I really love a book that allows you to see how other people do it better. The best part is that this is not some idea or concept that hasn't been proved yet; it reality. We could all use a lesson from the Finnish.

I found this a really interesting read.Full of facts about life in Finland the long winters ice cold.temperature very little light.Aview of the politics of the country there are graphs to explain even more.#netgalley #finntopia

I loved this book! Finntopia is incredibly interesting, and while detailing the many successes of Finland, also mentions the aspects in which it is not so successful and why this could be. After reading it, I feel considerably more knowledgable. It referenced all sources and used graphs and comparisons to other first world countries to really show points.

Time and time again this book will tell you how Finland isn’t a utopia…but it does present it as the next best thing, Finntopia. Since being happy is apparently something measurable these days, so much so there’s a research institute dedicated to doing just that, it has become apparent that Finns are very happy, they’ve ranked the happiest country in the world for three years in a row.
Why are they so happy? And how did the country that has no natural resources and no special favorable historical or geographical assists get to be so freaking happy? Well, this book will tell you all about it. And I mean all about it, in great detail, with tons of data and charts to back it up. It’s like a textbook manual on how to govern to get to the happy place. And it is most impressive, really.
From centuries of poverty and oppression, by its Scandinavian and later Slavic neighbors to an at the very least questionably smart protectorate by Deutschland, which resulted in Finns being on the wrong side of WWII for most of WWII, from a devastating famine and internecine warring to (in a relatively short time) comfort, prosperity and record setting oodles of joy. Good going, Finns. It seems that at every turn, however tough it got, the diligent steadfast conscientious Finns just rolled up their sleeves and got things done and, moreover, learned their lesson and improved. Like being the first country In Europe to grant women the right to vote after finally getting from under some not all heavy oppression…great social lesson. Or like being the only country to pay off their post WWII reparations totally and on time…great economic lesson.
And from there on Finns just took off, instituting great social programs and services one after another to ensure their society will grow up to become free, educated, prosperous, equal, and yes, happy. They’ve accomplished this by setting up an excellently robust welfare system that supports their citizens cradle to grave, financed by taxes. So in fact, it’s the sort of thing a proud Trump voting American would frown upon and deride as a nanny state, but the thing is…it works strikingly well, or at least it does for Finns.
And I’m mentioning Americans, because they book provides a great deal of comparisons, which are at best unflattering and at worst depressing. But also, therein lies the book’s major detractor, it’s inexplicable and kind of immature determination to compare itself to UK and US. So it isn’t just enough for the authors to say…hey, our country is awesome, check it out, they have to rub the readers from US and UK’s faces in it. And frankly, UK manages to acquit itself ok on some levels, but US just doesn’t even come close. I mean, it’s a huge and wealthy country, but it rates abysmally low globally on any quality of life index. Where Finland excels, in their social support structures, free education, gender equality, wage equality, trust in police, trust in government, fair elections, etc…US fails abysmally. It isn’t just unfair, it’s kind of like…a really low hanging fruit.
And yes, I understand why the authors may have chosen the juxtaposition, after all US is pretty much the opposite of Finland in so many ways and yet US is a major global power and Finland is small and in comparison globally inconsequential, but still…the on page imaginary rivalry just seems ridiculous. It’s like going on Jeopardy to compete against Justin Bieber. I mean, I love Biebs, he’s a very amusing boy, but he’s yet to say something grammatically correct, cohesive and original and his songs have all the creative complexity of a street sign, so I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be a fair game. So just because he’s hugely famous and very wealthy, doesn’t mean he necessarily represents certain valued qualities. Ok, that was my metaphor, think it worked.
Anyway, Finland, you’re great, you’ve made great strides and you’ve come so far, you have a terrific amount of women in power (another profoundly unAMerican thing), you’re experimenting with Universal Basic Income (bold move), you’re setting a very ambitious environmental goal and seems like you’ll hit them too…you’re a great country, don’t go comparing yourself to place that can’t even manage a proper election (let alone a proper democracy) anymore. If you’re going to compare, play fair and go up against the rest of Scandinavia, since that’s where the best quality of life. In the world is concentrated. Go pick on someone your own size, literally (and metaphorically).
And the other thing is, for all of Finland’s greatness, there’s plenty of small print, some of it quite bizarre, so while the summary of each chapter is loaded with praise, you got to read the actual chapters judicially to get into the puzzling minutiae. For a society obsessed with equality, one that was so early to grant women right to vote and usher them into positions of power…there are massive rates of violence against women and staggeringly antiquated laws for dealing with rape. For a steadily aging society that’s has low birth rates and is heavily reliant upon tax to fund their social programs, therefore desperate for laborers, they are quite unwelcoming to immigrants and terribly racist toward those of different skin color. For an extremely well educated society, where girls traditionally perform more impressively in schools, it is mostly males that go into technology and science professions. Very peculiar social paradoxes I found to be very interesting.
Yet, things in Finland are mostly good. And dedicated to improving. Sure, nationalism rears its ugly rear the more immigrants come in, much like it does in every other place, but Finns have such a well balanced diverse government (again, positively unAmerican) that it’s very likely they shall avert any sort of crisis on that…or many other scales for that matter.
Finland isn’t utopia, it isn’t for everyone and certainly not for anyone obsessed with money above all other things and then there’s that weather. It isn’t the only country to completely create and/or revamp itself since WWII into a success story by most standards, there’s Singapore in Asia and Israel in Middle East. But Finland has remade itself so smartly and comprehensively with such great progressive values and terrific people first policies that it’s just…kind of awesome. An epic accomplishment, all things considered. I knew the basics and was glad to learn more about it, though this was too much of a comparison driven textbookish sort of thing to make it a great read, it was definitely informative and very educational, start to Finnish (sorry, just had to do it). Makes you really think about social politics. Recommended. For thinkers. Thanks Netgalley.

I should have noticed that this book was filed under the Politics section, since it was too politically charged for me to enjoy at this current time. I should have waited to read this book and would probably enjoy it better at another time.