Refusing to yield – to snow or economic reality
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By Paavo Rautio
An absurd encounter occurred on a street in Helsinki recently.
A lorry and a car approached each other in the Eira district in the centre of the city on a thoroughfare that had been rendered narrower than usual by piles of snow.
One of the two would have to back up, but neither would agree to do it.
Finally, the lorry driver got back into his cab after arguing with the owner of the car, and pushed the car back with the front of his vehicle.
Finns do not like it when new and unexpected circumstances push them into a situation in which they should give up something that they have grown accustomed to seeing as a benefit that they have been bestowed, as an allocation from the vague area of the common good.
One might think that Finns would master snow-related matters, and they actually are pretty good at it as long as it involves heavy-duty shovelling and ploughing, and keeping airport runways clear of the stuff.
But snow makes roads narrower. It reduces our common space. It takes something away from us.
I admit to being a member of the group of skater-skiers.
A couple of times on a ski track I have had conversations with people walking their dogs.
They seem to have an unshakable conviction that the arrival of winter and the conversion of walking paths into ski tracks should deprive dog owners of nothing.
If it is all right to walk along a path with a dog in the summer, they can do it now as well, even though the path is now a ski track maintained by the city.
The problem could conceivably be a lack of information. Not everyone is familiar with the 14th paragraph of the law of public order, under which dogs must not be allowed to run, either leashed, or unleashed, on a ski track maintained for the use of the public.
However, the ultimate problem is that the new situation encroaches on an achieved benefit - on their personal allocation of the common good, and that is not something that a Finn takes lightly.
A similar situation prevails in other parts of Helsinki as well.
At one particular intersection after a traffic light there are normally three lanes when the ground is free of snow: one for right turns, and two for cars going straight ahead.
The snow has narrowed the turning in such a way that the three lanes unexpectedly have turned to just two.
However, this does not mean that three Finns will not try to crowd into the palpably narrower space at one time.
The one who yields is the one whose car is not a company car.
Parking was banned on a few streets in the centre of Helsinki where there are tram tracks.
The massive piles of snow on the edges of the street forced cars to park too far from the edge of the pavement, and too close to the tracks.
Trams could not move and traffic was snarled.
On Tuesday Helsingin Sanomat reported that people were parking cars there in spite of the ban. But of course!
I do not think that the problem would have been a lack of information in this case either - that the new traffic signs would not have been noticed, or that the tram problem would not have been obvious.
Some people just seem to think that since they have kept their cars here before, this part of the common good is what they are entitled to.
Finland faces an unexpected situation with the start of the next electoral term.
After many fat years, Finland has to agree on what kinds of savings it needs to make in public spending so that the coffers will be in shape in the coming decades.
We need to agree that the new setup forces us to relinquish some benefits that we have achieved.
The sustainability gap narrows the road. Someone needs to give way.
In the recession of the early 1990s, there was quite simply not enough time for such considerations, so the impasse was avoided.
The massive recession pushed small people out of the way without so much as a by your leave.
Finnish politicians know their electorates. This is apparent in debates that take place ahead of elections, where it has been stipulated many times what the issues are on which no compromises are possible.
Once again, this is not about knowledge - the idea that the people would be unaware of economic reality or the responsibility that a decision-maker carries. Any candidate who starts to talk about reducing the common good will not be elected to Parliament.
The spring will eventually do away with the snow, even if nothing is done in the meantime.
The territory of the common good will return to its familiar setup.
The straw that politicians hold in their hand - talk of the power of economic growth that will solve all problems of public finances - is akin to a strategy of waiting for the spring in a never-ending autumn.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 20.1.2011
PAAVO RAUTIO / Helsingin Sanomat
paavo.rautio@hs.fi
