Saw this while driving in Espoo today - I think Otto the bus driver from the Simpsons got way too stoned this time, and took a wrong turn… LOL!!

Finland’s 15-year-olds are incredible! They are really some of the smartest teenagers in the world, and by my observations they are much more open and worldly than their parents who lived under difficult ideology-shaped conditions in the shadow of the Soviet Union. So what makes these kids such academic high achievers?

Having been born Finnish, I like to attribute it to genetics…but when reality descends upon my momentary loftiness, I realize that maybe the cold climate and boring lifestyle is more to credit. It makes studying so much easier than anywhere else. The lack of distractions is actually one of my own favorite reasons for spending time in Finland; I can really get some work done!

Even Finland’s recent mass murderer in Jokela was a studious sort. By now we all know that his readings included Nietzsche, Kant, Huxley… I won’t delve into any dangerous psychological analysis here—some short exposure to Pavlov many-years-ago, and my mouth still waters every time I hear a bell ring.

However, I do find it interesting that another one of his favorites was Plato. In those rare moments when Plato wasn’t pegging young boys in the ass, he was busy arranging the ’state’ into three discernible parts: philosopher-kings, soldiers and merchants. Generally, philosopher-kings rule, soldiers protect, and merchants ensure the economic viability of the state.

You can find Finland’s philosopher-kings in places like Espoo. They are the ruling elite who vacation in sunny locations around the globe (many rule corporations, not the state itself; I don’t think Plato had enough foresight to envision corporations as an extension of the state) and naturally there are plenty of soldiers everywhere, too. But where is the merchant class in Finland?

Of course it exists, but its membership is small. The post-war years saw a rise in collectivist thinking, punishingly-high taxation and socialist economic structures, leading to an environment of discrimination—and possibly even human rights abuses which plague the country to this day. Generally speaking, anyone who aspired to become successful sought safer abode for himself abroad.

It’s a tragedy, because these are precisely the people who would invest their time and talents into productive enterprises, and thereby provide jobs for everyone else. Instead, Finland now has a lackluster and overpriced domestic economy, and is highly dependent on foreign employers. It’s too bad for today’s PISA conquerors. Despite their hard work, when considering purchasing power, they can look forward to being among the lowest-paid smart people in Europe.