The world is changing all the time. This planet has become a different place to live in than what it used to be a hundred years ago. Finland has also changed. You can see people from many different cultures walking on the streets in almost every single Finnish city.
I have witnessed and heard it with my own ears, and I can say that some people in Finland still have pretty horrible prejudices. I don't mean that everyone in Finland is paranoid or intolerant towards immigrants and refugees. I merely mean that such attitudes still exist among the Finnish people.
Considering the current state of the world and the level of globalisation, you really can't say anymore whether it is a threat to allow people from other cultures to come to Finland or not. I think it's quite inevitable nowadays. We are moving towards a more united planet, whether we want it or not. Isolation is not an option; you can follow the news and decide for yourself how well it serves the people and the society in North Korea.
Some people, usually the extra patriotic ones, are afraid that the immigrants will eventually ''take over'' the mainstream culture, or that the main culture may just simply vanish when the number of foreign people rises to a certain level. The people saying these kinds of things are often exaggerating the matter, at least in my opinion. Cultures have been mixing with each other randomly throughout history; it is a part of life here on Earth. People may learn new things from each other and live together peacefully, although quite the opposite has happened many times, when people have started killing each other once they've met.
Cultural differences have always been a major problem. These days people have, at least partially, learned to respect other cultures. I don't understand how someone could hate a person just because of the colour of his/her skin, for example. It seems ridiculous to me. A very significant proportion of the elderly people here in Finland are especially racist and/or intolerant.
So, I think it's not a bad thing for a country to become a cultural ''melting pot'', if it happens naturally. People shouldn't try to speed up or slow the process, because it happens if it happens and that's all there is to it.
I have to agree with you. That was very professional text and I enjoyed reading it, great job! (:
VastaaPoistaThank you! :) I'm glad you liked it.
Poista