What the duck is this?

This blog posting is written especially for people who got a flyer like this in the picture and have little or no idea what is it about (and, well, for anyone else willing to listen). There was this web-address, however, and it lead you here.


In short, this piece of paper is political propaganda. There's going to be municipal elections in Finland next Sunday (26th) and I'm one of the people trying to get myself elected to the Jyväskylä City Council.

In case you have the right to vote and feel that you share some of my political beliefs (I will get to them soon), please consider voting number 550 (which is me).

It is possible that you can vote even though you aren't a citizen:

Entitled to vote in the municipal elections are

1) citizens of Finland or another Member State of the European Union as well as of Iceland and Norway who have reached the age of 18 not later than on the day of the election, and whose municipality of residence, as defined by law, is the municipality in question on the 51st day before election day, and

2) other foreigners who have reached the age of 18 not later than on the day of the election, and whose municipality of residence, as defined by law, is the municipality in question on the 51st day before election day, and who at that time have had a municipality of residence in Finland for an uninterrupted period of two years.

If you are entitled to vote you should have got a notice of the elections by mail. Further information on the elections can be found here.

I'm an independent candidate on the list of Vasemmistoliitto, "The Left Alliance", the popular left-wing party in Finland. You can find out more about Left Alliance in here.

But what about me?

My name is Oskari Rantala and I am 23 years old. I study literature and social sciences in the University of Jyväskylä. I am currently working on my final thesis in which I study superhero comics (particularly Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen series).

My political orientation is Green Left: I support modern democratic socialism that incorporates feminist thinking and environmental consciousness. At large, the most urgent task at hand is to protect (and hopefully expand) the Finnish welfare society (or what is left of it) against evil neoliberalist goons who think that most of the public sector should be turned into private enterprise (that would have no interest to increase welfare but to make a profit out of it).

As all socialists, I am for higher taxes (especially for the wealthy) and better standard of living for everybody. And social and economic equality. And environmental responsibility. And peace. And so on.

In case you're interested, the text in the flyer you have (or have not) received goes:

Municipal Elections, October 26th:
OSKARI RANTALA 550
Resistance is permitted. Even in the City Council.

(There's a pun in these two sentences. They resemble the slogan of The Left Youth, a non-governmental political youth organisation. It doesn't translate very well.)

Green & red politics: The society must take better care of both the people and the environment.

Children's, young people's, young adults' and students' welfare must be strengthened: more possibilities for different leisure activities and more funding on the care for mental health and child welfare etc. Young people need more ways to participate in the desicion-making processes of the city.

Pedestrians and cyclists need more space. More streets in the city centre should be made car-free and public transportation should cost significantly less.

The city should run things ethically and ecologically. The city should use more trade products, have more decent working conditions for the city workers and make real efforts to fight climate change.

So, that is my short political agenda in English. Please consider voting for me if you share my views.

All sorts of questions and comments are welcome.

If you have a Finnish-speaking friend at your disposal s/he can probably crawl you through the more thorough account on my objectives and opinions that can be found here.