Fair and Reasonable

A few months ago, I got a letter from the government.

It’s always intimidating to open these things. They’re so nondescript. You have no idea what you’re getting until you’re all the way inside.

But this was the best kind of surprise.

It turned out I was eligible to vote (and also apparently, to run) in the upcoming local elections.

Seriously, there is no better feeling than getting a right you never expected to have. I recommend trying it sometime!

Now that I could vote, I wanted to take it seriously.

I messaged a few friends, and aside from some snarky comments about politicians, they all suggested I try the election machine. Basically, it’s a quiz that asks a bunch of questions, some more broad and philosophical, and others more specific to my local area.

This election is actually two elections rolled into one: for city council and for the welfare area.

In the previous city council election, the center left party (SDP) and center right party (NCP) actually won an equal number of seats. However, the NCP got 15 more actual votes — as in 15 more people in Tampere voted for them — so we got an NCP mayor.

The task of running a city isn’t partisan, you’re just trying to make the basics of everyday life work well. But especially right now when we have to make spending cuts, I’d rather the people in charge share the same values as me. This means making every effort to save hobby programs and activities for kids, and art and culture.

In practical terms, I needed to find an SDP candidate I wanted to vote for.

After some research, I decided on this guy named Kalle Kallio. He’s an expert on education and was the Lenin Museum director (lol).

Kalle is passionate about funding for education and youth programs and expanding the tram network.

He’s also reasonable. This is someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about the issues and all his answers were well thought out. He would be genuinely good on the city council.

For the welfare area, sadly, the context is also spending cuts.

There, I chose Mikko Airo. He’s an actual doctor working at a local healthcare center. His platform is to focus on preventative care and make sure actual doctors and nurses are part of the welfare area’s decision making process.

In the end, both my candidates won. Although both had very few votes (444 and 658), the SDP won by a decent margin and they made the list. Funnily, Mikko was the last SDP candidate to make the cut, anyone lower than him would’ve stayed home.

What can I say? I pick winners.

A uniquely Finnish compliment is to say someone or something is “practical” or “reasonable.”

Over time, I’ve found myself becoming more Finnish and appreciating this more.

Throughout this whole thing, I kept thinking about the SDP’s election program:

Politics always involves making value judgments. These choices become even more important when public finances are tight and there simply is not enough for everything we might like to cover. Our current right-wing government is taking Finland in the wrong direction. It therefore falls onto the shoulders of municipalities and wellbeing services counties to make decisions that improve the lives of all Finns. Everything can be done more fairly, and what is fair is also reasonable.

I think I took my responsibility as a voter seriously. In an election all about which cuts to make, this was my choice.

What is fair is also reasonable.