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Terribly interesting. I ran an ultra marathon in Lapland last winter and it's an incredible, surreal place. Also, it was very interesting to see the pseudo-pa

Terribly interesting. I ran an ultra marathon in Lapland last winter and it's an incredible, surreal place. Also, it was very interesting to see the pseudo-paranoia some of our hosts (here and in Estonia) had about Russia. One made the point to me that "your paranoia is justified when you've been occupied on and off so many times over the last century."

mstade 9y ago
The paranoia is real. I'm of Swedish-Baltic descent and since a very early age was taught that Russians are not to be trusted, for the very reason you mention (occupation.) This paranoia runs very deep in Baltic culture, in my experience, however in Swedish culture much less so – presumably because we don't share a border with Russia. Not gonna lie, when Russia entered Crimea I got a pit in my stomach.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  > Not gonna lie, when Russia entered Crimea I got a pit in my stomach. Exactly. Same for everybody I know in Northern Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
- walkingolof 9y ago
  Dont know if your old enough to done military service in Sweden, but as the saying goes, all guns points the east. There is no confusion about why we are rebuilding our defense for in Sweden. We have +3000 KM coast line in Sweden, large part in the Baltics, so we too share a border with Russia. In any case if you forgot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_S-363 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_S-363
  - jacobush 9y ago
    håll gränsen
  - mstade 9y ago
    Fair enough, but no land border, which significantly simplifies the logistics of an attack. My point about the nonchalance in Swedish culture towards Russian aggression however is less about those involved or otherwise supportive of the military – they are all but certain to keep it top of mind – but with the rest who seem to either actively campaign against the military under some naive assumption that "surely not here, we're friends!" or simply don't care. Swedes simply don't have that deep rooted paranoia (for lack of better word – strong worry perhaps) that you'll see in for instance the Baltic states. Quite possibly because while we may have had incidents, there have been no occupation or all out conflict for so long while with the Baltic states, and indeed Finland, it's still fresh in mind.
jacquesm 9y ago
> Also, it was very interesting to see the pseudo-paranoia some of our hosts (here and in Estonia) had about Russia. All of the Baltics have this, not without reason. Keep in mind too that Kaliningrad is Russian and that the shortest path between Russia major and Kaliningrad runs right through Lithuania, just a little bit North of the Polish border. With what happened in Ukraine in recent memory you can't really fault the people there for being paranoid.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > With what happened in Ukraine in recent memory you can't really fault the people there for being paranoid. With what happened in the Ukraine, you can't fairly describe the fears of Russian action in the region as paranoia.
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    That would not have been my choice of words but it was the original posters', I'd prefer the term 'prepared'.
  - joelrunyon 9y ago
    This was the Estonian's words, not mine. He meant it in a "joking, but totally serious" tone.
  - bonesss 9y ago
    Paranoia implies delusion, but just because delusion has some anchor in reality doesn't mean that there aren't delusional aspects to it. "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean that they're not after you", and it's corollary "just because they're after you doesn't mean that you can't be paranoid". ;)

mstade 9y ago

The paranoia is real. I'm of Swedish-Baltic descent and since a very early age was taught that Russians are not to be trusted, for the very reason you mention (occupation.) This paranoia runs very deep in Baltic culture, in my experience, however in Swedish culture much less so – presumably because we don't share a border with Russia. Not gonna lie, when Russia entered Crimea I got a pit in my stomach.

jacquesm 9y ago
> Not gonna lie, when Russia entered Crimea I got a pit in my stomach. Exactly. Same for everybody I know in Northern Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
walkingolof 9y ago
Dont know if your old enough to done military service in Sweden, but as the saying goes, all guns points the east. There is no confusion about why we are rebuilding our defense for in Sweden. We have +3000 KM coast line in Sweden, large part in the Baltics, so we too share a border with Russia. In any case if you forgot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_S-363 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_S-363
- jacobush 9y ago
  håll gränsen
- mstade 9y ago
  Fair enough, but no land border, which significantly simplifies the logistics of an attack. My point about the nonchalance in Swedish culture towards Russian aggression however is less about those involved or otherwise supportive of the military – they are all but certain to keep it top of mind – but with the rest who seem to either actively campaign against the military under some naive assumption that "surely not here, we're friends!" or simply don't care. Swedes simply don't have that deep rooted paranoia (for lack of better word – strong worry perhaps) that you'll see in for instance the Baltic states. Quite possibly because while we may have had incidents, there have been no occupation or all out conflict for so long while with the Baltic states, and indeed Finland, it's still fresh in mind.

jacquesm 9y ago

> Also, it was very interesting to see the pseudo-paranoia some of our hosts (here and in Estonia) had about Russia. All of the Baltics have this, not without reason. Keep in mind too that Kaliningrad is Russian and that the shortest path between Russia major and Kaliningrad runs right through Lithuania, just a little bit North of the Polish border. With what happened in Ukraine in recent memory you can't really fault the people there for being paranoid.

dragonwriter 9y ago
> With what happened in Ukraine in recent memory you can't really fault the people there for being paranoid. With what happened in the Ukraine, you can't fairly describe the fears of Russian action in the region as paranoia.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  That would not have been my choice of words but it was the original posters', I'd prefer the term 'prepared'.
- joelrunyon 9y ago
  This was the Estonian's words, not mine. He meant it in a "joking, but totally serious" tone.
- bonesss 9y ago
  Paranoia implies delusion, but just because delusion has some anchor in reality doesn't mean that there aren't delusional aspects to it. "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean that they're not after you", and it's corollary "just because they're after you doesn't mean that you can't be paranoid". ;)