Finland, Inc.

News Report by Elaine Lillback

FHM member John Laituri spoke of Finland’s changes in its political system at the September meeting at the FHM.  His wife Millie introduced John Laituri as the speaker.  John is a 1944 graduate of Ohio State University in Chemical Engineering.  He has been the project manager of a multi-million dollar ammonia plant, a refinery heat exchanger designer, and a salesman of engineering services.  While working for the Fluor Corporation in Iran, he spent 1975-1978 in traveling through the Middle East.

Having visited Finland three times with his wife, he described the assets of the Finnish environment.  Finland found her freedom from Russia in 1917 by giving up some territory.  She also went from a forest based economy to an industrial power in 100 years.  She also has developed her educational system  as the best in the world.   However, her social security system is being challenged.  Finland’s workers are the best paid people in Europe.

Finland is the northernmost country of the European continent. One quarter of her land lies north of the Arctic Circle and almost all of Finland lies north of the 60th N. latitude. Even her capital, Helsinki, is the northernmost capital of the continent. 

With 130 square miles, her population of 5.4 million is concentrated in the southern region.  It is the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. She is warmed with warm ocean currents of the Gulf Stream carried by the west winds.  Her longest nights are 51, and her longest days are 73. Interestingly, her land is continuously emerging from the sea, growing 3 square miles every year.

Finland is the water richest country in the world; she is # 1.  The United States is # 45. This is according to the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) of 2005. The ESI is based upon 21 variables that include air quality, biodiversity, population pressure, water quality, and basic human sustenance. To illustrate: Finland has 180,000 lakes.  Her forests are her gold.  The wood is used to make exports, saunas, housing, and in selling machines, adding to her income.  Printing and writing are important. Laituri related that Finland's population is well supplied with cell phones: 96 % of the people carry phones.

Finland does not have natural gas. It does not have oil.  It has no coal deposits.  These all have to be imported.  Therefore the resourceful Finns have developed hydropower plants , nuclear power plants, secondary wood plants, peat farms which provide material for power, wind energy machines, solar energy panels, and extensive recycling procedures. Also used are biofuels and waste fuels for power.
Laituri kept a section of his presentation a secret, not even revealing his thoughts to his wife Mille. With a twinkle in his eye, John stated, ”When we have a woman president, we will be the strongest.” He stated that England, Germany, and Sweden have had women prime ministers and presidents and the leadership has been wonderful.

The recent elections have brought about the election of Jyrkki  Katainen, who will take the prime minister's office next May.  Until recently, the True Finns party had 6 seats in Parliament’s 200 chairs.  They now hold 3rd place ranking with 39 seats.  Their success is attributed  to how spending government money should be done, much like the Tea Party in the States.  There is financial difficulty; the Euro system is not working, and bailouts are not forthcoming. 

Finally, education finds the Finns on top, with excellence in math, science and all areas.   The children learn Finnish, Swedish and English in school.  There are no uniforms, no honor societies, no gifted classes, no standard tests, and all those things Americans hold dear.  Each class has two teachers; extra attention is given to slower students by one of the teachers.

Lovely refreshments were served by Helen Kasari, Elaine Lillback, and Ailiin Andrews.