Turning the lights off

Even as I begin writing this I'm unsure whether it's wise to get myself started on the (deplorable) outcome of Sunday's general election in Finland. I don't think the result could have been any worse: for anyone involved in the arts, anyone on a low income, anyone with young children (and – God forbid! – only one income), the homeless, the infirm... the list goes on.

What riles me most of all is the cynical fashion in which these right-wing candidates (and, here, I suppose I mean specifically those of the Kokoomus) pitch themselves at young voters. Living in a world where, by and large, the only people I come into contact with are people who think like I do, it's easy to forget that our planet is apparently populated with idiots – after all, W was elected twice. Are people really so stupid that they look at a brightly-coloured poster and think "I'll vote for them", without thinking for a second about what these people stand for? Katainen and his cronies want to turn Finland into a mini-USA, where everybody fends for themselves, and where relying on the state is frowned upon. This from a party whose election slogan was "Suomen toivo" (Finland's Hope). What hope? What hope is there for anyone who suddenly loses their job, or who is unable to work because of an illness? What hope is there for artists who can barely support their families because grants are almost non-existent?

Another element of Americanised politics to be found in the imminent new government's plans is that of Reaganomics: of investing in big business and introducing tax cuts for the already phenomenally rich in the misguided and misleading hope (Suomen toivo...) that this increased wealth will filter down to the less well-off members of society. Apparently Katainen, Niinistö et al haven't taken the time to look at the effects this policy had during the Reagan years. His administration (and Thatcher's for that matter) saw the gap between rich and poor widen more than ever before. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised, seeing as Thatcher claims that society doesn't exist.

All politicians – in Britain, Finland, the rest of the EU, though sadly not in the USA – are keen to woo voters with their green credentials. All too often, however, things are not what they seem. David "Dave" Cameron is perhaps the finest example of the great green swindle: cycling to Westminster while his papers travel behind him in three cars; travelling by private helicopter to Manchester to be photographed stepping on a tram, and so on. Katainen and the rest of the Kokoomus want to make us think they're green, but jumping on the climate change bandwagon isn't enough. Where are the caps on emissions for big business (of course, there are none, because business is everything in their world), the targets for emission reductions? One thing is clear: building the sixth nuclear reactor in Finland, thereby shunting the problem into the future, is not the answer.

The environment secrtary David Miliband deserves a lot of credit for the very real work he is currently undertaking in the UK to introduce a legally binding policy for emissions reduction through until 2050. Let's hope the new Finnish government will follow suit, though sadly this looks increasingly unlikely. Would the last person to leave the country please turn off the lights?