120 posts tagged “life”
Especially for people not used to it, the Finnish holiday season is quite an experience, if for nothing else, for its length.
Here in Finland, people take 4 weeks during July, which means that during this month the whole country is basicaly closed for business. This is the time when summer trainees and skeleton crews are responsible for the continued functioning of the nation while the majority spend their weeks in a summer cabin in the middle of the forest, preferrably next to a lake, but maybe without running water or electricity.
Only peace and quiet.
Kun olin Seattlessa pari viikkoa sitten eräässä tapahtumassa, siellä oli muutamia suomalaisia, jotka tapasin lähtölennoilla. He olivat hyvin ystävällisiä ja näimme Yhdysvalloissa useita kertoja. Oli todella hauskaa että pystyin vaan hengailla sekä heidän että meksikolaisten kanssa, joita oli myös muutamia.
On tosi mukavaa kun voin olla vain yksi joukosta.
I've followed Richard Florida's theories for a few years. Building upon The Rise of the Creative Class, where he introduced us to his model whereupon a certain group of people whose job relies not only on the consumption of knowledge, but also on the creation of it, and how the world economy is changing, he introduces this book where he expands on the concept and what does it mean for individuals and countries.
The edition I bought starts with his essay The World is Spiky where he critiques The World is Flat, saying that it only looks flat from one peak to the next, but there's plenty of places that haven't yet gotten connected.
Furthermore, the whole idea of the book is simply that the people constituting this creative class are highly mobile and will settle wherever they see fit, therefore having a huge influence in the prosperity of the places they choose. According to his analysis, this choice is guided by 3 factors: Talent, Tolerance & Technology, and he goes on identifying places in the United States and abroad that are doing all they can to attract and retain their "brains".
Whereas his results for North America seem well founded, he tends to get in a flimsier position when identifying creative class hubs outside of that zone. He, for example, lumps Helsinki-Tampere-Oulu as an area (which is rather like talking about Brussels, Barcelona and London being in the same neighbourhood).
There are, however, certain things that leaders in Finland should take to heart, as he mentions explicitly in page 173: "Not all cities are able to compete effectively for global talent. There are a signficant number... indicating that they are either attracting a very narrow band of immigrants or not attracting many immigrants period. Cities in this group include... the Scandinavian centers of Helsinki and Oslo. These places are challenged by their lack of appeal to global talent and will need to improve their diversity and tolerance if they wish to compete at the global cutting edge."
In other words: your educational system is excellent, your use of technology second to none, but the lack of diversity puts a hold on the ideas and points of view you can create here, which is a definite minus in these terms. As I've mentioned before, there's a lot of foreigners here who work as hard as everybody else here, and not feeling welcome will make them leave, taking their skills with them. Furthermore, as more and more Finns get to know and appreciate that kind of diversity somewhere else, they will also leave.
For Mexico there is also a lot of lessons to be learned from this book, but I have mostly covered them in another post. Further moderation of Mexican racist attitudes would also be most welcome.
As a friend would say, the secret of a good marriage is that both of you should "play for the same team". So, "if the goal is that way, no shooting on own goal is allowed".
I knew that football is life, but this is starting to get ridiculous ;-)
"On lottovoitto syntyä Suomeen" is a phrase you hear often enough in Finland, referring to their perceived fortune at their high standard of living. Whereas I agree that it is indeed a nice place, I believe the statement is flawed for the most important thing is not where are you born, but what you do with your life.
I've seen plenty of people of advantaged backgrounds but self-destructive attitudes. Yes, a good starting point is nice to have, but shouldn't allow you to get overconfident or, shall I say, cocky.
Eso sí, no me vengan con "Amapolita dorada de los llanos de Pekín" que así la cantaba un cuate que conozco, jajaja.
Your experience colours your point of view. 10 years ago I saw NY in a completely different way than now.
Of course, eight years living in Europe did that to a Mexican...
I spent four days this week in New York City. It was the first time in almost 10 years I was outside of an airport in the US, as I've done plenty of transits but not many visits, and funnily enough last time I was in a city in the US it was NYC.
Funny way of closing circles, I guess...
I'm a big fan of science fiction. My sci-fi collection (currently under recovery) includes over 50 books and a fair share of movies. I've always preferred reading that instead of Spanish language literature, even though it's in my native language. When I was thinking about it, I think I understood why: whereas the classics of Spanish language (especially Mexican) literature tends to dwell on the themes of identity and "how did we get to where we are", sci-fi asks what can we become.
I for one find that much more interesting.
