Comments by "LRRPFco52" (@LRRPFco52) on "Senator Bernie Sanders"
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@msaar1303 Anyone who joins the US military will be subject to the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). For example, when Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter joined the Navy Reserves as an officer, he pissed hot for cocaine on a urinalysis and was kicked out.
When George W. Bush flew F-102s in the Texas Air National Guard and asked if he could deploy to Vietnam, they denied him because he didn't have enough flight hours in the F-102. They were only sending guys with 500+ hours, mostly guys with 1000hrs, and F-102s were being pulled out anyway.
One exception I can think of is John McCain. He crashed so many aircraft, he should have been banned from pilot status, but his dad and grandpa were both admirals.
When I mention the bulk of Finnish combat power, I'm talking about a unique set of weapons the US supplied to Finland even before we sold them to the UK. Those particular weapons are only employed with the F/A-18C. They have deep strike capability within Russia, with very large warheads (JASSM). Finland now has the ability to strike the naval yards at Murmansk, Primorsky, air bases in Saint Petersburg military district, and deeper targets in Russia, without even flying near the border.
Prior to this, with the MiG-21, Saab Draken, and even original F-18C configuration, this capability was unimaginable to FiAF.
The main combat power of FDF at the time was artillery and disbursed Infantry units who would lose ground slowly to Russia as the strategic plan, in a guerilla-like campaign on our own soil.
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I’ve lived in Finland many years, as my mom is from there. I don’t really accept the premise that Finland is the "happiest country”. How would you even measure such a thing? Finland is very depressing for the people in the winter, so you see them brighten up for the few weeks of summer, then the long winter kicks back in.
One cultural aspect of Finland that does contribute to a sense of well-being is summer cottages, which is really a regional thing based on geography. There are over 188,000 lakes in Finland, so it’s very easy to own a small summer cabin in a land area the size of California, with the population of only 5.5 million.
This has nothing to do with forms of government.
Another cultural aspect of health in Finland is hundreds of years of harsh winter breeding a tough, physically-resilient people who embody this with sisu.
Then there is the sauna bath culture, which is excellent for your health.
It’s also very academically and intellectually inept to compare this northern nation with long winters and a relatively-homogenous demographic, to the US in its temperate zone with 330 million people who are genetically-diverse.
It’s erroneous and myopic to think that government is the primary contributor to the things that make Finland unique.
Finland also benefits from the hard work, taxes, and advanced systems development of the huge mass of people in the US and US industries, whether we’re looking at Finnish Air Force F/A-18s (soon to be F-35A Block 4s), medicine, medical diagnostics equipment, electronics, computers, etc.
Senator Sanders has an agenda to force the story of Finland into his profit hole, but he hasn’t considered the multi-factorial variables that make Finland what it is.
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@EnGammalAmazon I've gone to school in Finland, my mom went to school in Finland, and some of my kids are in school in Finland right now (university).
My mom left Finland after high school to seek better opportunities abroad. Where did she go? To the US, attending a prestigious university.
There just aren't anywhere near the number of opportunities in Finland as there are in the US for higher education.
For elementary schooling, Finland has kind of a hybrid of Prussian method but more relaxed. They've taught multiple languages since Finland used to be part of the Swedish Empire, but they refused to Russify during the Czarist times as a Grand Duchy.
I do like that elementary school starts later, but I'm personally very opposed to compulsory schooling because it really trains people to be conformists, not problem-solvers.
Finland is unique intellectually though because of the language. The words in Finnish are like Rubik's cubes that have to be changed in usage with interlocking and layered grammatical and vocal harmony rules.
It allows each Finn to craft their own mannerisms of sentence structure and positions, as there are no prepositional phrases in Finnish.
For example, in English I would say, "I'm going to Helsinki."
In Finnish, you say, "Minä mennen Helsingiin."
There are 23 different positional word endings you attach to objects, but then you have to go back into the word to vocal harmonize it.
It's a very dynamic and adaptive neuro-network of hyper-plasticity relative to other languages, where you can say the same thing in so many different ways.
The grammar makes other languages feel like cheating to learn, extremely difficult to attempt as an adult.
I believe there is more to this than any particular form of schooling used in Finland. Political philosophers who don't even understand basic geography, history, or demographics, like to assign concepts they align with as causal to observed positive outcomes, without taking a holistic analysis of the environment.
They like things simple and compartmentalized, rather than doing the work of studying everything from a fresh perspective.
Most of what I see and hear about Finland is parroted by people who have never been there, don't really know anything about Finland, and cherry-pick what they see. Bernie Sanders is a prime example of cherry-picking to fit his agenda.
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@joonasseppala1413 I’m formulating my thoughts based on living all over Finland and all over the US, then looking at statistical analyses. This comparison highlights how good the US actually is though, since the population of the US is 335 million, vs 5.5 million for Finland. Finland is a rounding error by US numbers, at only 1.6% of US population. Female suicide rate is the same in both countries.
2019 Stats-
US Total: 14.5 Males: 22.4 Females: 6.8
Fin Total: 13.4 Males: 20.1 Females: 6.8
Standard deviation is only 1.1 between Males in both Nations. That means the rate is relatively high in Finland, and is particularly high for Europe. Is this because of healthcare, government, greens vs SDs? No, it’s because of the cold, darkness, alcoholism, social isolation-all very Finnish realities.
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@sandrafrancisco Lots of wealthy people volunteer for military service in the US, for various reasons. Examples include:
Ronald Reagan
George H.W. Bush
Joseph Kennedy Jr (KIA)
John F. Kennedy
John McCain
John Kerry
George W. Bush
Oliver Stone
Jimmy Carter
Pat Tillman
Beau Biden
Hunter Biden
I could go on about men from wealthy families in the US who joined the military, but you'll recognize the names of most of the above, (except the oldest Kennedy brother you never knew existed).
Many serve for Country, duty, the challenge, to rebel against pacifist parents, adventure, family tradition, or in Oliver Stone's case, total loss in hope for living.
The stories of each are far more interesting and complex, none of which can be bundled into a simpleton phrase Bernie would use.
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@msaar1303 I haven't just visited Finland. I've lived in Finland at different times from 1979-2016, as well as West Germany, Japan, South Korea, Panama, Middle East, Switzerland, Estonia, Denmark, Greece, and Russia. I have lived in Finland longer than any other country besides the US, followed by West Germany, Korea, and Russia. Mulla on kaksi kansalaisuus, including Finland.
Very few Finns have been to all the places in Finland that I have. People in their home countries typically follow a predictable rabbit path, and never see much of their nations. This is true in Europe, Russia, Central America, Asia, and for a large part of the US population, but with a significant amount of job migration State-to-State.
When Finns get vacation, they either go to kesämökki or a warmer country in Europe, preferably near the Mediterranean. Many others travel to the US. Florida alone had a 25,000-30,000 population of Finns in 2011. There are at least 650,000 Finns living in the US. This goes back to the point about not living in a bubble.
I'm just relating my perspective, which is significantly different than how things are commonly portrayed and then echoed.
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@ullasofia9432 I'm not an ignorant American though, with no knowledge of Finland. I've lived in Finland on and off since 1979, so I'm aware of the various parties in Finland and I have followed and voted in Finnish elections.
Socialism, Marxism, Leninism, the Communist Party USA (which is now called Democratic Socialists of America), Finnish Social Democrat Party, etc. all operate under the political philosophy of Marx and Engels, with hybrid variations peculiar to each nation and region where they're experimented with.
Karl Marx is the last person you want to let influence you on any decision in your personal life, let alone those of a society. You might want to study more about him. He hated his Jewish family, despised his mother, but hungrily waited for them to die so he could inherit their wealth.
He never really held down a job, didn't support his 7 children, while the Engels family paid for his East End London apartment.
I would recommend listening to Thomas Sowell, a former Marxist who read all 3 volumes of Das Kapital, unlike any of his professors at Harvard or University of Chicago.
Finland needs some different voices more than ever right now, as opposed to the usual internal echo chamber that glorifies the non-existent virtues of socialism.
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@michelangelobuonarroti4958 I respectfully don't accept your premises, after decades of experience and research in this field, to include living all over the US, Germany, and Finland.
After all that I have seen, especially the internal audits of NHS, and the conditions of hospitals, wait times, available procedures, and standards of care, I have never seen anything that shows superiority in Finland, with one exception (that is no longer the case): Labor and Delivery water birth option.
I have the choice of where to live since I have EU Citizenship through Finland. For me and my family, we choose to live in the US.
We have lived in Finland before, but much prefer the US for different reasons. We got quick and efficient care only when we went to the private sector in Finland. Public sector is a joke by US standards.
Even in the private sector, you have to get prescriptions for very common Over the Counter medications from Apteekki, whereas in any grocery store in the US, you can just buy them. Tylenol, aspirin, cremes, etc. Apteekki hours are very limited too, whereas I can get anything OTC basically around the clock in the US.
EMS is fast in the US, with far more Level 1-4 Trauma Centers per capita, more Fire/Ambulance, Life Flight, and PTLS-trained Paramedics and EMTs, more Automated External Defribulators distributed throughout buildings, and more trauma surgeons and nurses per capita.
European countries vary in quality/quantity dramatically in all of the above metrics, none of which are up to US standards, but are trying to reach the US.
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@msaar1303 In the post-WWII period, the US launched a campaign called Bretton Woods, where we provided the security arrangements and let anyone else who wanted to trade with us benefit from that, while focusing on their economies and industries. Finland was relatively neutral diplomatically, but slowly started to warm up to the West, while still benefiting from its structural interoperability with Russia (proximity and shared railway).
After the time of the Soviet Collapse, Finland then started really leaning more to the West, especially with military hardware. Other countries are too poor to fund the tens of billions in RDT&E, so the US allows them to buy fighters, missiles, tanks, etc. as if they were US military services. This is why the Finnish Air Force acquisition of F-35As contract is handled under US Defense Logistics Agency and DoD budget.
In dollar value terms, the initial JSF program RDT&E would be 22.8% of Finland’s 2021 GDP. It’s just not possible to ask tiny countries with 5.5 million population to fund the development of advanced weapons system made by a nation with 330 million population and huge industrial sectors that span across a continent.
The same is true in the healthcare industry.
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@c_3791 I did listen to the whole interview. Bernie Sanders (multi-millionaire dead beat who never really worked in his life, owns multiple mansions, net worth well over $3 million, politician-for-life) steered the conversation to fit his false agenda that the US should model itself after Finland.
This is one of the most retarded arguments we see, because nobody does the math. As soon as you see the population, region, climate, and cultural differences, you know right away that comparing a 5.5 million mostly-homogenous genetic population living in the sub-arctic has no relevant metrics to a 330 million diverse genetic population living in a temperate zone.
Finland's metrics are rounding errors mathematically compared to the US, at 1.6% of the US population.
A mathematical ignoramus like Bernie Sanders will easily overlook things like this to fit his Soviet-sponsored political career. Did you know that Russian money paid for many of Sander's campaigns?
He is financed by Council For a Livable World, an Active Measures Soviet-Era front to destabilize the US.
Soviets also started YLE taxpayer-financed propaganda service in Finland. Most Finns have of course never heard this, can't believe it. Finns are very naive people who trust and believe what has been reported on YLE for generations as if it was gospel truth.
It's an interesting case study in mass information control and obedience.
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@francisdec1615 My grandfather was a Swedish-speaking Finn. Mannerheim was also a Swedish, German, and Russian-speaking Finn who could barely function in Finnish.
Most Swedes I've encountered are very proud, think that Sweden is some type of utopian kingdom, generally view all Americans as dumb.
They're particularly proud of their Gripen fighter, their economy, and NHS based on internal propaganda.
I point out how the Gripen's engine is made by GE in the US, as is its Mil-1553B data bus, fuel sealants, transistors, canopy, electronic components, brakes, electrical power, several radios, cabin systems, FLIR pod, and several weapons are made in the US, while its gun is made in Germany, ejection seat from England, hydraulics, landing gear, valves, refueling probe, stick and throttle come from UK, wire harnesses, composites, fasteners, APU, and ECU come from France/US.
This similar kind of break-down emerges when you look at Healthcare products, systems, training, and procedures.
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@msaar1303 None of those nations have anywhere close to the US population. First thing about statistics is the larger the observed population is, the larger the standard deviation will be, and each metric will average lower.
Also, the OECD metrics are faulty, not scientific at all.
EMS, dentistry, wait times for Healthcare, and Healthcare options are superior on the US, so they ignore that and switch to costs. Of course better Healthcare costs more, especially when you're also footing the bill for research and development for countries who buy at bulk rates from you because they can't afford retail prices.
This makes pricing even higher in the US because so much of modern Healthcare systems are funded by US programs-not all, but most. Europe and Canada have many similar studies, research, etc, but nowhere near the capacity of the US to do it.
Just look at how many MD, nursing, radiology, specialist, and EMS programs and universities there are in the US compared to all of Europe.
Same with airfields/airports. US has over 14,000.
Most of the medical advancements happen because of defense, which is why I start with defense as an interesting metric from which to branch out from.
If you haven't heard this argument before, it shows you've been operating in an echo chamber reinforcing common beliefs that I see as erroneous and unscientific.
I have used the Finnish NHS, taken several family members in it to appointments or walk-ins, and it reminds me of the US VA system-not as good as the private sector.
Not terrible, but not exceptional or oriented towards high quality patient care. I know what that looks like, and it isn't in any NHS.
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Finland’s 5.5 million up well above 60 degrees north latitude, with long winters and 188,000 lakes, sharing a massive border with Russia, does not even remotely face or solve our toughest issues in the US. Two totally different geographies, climates, genetics, cultures, living styles, languages, and basically every metric for how you would measure a nation or society.
This is why any comparison between tiny Finland up on top of the earth, and the 3rd largest population in the world in the temperate zone with better coastlines than any other nation, connected river networks, huge mountain ranges, etc. doesn’t even make the least bit of sense.
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@you6382tube Geography and climate determine culture. Policies are wishlist ideas from people who aren't educated about the core fundamentals, and spin their wheels crying about what they can't have.
This isn't off in the weeds, but at the heart of the real numbers. For example:
Finland has 188,000 lakes of very clean fresh water that are frozen over during the long winters.
Finns are the offspring of centuries of tough people who survived each winter. The weak ones died and didn't get to reproduce until modern luxuries like indoor plumbing, electricity, and heating.
Finland has access to the sea with half the border being coastline, but no mountain ranges. If you look at it in detail on a map, you will see the glacial recession finger lake topography everywhere.
Now take Wisconsin with roughly the same population (5.8 million vs 5.5m Finland), a bit colder climate, partially on the Great Lakes. It has a higher GDP, more EMS and hospital infrastructure, more Life Flight Helicopters, more Doctors, nurses, pharmacies, specialty clinics, dentists, etc.
Would you tell Wisconsin they should be more like Finland?
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@terriej123 So more EMS equals more sickness in your view, not more infrastructure? Median household income is dramatically higher in Wisconsin, and most people are on private insurance through their employers, with greater access to more medical/dental services.
You have to ask why that system works better, after Finns are taxed so heavily for NHS.
Air Ambulances are used to save lives, whether they're car accident victims, kids choking, falling injuries, poisonings, farming accidents, outdoor recreation accidents, etc.
Finns don't own anywhere near as many automobiles because of the price of gas, taxes, and public transportation.
Wisconsin has 860 automobiles/1000 people.
Finland is unusually high in Europe at 790/1000. Germany is only 628, while Sweden is only 545.
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@ullasofia9432 We know social democracy doesn’t work. One of the worst principles you can adopt in government is to govern by majority-rules. If 51% of the people vote to have a specific right taken away, then it becomes law. That’s amateur-level governance and extremely bad policy.
Socialism has failed in every nation that adopts it as the primary mechanism of economic and political function. None of the European "socialist democracies” are actually governed by pure socialism. I think everyone who has studied economics recognizes all systems are hybrid in nature.
For starters, the most important role of the state (defense), was handled by the United States post-WWII. US force presence in Europe was gargantuan, with military bases filled with fighters, tanks, artillery, and theater ballistic missiles all over the continent.
This allowed Europe to re-build, with billions of US loans and aid packages, and focus on more of a free-market economy that later evolved into an international coalition of quasi-free markets, with a shared exchange and cross-border travel agreement. I still remember Europe when you had to show passports every time you crossed a border, and couldn’t just live or work anywhere you want.
Social Democracy is a very naive concept in political philosophy that doesn’t square well with market and cultural realities. Those are dictated by geography, climate, and demographics (age/male/female balance).
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@ullasofia9432 As I have looked at the metrics, I don't accept the premise that they are "happier". How does one scientifically measure happiness, for example? Sounds like a fool's errand, but trust the experts, they know! See how silly that is?
And again, these "happier" countries with tiny homogenous populations that watch state-owned media, are propped-up by the US in many ways, Healthcare, industry, and defense being key pillars to their economies, while people on the US don't even realize how much they contribute to these nations.
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Everything that is being told about Finland (5/5 million people), or manipulated into a message about how to do things in the US (330 million people, temperate zone, connected river networks, provides much of Finland’s defense, etc.) is erroneous and incorrectly portrayed.
I have lived in Finland at various times since 1979, since my mom is from there. It’s a wonderful country if you like the cold and long, dark winters, lots of forest, 188 000 lakes, and quiet people. I would choose US healthcare over Finnish any day of the week, or use the Finnish private sector. US VA hospitals are better than Finnish hospitals, which is saying something.
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@huuppone Another thing you will see is that infant mortality and life expectancy will always be lower in a giant sample size of a 330 million diverse population, than a 5.5 million, or 82 million, or 10 million relatively homogenous populations. That is basic statistics, nothing to do with the types of healthcare.
US isn't far behind in any of those metrics either. They're all very close with minimal standard deviations and extreme spreads, with multiple variables like diet, exercise, stress, and accidents that are the prime factors, not types of healthcare systems.
Finland has an extremely high ownership rate of lake cottages, for example, called kesämökit. They also have high rates of sauna bathing, which is great for your health.
They are relatively healthy despite their inefficient and dated NHS, not because of it.
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@leiflillandt1488 For EMS in the US, there is such a thing called Life Flight. One of the nearest Level 1 Trauma Centers near me has 2 Life Flight helicopters. They are staffed with a Flight Medic who is a Paramedic with additional life-saving skills, most of which have been pioneered in the military. You are in a far better position in the US if you live far from a Level 1 Trauma Center than in many places in Europe.
Most distant or rural towns simply don't have good trauma infrastructure because it's extremely expensive, requires dedicated staff with trauma surgery training and equipment. This is reality anywhere in rural US, Canada, and Europe. That's why we have Life Flights.
Finland has FinnHEMS Air Ambulance services with 5 EC135 helicopters for the whole nation.
My State in the US has a much smaller population than Finland, and we have 6 Life Flight Helicopters covering roughly 65% of Finland's land area, so we have more Life Flight Helos for a smaller population over smaller area.
You find this same ratio playing out when you look at costs, quality of care, and availability of care. Finland does not compare well in reality.
In a political confirmation bias approach like Senator Sanders uses, it seems to have merits, but with a detailed analysis, these fall apart quite quickly.
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@rafm3068 We are repeatedly brow-beaten with claims about utopian life in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Canada when it comes to healthcare/NHS. So yes, these claims are very common in the public discourse in the US and must be refuted with mathematical analyses.
Life expectancy is higher in Greece, Portugal, Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, Iceland, South Korea, Israel, Sweden, France, Malta, Canada, Norway, Ireland, New Zealand, Netherlands, and Luxembourg when compared to Finland. Would you conclude that all of those countries have better healthcare than Finland? Some do, some don’t.
United States (79.05 years), with its 335 million population, is within 3.26 years of Finland (82.31 years) for life expectancy. From a mathematical and statistical analyses position, that tells me the US has something better overall that is able to maintain such a high life expectancy over such a massive and ethnically-diverse population. The US is the only top 10 nation among the largest populations in the world with high life expectancy. Japan, with its 11th highest population, is the only other high life expectancy population of the top 60 nations in the world (that range from 73.65 - 85.16 years). None of the top 10 world populations fall within the top 60 except for the US. This is immensely-significant from a mathematical perspective.
We typically see ethnic factors playing a big role in life expectancy, even when standard of living might be lower, though clean water and modern medical services do play some role that can’t be ignored.
The question is, if I applied US healthcare options to Finland, would Finland’s life expectancy increase? Since there are far more specialists and healthcare options in the US, more EMS services even in States with smaller populations that Finland, I propose that Finland would benefit with higher standard of living by continuing to adopt more US healthcare options.
I also would expect to see higher standard of living if more people in the US had access to summer cabins and sauna baths, but the cabin option just isn’t a reality because of population density and geography in many areas.
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@rafm3068 Developing nations tend to be closer to the tropics, so tribalism and low standards of education are the norm. Temps are hot, access to clean water is extremely limited, life expectancies are low, home construction often involves repurposed trash, violent revolutions are common, everything is quite versatile.
Ideas about government structure are relatively meaningless because corruption will be the norm, no matter who is helping them. The US has lifted up many of these nations since World War II, brought in more stability, plugged them into global trade, allowed free passage of their students to the US and other developed nations, and subsidized most of their economic growth.
Amateurs talk about policy and forms of government. Analysts look at real data with dispassionate mathematical observations and metrics.
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Sanders is a fraud who kept running for public office until idiots finally elected him mayor. He was living in a root cellar stealing electricity from his neighbors with an extension cord, but somehow he has the answers to large scale problems. Reminds me of Karl Marx. Everything is always someone else’s fault, and he’s here to distract from the fact that he offers nothing, while wanting to take from people that work harder, rather than allow them to manage charity organically.
He steered this conversation away from the core realities that make Finland what it is (not a Utopia, no the happiest place), which revolve around its 188,000 lakes, forests, clean air, super clean water pumped in from the lakes, sauna bathing, quiet people, and hundreds of years of winter hardening them against the elements.
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@Tespri When you scale the supply chain for real estate, you see what a huge industry it is. Since Finland suffered from negative population growth before importing Somalis, it might not seem that big. Concrete, timber, hardware, electrical, plumbing, appliances, fixtures, windows, heating, roofing, insulation, etc. start to stack up volumetrically into a multi-billion market even in tiny nations.
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@msaar1303 US spends billions doing Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation on them. Finland and other nations buy drugs, equipment, and military hardware at bulk, discounted rates.
For example, with the F-35A deal, it was lower cost than the Saab Gripen package. There has been over $62 Billion RDT&E put into the F-35 program, and Finland's Block 4 F-35As will have had many billion more of US money invested in them between the contract date (Dec 2021) and fulfillment period (2026-2030). Additionally, Finland negotiated a 400 unit forward fuselage assembly deal, so Finland will be getting paid billions to make huge sections of F-35s for other customers.
Finnish taxpayer's bill for F-35 RDT&E: $0
Same is true for drugs, medical devices, diagnostic equipment like MRI, electronics, semiconductors, etc.
Finland doesn't live in a vacuum. Finland's biggest trade partner for many decades was Russia, because Russia built its rail network into Finland in the 1860s, which is a different, wider rail base than the rest of Europe. Finland is geographically isolated from mainland Europe by the Gulf of Finland and from Scandinavia by the Gulf of Bothnia.
The ground truth nuts and bolts are missing from these discussions, because politicians and media don't have the education to discuss them properly.
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@77sailordude How much of the F/A-18 RDT&E did Finland pay for from 1977-1995? How much of the $62 billion for F-35 RDT&E did Finland pay for from 1983-2021? US private companies and DoD budget combined to pay for that. Same for JASSM, AIM-9M/X, AIM-120C7, JDAM, etc. That’s the biggest defense package Finland has ever purchased, and all of it was developed with US money that Finland never had to pay for, other than the final products.
A very similar relationship exists in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostic equipment, and services. There are European-based research products as well for sure, but the US bears the weight of research and development for drugs, devices, diagnostic equipment, and processes. EU countries bundle together to purchase medical products from the US at bulk rates, while US States and hospitals get charged full retail much of the time.
Even still, the services and treatments available in the US are greater in quantity and quality, even when you only compare Finland with States that have a similar population size.
This should make sense to anyone who looks at the raw math, rather than listening to policy amateurs. 5.5 million people is a rounding error in the US (335 million).
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@77sailordude Nokia developed transistors, batteries, digital screens, and injection-molding machines? No, that’s all US technology. Data burst transmission? US encrypted Radio technology I used in the military all the time way before Nokia. Engineers in Nokia took data burst RF transmission, and packed it into the cell phone (US technology), marketed it in the private sector, and did really well until allowing themselves to be bought out.
This again reinforces my position that Finland benefits from US developments in defense, healthcare, telecomm, whatever. Finland is a ghost techno-vassal state of the US without any political obligations to the US, so it gets all the benefits with no sacrifice. US doesn’t know about this and doesn’t care, because again, 5.5 million people is a 1.6% rounding error.
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@JH-fk8ow College entrance should be difficult. It's one thing Finland gets right, then promotes misrepresentation of the facts about, saying everyone can go to university for free.
No service or product is free.
The US gets it wrong by allowing illiterates into community colleges and major universities, who then get worthless degrees to them, but pay tens of thousands of dollars for wasting time, inflated by government Pell Grants.
The US needs more emphasis on interdisciplinary skill sets, decoupling from public K-12, advanced skills hands-on programs, followed by apprenticeship.
The college industry is inflated 14,000%, so universities make a killing in the market, producing abject ignoramuses who don't even know basics that used to be taught in elementary school (which did a mediocre job at-best of teaching any skills besides conformity).
Finland is a very conformity-based society, alarmingly-so.
We need less unquestioning conformity moving forward. The past 2.75 years are a screaming example of that.
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