Finland
Hannele Richert

Own culture

My comic for Changing the Picture comes out of frustration and contradictions in my own culture. There is a widely spread misunderstanding that the problems in Finland – unemployment, weakening of public services and the general sense of security – is somehow the fault of immigrants, especially refugees and asylum seekers.

The arguments behind these assumptions are elliptical and hollow, but they keep on going because it's easy to blame the weak and the different. The strongest among us, who collect all the goods coming from chaos and disagreement, cherish this false idea because it serves their purpose: making the rich even richer.

I love the Finnish culture and the Finnish language and hate the fact that they are being hijacked to serve violent purposes. I think it is totally possible to be proud of your own heritage without having to dismiss other cultures.