Tag Archives: freedom

Culture

Top 5 Things that Make Finland Happiest Country For Ninth Consecutive Year

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People and companies tend to do well in similar surroundings. Here’s how Finland cultivates an environment in which personal happiness and business success are not at odds but grow out of the same ground.

Several things contribute to Finnish happiness, many of which also make Finland a great country to do business and invest in. We listed five reasons why Finland is a country where people experience a high quality of life—and which also make Finland a place for entrepreneurship and innovation that punches above its weight in many sectors.

1. Stable, functional, and predictable—everyday

In Finland, people experience a high level of personal freedom, public services are widely available, buses run on time, and things just generally work. Daily life can be almost boring in its predictability— in the best possible way.

Such stability also represents a competitive advantage. In the recent 2026 Finland Investor Confidence Barometer, 54% of Finnish-owned and 62% of foreign-owned company business leaders considered social stability and functionality to be among Finland’s key strengths.

2. People work well together in a high-trust society

Finland is characterized by a widely shared sense of trust among both neighbors and strangers. It is also characterized by people’s trust in the authorities and governing bodies. Corruption remains low (2nd in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index in 2025), and people and organizations don’t need to spend a lot of time and energy trying to work out who they can trust. This removes obstacles to collaboration, making for a happier, stress-free environment.

3. Work-life balance lifts both sides

Finnish society supports people’s ability to combine work with family life and the pursuit of one’s own interests and hobbies. Finnish policies support subsidized parental leave, infant health services, and daycare. This means people can both build a career and fulfill their dreams of a family without creating an undue burden on either. A big part of the Finnish dream is the accessibility of a fulfilling life for everyone.   

4. World-class digital infrastructure keeps you connected

Finland has long had a thriving ICT sector. So it’s no surprise it’s among the top countries in the world when it comes digitalization. As a country of long distances, Finland benefits from reliable high-speed networks that support working from home, as well as enjoying life and staying connected outside office hours. In the Finland Investor Confidence Barometer, approximately half the surveyed leaders of both domestic and foreign-owned businesses listed the country’s digital infrastructure as one of Finland’s core strengths.

5. Connection with and appreciation of nature

Even with great digital connections, Finns also know how to log off. Anywhere in Finland (even in the cities), you’re always within a 10-minute walk from a nature trail or park. The proximity of nature gives people a sense of calm—and people who are relaxed, recharged, and happy outside work are also happy and productive people when they’re in the office. Finland is also committed to preserving its valued nature with a credible climate policy. Carbon neutrality is a common target for many cities and municipalities, and the green transition is viewed as a major opportunity for businesses. 

The coming together of these factors contributes to the Finnish sense of happiness, both during and outside business hours. And it shows. The UN World Happiness Report surveys people from around the world annually, asking them to evaluate their current quality of life: on March 19, the report’s 2026 edition announced Finland as the world’s happiest country for the 9th consecutive year.

For the Silo, Salla Salovaara/ Business Finland.

ABOUT

Business Finland is the Finnish government organization that provides innovation funding and internationalization services, promotes travel and investments, and attracts talents to Finland. Business Finland’s around 450 experts work in 12 offices globally and in 15 regional offices around Finland. Business Finland is part of the Team Finland network. www.businessfinland.fi

Invest in Finland helps foreign companies identify business opportunities in Finland, produces information on Finland as an investment destination, and enhances and coordinates national efforts to attract investment by actively networking with regional and international entities. Invest in Finland also collects and updates information about foreign-owned companies in Finland. Invest in Finland is part of Business Finland. www.businessfinland.com

Politics

Letter To The Silo- Ways To Catch Wild Pigs Is How To Create Socialism

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Dear Silo,  a thought to remember-  Marx said,”Remove one freedom per generation and soon you will have no freedom and no one would have noticed.” These are words to the wise, if you can understand what’s going on around you…. *

There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day, the professor noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist regime. In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange question.

He asked: “Do you know how to catch wild pigs?” The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said that it was no joke. “You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place
in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free corn. “When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence.

“They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. “The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again. You then slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. “Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.”

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in Canada .

The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, welfare entitlements, medicine, drugs, etc., while we continually lose our freedoms, just a little at a time.

One should always remember two truths: There is no such thing as a free lunch, and you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself. Name withheld by request. Originally post Fall 2014.