We may not be the youngest but we surely have our sights set on the future. And also some really great memories that came back again, from my student activist days in the late 1960’s. Nice moments with old friends and colleagues.
So I am back today from a two-day meeting of the Finnish social democrat veterans association, Suomen Wanhat Toverit. Three hundred we were who came together in Jyväskylä in central Finland on 24 – 25 August 2019. This is an association that brings us together, mostly at local monthly meetings, but every two years at these larger national events. I am an active member there, chairing one of the two local organisations in the Finnish capital, Pääkaupungin Wanhat Toverit.
We met at the Jyväskylä Workers’ Hall, one of the early works of famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Here we were treated to two exceptional presentations about the future of European democracy.
During his long career in politics, Erkki Liikanen was Finance Minister, Member of the European Commission and then Governor of the national bank, and much more. This gives him a unique vantage point on how democracy in Finland, Europe and the world has developed through many periods of challenge and turmoil. In his highly interesting and engaging presentation he raised major challenges but also pointed at positive developments in Europe and the European Union. Tackling marginalisation and improving education have to be among the important tasks on the agenda. The support for the European Union is stronger than ever in many member states which is also a cause for optimism.
Young political scientist Ilona Lahdelma who is working on her doctoral thesis at Oxford University complemented Erkki Liikanens lecture in a way which opened up the subject of democracy itself and offered an attempt to a scientific analysis of some main trends on the European political scene. Her views on how traditional political divides have changed all over Europe was highly interesting. We were also very attentively listening to how political movements must take account of the effects of the new media landscape on voters’ expectations and behaviour.
Meeting old colleagues and friends is a major function of these conferences. All of us have been active in different professional or political roles within the social democratic labour movement. At a dinner which the City of Jyväskylä invited us to old friendships were confirmed in a very pleasant atmosphere. Once again I could feel the benefits of being this pretty small country where our relations tend to be so uncomplicated.
I enjoyed particularly much my long chat with Erkki Liikanen on the train to Jyväskylä. Upstairs in the café wagon it was nice and quiet, almost empty, except for us laughing now and then to some of the common memories from our youth years. Fifty years back we both worked together in the national secondary school student’s organisation Suomen Teiniliitto. This was the central point for Finnish student activism in the late 1960’s – we were in fact often more active and radical than the university students’ associations.
For the first time I heard – I think – Erkki telling me that I was the first Swedish-speaking Finn whom he had ever met. His home town was Mikkeli, in south-eastern Finland, a completely Finnish-speaking region.
We did of course talk about many other things and about today’s world, but this flashback that brought up many nice and even funny incidents and memories was really enjoyable. I could of course write page up and page down on what we were up to during those wild 60’s, maybe I soon will…