Fennocentric

We Finns are little well-fed pigs living in our Scandinavian welfare state, inevitably limited by our Fennocentric / Scandicentric / Eurocentric / Westcentric views. We are as if automatically provided with food and shelter, are accustomed with all the high standards of living in our politically, economically, geologically and meteorologically safe and stable little country. Wars, natural disasters and people starving to death are something happening only somewhere far away, something we only watch on our TVs. We can only whine about the weather and winter-time light deprivation or any perceived threats that might endanger the sustenance of our cosy little welfare state. For someone coming from a Third World country, it might appear that we live in a sort of paradise. But is it really so?

There are some sociological theories claiming that when all basic needs, such as food, shelter and necessary monthly income, are provided, people will start to ponder if something else is still lacking in their lives. All material well-being proves not to be enough, something is still missing. Do we need more material things around us, or is the lack of some deeper, spiritual sort? This is the paradox of the so called high Western standards of living.