School is out and it wasn’t a shooting and no youtube…
@ 5:59 pm Last Saturday evening at 9pm a 14-year old girl from the local basketball club was stabbed fatally when she was alone practicing at a basketball court in Savio. ( For our international readers - 9pm this time of the year is still “in broad daylight” ) The girl managed to drag herself into the yard of a neighbouring house but perished before the EMTs arrived. The police caught the same evening around 10pm an 18-year old male who later confessed to the stabbing. According to the police the suspect investigated for murder had been seeking for a(ny) victim for about 3 hours before he randomly picked up on the girl - as for his motives the police said he had given a “sociopolitical motive”. Being a Finn I just have a hunch the perpetrator will be excused due to his mental instability. Somehow I feel it would be right in these kind of cases of the people who let these kind of loose cannons roam the streets should be the ones accused along with them.
Now Savio is a few klicks south of Jokela which surely had hoops and whistles going on about a young man with sociopolitical motives. No doubt if the situation had involved a gun and a school there’d be international vultures homing in on social porno news. But a lonely schoolgirl on a basketball court in an adjacent park to her school is not worth their time, fortunately considering their insensitivity in the media. But the underlying question is - what is making these young men on the northbound track towns commit such mindless killings? Is there something wrong with the water? Is there something wrong with the sociopolitics? Or what is wrong?
The family and friends of 14-year old Emilia who had just celebrated her confirmation a few weeks prior definitely would not want to be asking.
This is some really sad news to be reading on an already dreary day, sigh, why do people do such horrible things?!
Comment by Stefan Constantinescu — Mon, Jul 21st, 2008 @ 8:50 pm
Had this happened in a country with a decent health care system, she might still be alive. I mean, who knows how long she had to wait for mecial care? A while back an older gentleman lost his life when the ambulance took an hour to arrive at the scene where he was lying on the street. And that was in downtown Helsinki for Chrissakes, not in the boondocks.
My guess is that the perpetrator will get anything from half years’ probation to two years behind the bars. Then it’s back to hacking people.
Comment by mh — Mon, Jul 21st, 2008 @ 10:49 pm
mh - “Had this happened in a country with a decent health care system, she might still be alive. I mean, who knows how long she had to wait for mecial care?”
If not waiting for the ambulance, then incompetence at the hospital surely caused her demise. The Finnish medical system is a big dangerous joke.
Hank W. - “Oh, being a finn I think he will be excused because of his mental instability… somehow in these cases I wish it had been the judges own daughter.”
I agree. Many Finnish judges and lawmakers are asswipes who will never change until they experience personal tragedy themselves. They are ideologues of the welfare state - get rid of the welfare state and these losers will crawl back under rocks where they came from.
Comment by Libertaer — Tue, Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 8:09 am
Interesting post Hank. Its a pity the same can’t be said for the comments.
It’s nauseating to see the stabbing to death of a young girl used as fodder for ideological point making. The standards of discussion here leave a lot to be desired.
Comment by Rich — Tue, Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 11:22 am
#4 - och aye, that’s one of the main reasons I’m not visiting here so often: comments are mostly unpleasant crap.
Comment by mjr — Tue, Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 11:43 am
The Yanqui disease seems to be thriving after many years of garbage US TV being beamed into people’s brains. I predict (with regret) that the next idiotic innovation in random violence in Finland will be someone being pushed in front of an incoming subway train.
Comment by v.i.lenin — Tue, Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
#2: Which country is that? Cuba?
Have no fear, it will soon re-emerge as a giant brothel run by the mob without no stinkin’ commie healthcare.
They just have to peg their currency to the neocon rouble to ensure the punters’ purcchasing power.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Wed, Jul 23rd, 2008 @ 2:50 am
“och aye, that’s one of the main reasons I’m not visiting here so often: comments are mostly unpleasant crap.”
That’s good, because your drivel is about as interesting and relevant as camel dung. Can we pay you to stay away for good? Maybe we can pay Phil to filter out all your meaningless baloney?
Comment by SerialPundit — Wed, Jul 23rd, 2008 @ 3:16 am
Hmm, SerialPundit - would you be FinnPundit? Oh, say it is so - in that case even you would be a fountain of originality in these present sad conditions. I don’t disapprove of opinions that I don’t agree with but I do object to stupidity, and as crude as FinnPundit was, he wasn’t totally stupid. O tempora o mores…
Comment by mjr — Wed, Jul 23rd, 2008 @ 11:28 am
mjr, sorry but you really are kind of annoying by obsessing so much over trying to disprove anything said by the “libertarians.” Although you don’t do it specifically in this thread, it is your normal, relentless and tiring theme. Yawn
Comment by Leena — Thu, Jul 24th, 2008 @ 12:16 pm
Well, this is a libertarian blog after all, what else should one do here, critizice Phil’s taste of sodas? - I don’t argue about libertarianism really much elsewhere, it’s not a very interesting subject, being so obviously intellectual nonsense. But it’s kind of fun here, a bit of a turkey shoot of course, but anyway. You are free to check my blog for any anti-libertarian obsessions:
http://www.stockholmslender.blogspot.com/
Comment by mjr — Thu, Jul 24th, 2008 @ 12:50 pm
Those people born during the Finnish Economical depression, in the beginning of the 90’s…that could esplain that??
Some study should be done…
What about the people born around the 1930’s in the U.S.? that make them about 60-70…guess what that’s the age of all the politicians ;-> …
Comment by aFinnishResident — Thu, Jul 24th, 2008 @ 4:25 pm
mjr:
I don’t argue about libertarianism really much elsewhere, it’s not a very interesting subject, being so obviously intellectual nonsense.
Then you have a very narrow understanding of libertarianism. Did you know that Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman was a Libertarian?
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1976/friedman-autobio.html
http://www.theadvocates.org/mfriedman.html
mjr, you should really strive to educate yourself before criticizing the opinions of others. Who knows, you might find that it’ll open new doors to understanding the world better - better than your rather isolated view. Best Regards.
Comment by Svengali — Sat, Jul 26th, 2008 @ 12:41 am
#13: Milton Friedman! Gee whizz, who would have thunk? Plz tell us more!
It is interesting though, how the Reagan-Thatcher economic model, in which Friedman was certainly a major influence, seems to be culminating in taxpayers bailing out one f’d up investment bank after another. It’s all for the good of capitalism, i.e. The greater good, I’m sure. We have to protect the bankers’ bonuses, they are the cornerstone of the world economy.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sat, Jul 26th, 2008 @ 2:40 am
#14 Freeridin Franklin
Ah, no.
Firstly, whereas Milton Friedman supported free markets with minimal intervention, he DID NOT support bailouts. That’s because bailouts constitute government intervention. So you can’t blame him for the ill-conceived course that today’s politicians have taken.
Secondly, Milton Friedman opposed the mechanism which caused the crisis in the first place AND enabled the subsequent bailout: The Federal Reserve. Or, more precisely, in lieu of abolishion, he supported a major overhaul of the Federal Reserve Act to make causing inflation and to enable bailouts more difficult.
On the bright side, Europe can be glad that the European Central Bank practices a relatively strict form of orthodox Monetarism that was formulated by Milton Friedman. Considering the spike in oil prices, the policy has done a reasonably good job in keeping inflation low. Cheers
Comment by Svengali — Sat, Jul 26th, 2008 @ 8:00 am
Post 2: you’re wrong.
The girl was a white Finn. Now if the person murdered was a gypsy then expect half the sentence.
Finland: racist hick state
Comment by Anonymous — Sat, Jul 26th, 2008 @ 1:55 pm
#15: Whereas bailouts might not be part of the the theory, they are an inevitable consequence of its application. Unregulated, the market will inevitably fuck up everything which is when the taxpayer is called to the rescue.
Since the free market cult is predominantly a religion rather than a political ideology, an analogy might be drawn to pedophile priests: while according to the tenets of the faith priests are not supposed to fuck little boys, they still do it and the church will do its best to bail them out.
I like the irony in strict monetarism being enforced by government intervention, as manifested in the ECB’s vigilance. Indeed they are doing what a central bank is supposed to be doing, instead of the Fed’s tendency to regularly piss in its pants to feel warmer in freezing weather.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Sun, Jul 27th, 2008 @ 1:30 am
“Whereas bailouts might not be part of the the theory, they are an inevitable consequence of its application.”
Perhaps that’s true. But without the existence of the Federal Reserve, that bailout wouldn’t have been possible without a tax increase. Under that circumstance, do you think the American people would have supported the bailout? I think not.
Many are quick to blame free markets for the banking crisis, but it is really the American monetary system at fault, since it enables this type of, in my view, dishonest bailout funding. Fortunately, the EU monetary system is more tightly regulated, as it should be. To look at it philosophically, we might say that the ECB follows Milton Friedman’s principles more closely than the USA’s Fed does.
But even Milton Friedman acknowledged that it’s always a matter of time for government to attempt to raise capital (dishonestly) by steering monetary policy via a central bank. So his recommendation was to “replace the central bank with a computer.” That way the money supply could increase at a constant rate, to match growth in the economy (which is what the ECB is doing for now), but unaffected by political whims and attempted finagling.
With that type of system, America wouldn’t have a mortgage crisis in the first place, which now forces (1 or 2 out of 100?) families to move from their relatively large homes into tiny Finland-style apartments.
At least temporarily.
Comment by Svengali — Sun, Jul 27th, 2008 @ 2:42 am
Hmm, Friedman, rings a bell, ever so faintly, didn’t he invent soap or something, snake oil capsules? No, I’m sorry, I can recognize a closed belief system when I see one, I used to have fun with Marxist-Leninists and Freudians and now we have libertarians. Can’t exactly say that progress has been made, but what the hell.
Comment by mjr — Sun, Jul 27th, 2008 @ 9:57 pm
I just wish Ron Paul had run on the Libertarian ticket instead of Republican. He did more to educate Americans than any candidate in history. He’s a true advocate for the people.
Comment by David — Mon, Jul 28th, 2008 @ 9:03 am
Svengali:
“Under that circumstance, do you think the American people would have supported the bailout?”
The American people are not asked; the Wall Street mafia does such difficult decisions for them. All thanks to Reagan (and Friedman).
“move from their relatively large homes into tiny Finland-style apartments.”
When you talk of large American luxury homes, do you perhaps mean this?
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Mon, Jul 28th, 2008 @ 10:41 pm
Incidentally, Alan Greenspan claimed to have done his best to contain the housing bubble, but the market forces were just too strong. Quite a concession for a self-proclaimed libertarian to admit that there are evils in this world not caused by government intervention.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17638047
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Mon, Jul 28th, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
“Alan Greenspan claimed to have done his best to contain the housing bubble, but the market forces were just too strong.”
Yes you are correct that Alan Greenspan is a libertarian. His stated view that phenomenal growth in the global economy caused low interest rates might be the correct one. However, it doesn’t fully explain the behavior of lenders - who anticipated bailouts if all else fails.
You see, although Alan Greenspan served a long and successful tenure as Fed chairman, he actually didn’t support the existence of the Federal Reserve and central banking at all! Instead, he preferred the gold standard.
http://www.usagold.com/gildedopinion/greenspan.html
So this prominent Libertarian too is against bank bailouts.
Comment by Svengali — Mon, Jul 28th, 2008 @ 11:51 pm
“So this prominent Libertarian too is against bank bailouts.”
Does this prominent libertarian lie or does he not know what he is talking about when he said that market forces caused the housing bubble?
Or is it, as you say, that the Wall Street mafia could count on their buddy Easy Al to bail them out when the proverbial excrement hits the air conditioning? Gotta protect those bonuses.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Tue, Jul 29th, 2008 @ 2:57 am
“Does this prominent libertarian lie or does he not know what he is talking about when he said that market forces caused the housing bubble?”
It is possible that he “lied” by saying that “market forces caused the housing bubble” to deflect blame from his own actions.
It should be noted that all of this happened during the time when Bush needed funding for the wars. Today, Greenspan cites oil as the reason for attacking Iraq. But maybe he uses this reason to conceal his (monetary policy) support for Israel? Maybe his pro-Israel feelings trumped his libertarian beliefs?
Needless to say, he’s received lots of criticism from libertarians on these issues. Some will even say that he’s no longer a true libertarian.
Comment by Svengali — Tue, Jul 29th, 2008 @ 10:48 am
Falsifiability is an important concept. What would it take to prove libertarianism (in its free market form) wrong? Libertarians, make the effort, provide a realistic example. Make my day. In practice what always happens is what has happened in this debate: there is always some sort of public action that can be blamed for interfaring in the “pure” functioning of the market. Why is it that this “pure” market economy has never existed (apart perhaps some pre-Victorian times before child labour was regulated, though not yet criminalized)? Perhaps it might be our shortsighted, universal human nature? Capitalism will lead to great accumulation of capital, that is power, and people tend to use power for their own short-term interest - often to restrict competition (witness Microsoft). So, it is often in the rational short term self-interest of market actors to act against free market principles. That is of course where and why we need a strong state: to ensure that the playing field stays level and open. But of course, when there are huge concentrations of capital, that is power, it is quite easy to influence governments and use deregulation to gain unfair advantages. So there never can be a “pure” free market economy of pristine, laboratory like conditions. And that is because we don’t live in a pristine, laboratory like world, but in a fallen, short sighted, grasping and greedy human world. And this goes, or went, for Marxist-Leninists too.
Comment by mjr — Tue, Jul 29th, 2008 @ 11:45 am
“people tend to use power for their own short-term interest… That is of course where and why we need a strong state: to ensure that the playing field stays level and open. ”
Absolutely right. That’s why libertarians consistently support reform of the central banking system. They are the ONLY political movement in the United States to address this issue.
Comment by Svengali — Tue, Jul 29th, 2008 @ 9:40 pm
Anyone checking the spam filters today?
Comment by Anonymous — Tue, Jul 29th, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
#27: Nice to see a libertarian acknowledge the need for a strong state. There is clearly hope for you!
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Wed, Jul 30th, 2008 @ 12:36 am
“Nice to see a libertarian acknowledge the need for a strong state.”
It’s not just about a strong state, it’s about having the right kind of state. You have to consider that most parties that consider themselves “pro-market” are actually not. Instead, they only support certain players (companies) within the market. The same can be said for parties which claim to support “social well-being” - they too have their supporting industries, both private and governmental.
One of the troubling aspects of the banking crisis is that they are now talking about new regulations for the banking industry. The average “strong state” supporter will say that’s great!
However, the new regulations will be written by politicians seeking to retain their own power over the banking system. And they will be supported by certain banks who expect to gain profit from it. It was the banking industry that created the Federal Reserve Act in the first place!
You can read about politician Aldrich and bankers J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Those are the ones responsible for creating the Federal Reserve Act. Now, we have more of the same type of ‘industry written’ laws coming soon.
In my opinion, the libertarian position on this issue is very holistic: eliminate the mechanism which gives these groups power - eliminate the Federal Reserve system or at least reform it to make bailouts and dishonest war funding much more difficult.
Nobody else is talking about this, not the so called “pro-marketers” nor the “social well-being” folks. Only the libertarians are taking a responsible stance on this issue. Maybe that’s why libertarianism is the
biggest non-mainstream political movement in the USA.
Comment by Svengali — Wed, Jul 30th, 2008 @ 2:21 am
damn filter again
Comment by Anonymous — Wed, Jul 30th, 2008 @ 2:41 am
Here’s a good article about America’s Federal Reserve. It really is an evil of our time.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/war-and-inflation.html
Cheers!
Comment by free the humans! — Wed, Jul 30th, 2008 @ 2:48 am
You guys have a sucky spam filter
Comment by Anonymous — Wed, Jul 30th, 2008 @ 2:50 am
This blog’s spam filters really stink!
Comment by Anonymous — Wed, Jul 30th, 2008 @ 2:52 am
All is not perfect in Mac-Finland as it seems… :/
Comment by milia — Mon, Aug 11th, 2008 @ 2:20 am