Manufactured Homes

[heydaralon]

We generally like the Finns. Finland used to be half of Sweden. It's our brother nation. We never fought each other. When I was growing up there was a lot of dislike towards them because of the immigration. We have an open border policy between each other and a lot of Finlanders came over here to get jobs or use our superior social benefits. That's over now. We are on the same level economically as Finland finally recovered from the wars and it's reparations to the Soviet Union. The Finnish immigrants are fully integrated.

The people of Finland are called Finlanders. Most Finlanders are Finns but about 6% are Swedes and the country is bilingual. A bit like the French in Canada. Finland is mostly forests and lakes. The big towns are along the coast. In some ways, it's like Sweden turned up to 11 but there are a couple of big differences. Finland is a lot more hierarchical and conservative and not as open to outsiders. The strong men are matched by the strength of their women. That's the stereotype at least.

I grew up in the town in Sweden with the largest Finnish immigrant population so I know them well. Also, a lot of my ancestors were Forest Finns. They were brought over to Sweden from Finland during the late 16th and early-to-mid-17th centuries to break new ground and help increase the population of northern Sweden. Finland was getting overpopulated and there were famines due to the Little Ice Age. Sweden had a lot of unpopulated lands suitable for their traditional slash-and-burn agriculture. Hard working, honest and proud people. A good addition. When the Iron industry got going up there a lot of them got into that as well.


Painting by Eero Järnefelt showing forest burning by Forest Finns.

That is a spectacular painting. The girl's eyes...

It’s powerful. The stuff our ancestors went through. How about giving the new batch off immigrants the same opportunity. A patch of forest land and no taxes for 7 years if they farm it. That or go home.

That wouldn't fly in America with our entrenched political interests, but its certainly a better idea than our current policy by a country mile.


I think I may have asked you this awhile back, but what are your thoughts on Gustavus Adolphus? I'm not an expert on him, but from what I read on the 30 years war he seemed like a sort of Scandanavian Hannibal. How is he viewed in your country? Is he considered a hero or a villain?

To jump ahead historically a bit, how is Charles XII regarded by Swedes today? I read a little about the battle of Poltava, and he won an impressive victory over the Russians. Then I jumped on Wikipedia, and it said that despite the victory, it marked the beginning of the end of the Swedish empire. Why do you think it is that you guys produced a lot of great military leaders, but did not end up becoming a Imperial global power the way Russia did? Why is scandinavia comprised of multiple nations, and not a single country? It seems like there are numerous cultural similarities between the nations there, yet they remained distinct over centuries.

[Hastur]

That is a spectacular painting. The girl's eyes...

It’s powerful. The stuff our ancestors went through. How about giving the new batch off immigrants the same opportunity. A patch of forest land and no taxes for 7 years if they farm it. That or go home.

That wouldn't fly in America with our entrenched political interests, but its certainly a better idea than our current policy by a country mile.


I think I may have asked you this awhile back, but what are your thoughts on Gustavus Adolphus? I'm not an expert on him, but from what I read on the 30 years war he seemed like a sort of Scandanavian Hannibal. How is he viewed in your country? Is he considered a hero or a villain?

To jump ahead historically a bit, how is Charles XII regarded by Swedes today? I read a little about the battle of Poltava, and he won an impressive victory over the Russians. Then I jumped on Wikipedia, and it said that despite the victory, it marked the beginning of the end of the Swedish empire. Why do you think it is that you guys produced a lot of great military leaders, but did not end up becoming a Imperial global power the way Russia did? Why is scandinavia comprised of multiple nations, and not a single country? It seems like there are numerous cultural similarities between the nations there, yet they remained distinct over centuries.

The guy in my avatar is Axel Oxenstierna, Gustavus Adolphus’ chancellor. I’m a big fan. Charles XII was a teen when he inherited Europe’s best army and was attacked by four neighbors at once. He did his best but in the end it wasn’t enough. Tragic story.
Sweden had its period of greatness when Russia was in turmoil. What they call the Great Troubles. Once Peter the great came along and sorted out the mess the good times were over.

[heydaralon]

It’s powerful. The stuff our ancestors went through. How about giving the new batch off immigrants the same opportunity. A patch of forest land and no taxes for 7 years if they farm it. That or go home.

That wouldn't fly in America with our entrenched political interests, but its certainly a better idea than our current policy by a country mile.


I think I may have asked you this awhile back, but what are your thoughts on Gustavus Adolphus? I'm not an expert on him, but from what I read on the 30 years war he seemed like a sort of Scandanavian Hannibal. How is he viewed in your country? Is he considered a hero or a villain?

To jump ahead historically a bit, how is Charles XII regarded by Swedes today? I read a little about the battle of Poltava, and he won an impressive victory over the Russians. Then I jumped on Wikipedia, and it said that despite the victory, it marked the beginning of the end of the Swedish empire. Why do you think it is that you guys produced a lot of great military leaders, but did not end up becoming a Imperial global power the way Russia did? Why is scandinavia comprised of multiple nations, and not a single country? It seems like there are numerous cultural similarities between the nations there, yet they remained distinct over centuries.

The guy in my avatar is Axel Oxenstierna, Gustavus Adolphus’ chancellor. I’m a big fan. Charles XII was a teen when he inherited Europe’s best army and was attacked by four neighbors at once. He did his best but in the end it wasn’t enough. Tragic story.
Sweden had its period of greatness when Russia was in turmoil. What they call the Great Troubles. Once Peter the great came along and sorted out the mess the good times were over.

How similar is your culture to Russia's? I know there are some major differences, but are there some similarities that people living in the US are unaware of? Also, how is Russia viewed by Sweden, Norway, and Denmark? My parents went to Hungary, Austria, and the Czech republic on a river cruise, and their interactions with the locals and the historical landmarks gave them the strong impression that Russia was hated by the locals. Do you guys worry about Putin?