I've been having political constipation for quite a while now. Lately it has turned into stone and intoa more chronic political identity crisis. I've been trying to analyse it, to try and pinpoint the cause of it several times with little success*. Here is my final try. May not be rational, most certainly it is not thorough but since it's basically an intellectual and personal thing I don't really care. I just need to articulate this somewhat reasonably and coherently so I can make up a Finnish version for the Greens' member manager (it's time to renew the membership).
First of all, I'd like to thank the Greens. Their party of human rights and environmental care has made a difference in Finland. Environmental issues have been added to (almost) all parties' programme to some extent, something that would have been unheard of twenty years ago. You have also managed to accomplish promotion of human rights, especially those of the LGBT community. Again, I am (and will be) grateful for that. Something, however, has changed.
My path towards the Greens was not by my own conscious choice. As a teenager I became more aware of the things I saw were wrong in one way or another, and one of those things was the neglect and abuse of nature. I tried my best to get my parents to recylce, and especially avoid trashing. Eventually I also managed to make a small difference in air quality: my father was a smoker and he used to smoke indoors. My first accomplishment was to make him go smoke in the kitchen by the air conditioner when smoking indoors. The next step was not-in-the-house: outside or in the "Hall". I learned my first manipulation lesson by getting allies with the rest of the family as they would do anything to annoy my father, especially my mother. Even though I was more conserned with cancer than environment, I was labelled a Green (and, naturally, mocked because of it: "viherpiipertäjä" was a very familiar name for me in my childhood home). With increasing interest in human rights issue after my personal revelation about my own sexuality and what difference that -as well as any minority membership- makes in life.
It wasn't until the year 2008 when I became more interest in politics and started to follow the events and decisions more regularly. That is also when I became an official Green. I wanted to show concrete support to their goals and perhaps to find a group to belong to even. The road to hell was, however, indeed paved with good intentions. With every word I read, every decision I saw seemed to trash my idea of the party completely. Now, I do understand that being in the government is about getting an actual grip to power, to make a difference, unlike being in the opposition (they really should make the previous opposition co-operation obligatory again) where you can now only shout things without them having any effect on the government. Furthermore, being in the government is abbout compromise: "I'll scratch your back this time if you scratch my back later." This is where the crisis began: what are we as individuals and as different groups within the party willing to sacrifice to get something else through? As said, even though I am grateful for the in-family adoption right for the LGBT, I am not sure I can live with what has been sacrificed to gain that. I do not like the university reform of which I have been very vocal about. I do not like that you said nothing about the copyright proposal; it was up to Stefan Wallin to withdraw it from the table (no offense to Wallin, he's one of the few men that have a temporary free pass from their sex in my eyes at the moment). I most certainly do not like how more and more things have been piled on communal services without giving any resources to survive from them. One slightly marginal but important decision was seen in a documentary "Liikkumavara" by Annika Grof (why was it placed in TV2 around midnight?!): the increase of daycare and health fees (thank you, Asko-Seljavaara, the only politician inane enough to tell what they *really* thought about the law). All in all: I do not like the way you have been licking Kokoomus's arse after going for a dumb.
This -and many others I did not mention, such as the stance on the possibility of a sixth nuclear power plant application being introduced to the givernment- is why we must part ways, at least for the time being.
I will not lose all hope on you, howeve; I refuse to do so. There is still the next Parliament elections that can make a difference. Until then: so long, and thanks for all the fish.
*This is the third version of the same topic and I still don't think I've covered all the topics and subjects to this disappointment I should have. Well, now it's noted. Even if I did come up with other things, I will not be adding them here later; if I did, there would be no end to the editing process.
