Monday, March 07, 2005

Pentti Haanpää on Economy

Finnish novelist Pentti Haanpää (1905-1955) was in his lifetime a controversial character, whose leftist-leaning writings were not seen favourably in the nationalist-militarist Finland of the time. (Harri Teikka chose his writer pseudonym as tribute to a character called Pate Teikka in Haanpää's Noitaympyrä ("Witch Circle")). In 1933 Pentti Haanpää wrote (and was subsequently fined for his troubles):


Talousjärjestelmä on muka luonnonilmiö, jumalainen koneisto, jonka toimintaan valtiovalta ei saa sekaantua. Tätä saarnaavat juuri ne piirit, virkakunta, pankit ja yhtymät, jotka juuri valtiovallan sekaantumisen kautta ovat saaneet yhteiskunnassa kadehdittavat olot, vapaudet ja väljyydet.

("The economic system is supposedly a natural phenomenon, a divine machinery with which government can't meddle. This is preached exactly by those circles, bureaucracy, banks and corporations who have gained their enviable status in society, their freedom and elbowroom, just through the government meddling.")


More on Haanpää (in Finnish)

1 comment:

  1. Haanpää knew what he was talking about. As you probably had in mind, this describes very well what's happening right now.

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