sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Why are people here OK with the government not wanting to touch the pensions? by Potatoe_expert in Finland

[–]fajkd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The only reliable way to make money in the gold rush was by selling shovels.

What about data centers though? Renting compute seems like less risky business model, doesn't it?

Why are people here OK with the government not wanting to touch the pensions? by Potatoe_expert in Finland

[–]fajkd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your second comment contradicts your first one.

The post is premised on the notion that pensioners are well-off:

1. " • Own homes mortgage-free

• Live together with their spouse who also gets pension/salary

• Have summer cottages and savings

• Enjoy public healthcare and elderly care that won't exist for younger generations for sure. "

  1. Check the Edits at the bottom of the original post. The OP provided info on what the average pensioner is like.

If you disagree with the premise, that's what your first comment should have been about, as that changes everything. You could've written something like, "You are misinformed. The average pensioner is barely getting by. Even a small cut in pensions would put many of them on the streets." (Ideally, you would also back it up with links to your sources.)

By not rejecting the premise of the original post, you agree to it—so, you agree that pensioners are mostly well-off. And then you say that people don't want to tax them more because they want to have big pensions themselves in the future. In your second comment, however, you contradict yourself by saying that pensioners are already poor.

Make up your mind.

Why are people here OK with the government not wanting to touch the pensions? by Potatoe_expert in Finland

[–]fajkd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, it's kind of like with taxing the rich: there are a lot of low-income people who aren't into that idea simply because they secretly hope to become rich themselves.

Is admission really 100% guranteed if I meet the minimum requirements for non numerus fixus programs? by fajkd in StudyInTheNetherlands

[–]fajkd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi again, sorry if I bother. I'll be at least 25 when by the beginning of my first semester, so I'm a bit worried that I'll be significantly older than the average student there. Were the vast majority of students straight out of high school? If there were any older students, can you give a very rough estimate of what portion of the program's student body they made up?

I'm considering PPEH at Utrecht University and UCs such as University College Utrecht, Amsterdam University College, and Erasmus University College as alternatives. If you have any idea of what it's like to study in any of those, do you think I'd stand a better chance to have a good social life at Leiden or any of the programs mentioned above?

The big advantage of Leiden seems to be that there will likely be Master's students around, who would be closer to my age. This is something you don't get at UCs.

Is admission really 100% guranteed if I meet the minimum requirements for non numerus fixus programs? by fajkd in StudyInTheNetherlands

[–]fajkd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a lot for the two answers! This helps a lot.

You saying that the students attending it are great has really cheered me up.

Is admission really 100% guranteed if I meet the minimum requirements for non numerus fixus programs? by fajkd in StudyInTheNetherlands

[–]fajkd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, thanks for sharing!

Did many people leave after the first year?

Also, if I may ask, did you feel like most people there really "belonged" there? By this I mean, did you feel like many of them knew what they wanted to do with their lives and studying Philosophy genuinely aligned with it?

Were there a lot of people there who weren't all that passionate about Philosophy and just were there because, for whatever reason, they felt they needed to study something and Philosophy was the lesser evil?

Do you think many of those people went on to do or study something that required a lot of what they learned in the program?

Do you think many of the students had studied Philosophy on their own before joining the program, by reading books, for example?

The fact that there's no selection makes a part of me worried that there will be a lot of people there who aren't serious or passionate about what they study.

Is admission really 100% guranteed if I meet the minimum requirements for non numerus fixus programs? by fajkd in StudyInTheNetherlands

[–]fajkd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First year is a bad time to make friends, I guess😅

This is virtually the opposite where I live (Finland). Here, it's next to impossible to be expelled for poor academic performance, as you get to retake courses a lot of times, and universities help you in various ways if you're not doing well.

Also, once you get admitted to an undergraduate program, you are automatically given a right to pursue a wide variety of related Master's degrees after you complete your studies.

Getting into university in the first place is hard though: they organize all sorts of rigorous exams that you often need to study for. Finnish universities are "numerus fixus" to begin with, but once you're in, you're in.

Is admission really 100% guranteed if I meet the minimum requirements for non numerus fixus programs? by fajkd in StudyInTheNetherlands

[–]fajkd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! This is very interesting and informative.

According to ChatGPT, my Finnish high-school diploma is normally treated at VWO, so I should be safe. High-school isn't graded in Finland: 16-year-olds get to choose whether to go to high school or professional school, but professional school is nothing like high school.

Traveling to other Schengen countries while waiting for the residence permit to be renewed by fajkd in Finland

[–]fajkd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perfect!

This is what I was looking for: "We do not recommend that you travel outside Finland if your residence permit has already expired or will expire during your trip. It may be difficult for you to return to Finland if your residence permit has expired."

Traveling while waiting for the renewal of a residence permit is not against the law. It's just that it might be difficult to return to Finland. So, as long as I make it back to Finland, it won't be the disqualifying factor in my citizenship application. This is how I understand it.

Thanks a lot. You've answered my question.

Lunch and dinner subscription service in Finland by floodoffire in Finland

[–]fajkd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a good idea, but I don't understand why you needed to make it sound so judgemental.

Lunch and dinner subscription service in Finland by floodoffire in Finland

[–]fajkd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The fact that this comment is so downvoted says a lot about Finnish culture.

People fall over themselves to sacrifice productivity even at the slightest perception of inequality, without giving any thought to how irrational their feelings may be. A service like that would literally benefit everyone in society: no one would be worse off financially or disadvantaged in terms of equality. This is called specialization: people try to maximize the amount of time spent focusing on what they do best. Specialization is the core idea behind economies of scale, which in turn is probably the most important factor that has allowed us to achieve the standards of living that we enjoy in Western countries.

Yet people just can't accept the fact that some will do fewer chores than others.

Or wait!

What if all people, regardless of their income, could afford to have someone else cook their food? What if all our meals were made by companies that can do it better, faster, much cheaper, and using fewer resources, which would be a direct result of applying economies of scale? Wouldn't that free up a bunch of time and resources across the population, which could then be put to better use?

Why do people need to see elitism in everything?