, because Finns think they are the best educated people on earth - despite it not being the case for decades, and now they are middle of the road. This attitude though is from the top down and has held Finland and Finns back for a very long time.
The problem now is going to be that the Finnish governments have got the financial situation into such bad shape in the way they have handled everything since the 2008 global financial crisis, that even if things turned around today a full 180, it would still take decades to correct. The foundation they have relied upon and largely taken for granted has been whittled away to near nothing and now they are facing brain drain, because not only do they expect the smart people to make the country wealthy, but those smart people will be the ones to pay the taxes to make it happen.
I suspect that Finland isn't the only country that is going to be grappling with these kinds of problems in the near future, because the economic and technological landscape is moving so fast, and the geopolitical situation is going to get even more volatile. What I see likely to happen is that it will become an everyone for themselves economy and any social services offered, as slim as they might be in some places like the US, are going to be decimated.
All that technological capability, none of it used to make our lives better.
As you can see, I am pretty negative on the future and hold very little hope that it is going to be better than today, because we as a species aren't going to make the changes necessary for that to happen. Yes, some people at least for a time will have significantly better lives financially, but it will be financed by everyone else getting less. And as I have mentioned before, while everyone seems to think that the billionaires will be fine because they have their tropical island bunkers, it is going to be another form of prison, as they will not be able to leave due to environment or anyone who is left ready to kill them.
I feel that the storm that is coming is going to fundamentally tear us apart, all because when things had a chance to be affected, we couldn't come together. Instead, the only thing that matters is profit, but no matter how much wealth people have, the reality of life is going to be a natural disaster of our own making.
Fun times?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Be part of the Hive discussion.
And you may be rewarded.
