Oddly enough, I find myself quite apathetic to all of this. It's not something I can affect, and my opinions in any social issues have been worthless in any discussion for my whole life, so why on earth should I care now? I really feel no obligation for Finland anymore as a country, so I find all the frightened talk quite boring. What I am interested in are 2 things here:
1) What kind of risks/negative effects does this have for me?
From reading some news reports/other articles (and from my own anecdotes, so remember my small sample size/possible selection bias):
-Seems there is a possibility of harassment or petty theft in proximity to the current temporary centers.
-Possible future social unrest (pure speculation on my part here, I'm not that well versed in the issue)
-Increase in the pool of unemployed people. This is not so much a threat to my own employment, depending on the skills and abilities of the immigrants, but it implies an extra cost to the Finnish state that it really can't afford right now. Thus, degrading of the welfare state seems quite likely to me.
-Depending on the amount of people taken in, the localization of the imported population and the infrastructure set up, slummification (is that the right word?) or ghettoes might be formed.
-Malformed demographics, given the sex imbalance of the immigrants
All of the above would indicate that some precautions would need to be taken.
-Firstly, protection of my own capital. For a young dude like me, that's not much, but seems that some sort of investment policy is sensible. No point in keeping the capital invested in something that can be physically taken away by someone else or the state. I'll need to read up more on tax legislation in Finland.
-Secondly, protection of my own person. Common sense in where and when I move, training (weights, martial arts/equivalent) and possible armaments (quite risky in Finland) seem to be the first steps for me. Prevention seems to be the best course of action.
2) How can I benefit from all of this?
-Men, on average, will go down in value. Or perhaps the average man will go down in value? It's quite hard for me to say anything on that for certain. However, investing in oneself should then yield even greater benefits. Seeing as a larger and larger amount of young men in Finland seem to be in worse physical shape, unemployed and unkempt (my own anecdote, again. If there's contradicting actual info, I'll be more than glad to change the assumption), my value should go up in comparison.
[EDIT: More and more ethnic Finns don't take good care of themselves, I should say. What the imported people are like, I don't know yet. However, the lazy Finnish youth are doing me a favor in this regard, since I refuse to damage and disgrace myself like they do to themselves.]
-An option I am considering heavily is moving abroad. I have some possible opportunities for employment abroad, but currently those are only possible opportunities, not even definite ones. Time will tell how that turns out. However, the job market in Finland is currently the worst it has ever been during my lifetime, so moving to a different country after a lucrative job seems more than sensible, especially since the Finnish economy is not going to recover any time soon. Youth unemployment is climbing here, so I'm actively looking for options elsewhere. I'll probably finish off the free degree and then see where I can find the best opportunity.
-I have not yet figured out business opportunities in all of this that I could benefit from.
All in all, I find the Finnish discussion on the whole issue quite useless. As the media keeps pushing the leftist agenda, the comment sections keep on getting more and more right-wing. Fact is, the people will come here and that will cost money until they are sent back or integrated. There's no emotional bond here for me so I can't really find the kind of motivation to talk about this as I see with many of my friends and relatives (or Facebook, for the love of God). It's just another thing that happens. "This, too, shall pass".
1) What kind of risks/negative effects does this have for me?
From reading some news reports/other articles (and from my own anecdotes, so remember my small sample size/possible selection bias):
-Seems there is a possibility of harassment or petty theft in proximity to the current temporary centers.
-Possible future social unrest (pure speculation on my part here, I'm not that well versed in the issue)
-Increase in the pool of unemployed people. This is not so much a threat to my own employment, depending on the skills and abilities of the immigrants, but it implies an extra cost to the Finnish state that it really can't afford right now. Thus, degrading of the welfare state seems quite likely to me.
-Depending on the amount of people taken in, the localization of the imported population and the infrastructure set up, slummification (is that the right word?) or ghettoes might be formed.
-Malformed demographics, given the sex imbalance of the immigrants
All of the above would indicate that some precautions would need to be taken.
-Firstly, protection of my own capital. For a young dude like me, that's not much, but seems that some sort of investment policy is sensible. No point in keeping the capital invested in something that can be physically taken away by someone else or the state. I'll need to read up more on tax legislation in Finland.
-Secondly, protection of my own person. Common sense in where and when I move, training (weights, martial arts/equivalent) and possible armaments (quite risky in Finland) seem to be the first steps for me. Prevention seems to be the best course of action.
2) How can I benefit from all of this?
-Men, on average, will go down in value. Or perhaps the average man will go down in value? It's quite hard for me to say anything on that for certain. However, investing in oneself should then yield even greater benefits. Seeing as a larger and larger amount of young men in Finland seem to be in worse physical shape, unemployed and unkempt (my own anecdote, again. If there's contradicting actual info, I'll be more than glad to change the assumption), my value should go up in comparison.
[EDIT: More and more ethnic Finns don't take good care of themselves, I should say. What the imported people are like, I don't know yet. However, the lazy Finnish youth are doing me a favor in this regard, since I refuse to damage and disgrace myself like they do to themselves.]
-An option I am considering heavily is moving abroad. I have some possible opportunities for employment abroad, but currently those are only possible opportunities, not even definite ones. Time will tell how that turns out. However, the job market in Finland is currently the worst it has ever been during my lifetime, so moving to a different country after a lucrative job seems more than sensible, especially since the Finnish economy is not going to recover any time soon. Youth unemployment is climbing here, so I'm actively looking for options elsewhere. I'll probably finish off the free degree and then see where I can find the best opportunity.
-I have not yet figured out business opportunities in all of this that I could benefit from.
All in all, I find the Finnish discussion on the whole issue quite useless. As the media keeps pushing the leftist agenda, the comment sections keep on getting more and more right-wing. Fact is, the people will come here and that will cost money until they are sent back or integrated. There's no emotional bond here for me so I can't really find the kind of motivation to talk about this as I see with many of my friends and relatives (or Facebook, for the love of God). It's just another thing that happens. "This, too, shall pass".