Robert Kaiser, an associate editor of the Washington Post, asks Americans a troubling question in his article “In Finland’s Footsteps: If We’re so Rich and Smart, Why Aren’t We More Like Them?”  Kaiser is referring to the success of Finland’s welfare-state.  Kaiser, a well known politically-conservative writer, is asking a crucial question of social justice in America.  Kaiser writes that within Finland's social democracy or egalitarian system, all people will “…have essentially identical opportunities in Finnish schools, Europe's best. There is no "elite" choice, no working-class choice; everyone is treated equally.”  Can we achieve that with a divided democracy and competitive capitalist system that caters to big business and the upper class?

In a more egalitarian society without the competition, people are likely to have more trust, respect, and value for each other, whether they are all educated or not.  In his article Kaiser notes that, “Finns have extraordinary confidence in their political class and public officials.” Kaiser also refers to the notable work of a University of Southern California sociologist who studied the Finnish society, “Corruption is extremely rare, Manuel Castells, the renowned Spanish sociologist who teaches at the University of Southern California…(argues that) Finland's ability to remake itself followed from its success in creating a welfare state that made Finns feel secure."

It is ironic, that in America, "welfare" has a more negative connotation. If your on welfare, many people in America will consider you a leech; a social outcast.  Yet, the same system that defines our welfare system as something negative, contributes to people needing that system to survive. Indeed it is a sad fact of our system that we cannot have rich people without poor people.  Welfare is synonymous with prosperity.  How can welfare be something negative?  Only in our twisted system can we spin a positive word into a stigmatized term.

Sustainability, equality in education and health care, issues such as these are not necessarily liberal or conservative, democratic or republican.  These are issues that can bring the masses together.  Like the conservative author Robert Kaiser states, “For a patriotic American like me, the Finns present a difficult challenge: If we Americans are so rich and so smart, why can't we treat our citizens as well as the Finns do?”  Social justice is shackled to environmental justice and solving these issues is a crucial catalyst for nurturing our sustainable future.  Thankfully we have an administration more in tune with a social democracy.  Let's hope Obama can help social and environmental progress in our country.

Check out Reggie's related social/environmental justice post titled Community Unity.  

- Cyrus