I’ve been beating this drum for years: women make superior political leaders. I’ve written about cracking the political glass ceiling, argued that women make better politicians than men, and even suggested that men should be barred from politics altogether.
The evidence is overwhelming. When women hold power in corporate boardrooms, family-friendly policies inevitably follow. The correlation is undeniable. Apply that same dynamic to politics, and you get leaders who invest in human capital instead of military hardware. It’s not rocket science.
Finland proves the point perfectly. In 2010, when women controlled the presidency, prime ministership, Supreme Court, and eight of eleven government ministries, Newsweek rated Finland the best place to live on Earth. Health, economic dynamism, education, political environment, quality of life—Finland topped every category. Coincidence? Hardly.
Women aren’t just meeting the bar — though admittedly, men have set it pathetically low. They’re establishing an entirely new standard. Which brings us to this moment:
Sanna Marin [at podium] is about to assume a role that remains unusual for young women around the world. …
Finland routinely ranks near the top worldwide in measures of gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum.
Marin will lead a coalition government made up of five parties, all of them led by women.
(Vox, December 9, 2019)
You go … girls!
Again, women have been ruling Finland for years, and their record of success is beyond reproach. But I would be remiss not to note the heading for the Vox report quoted above:
Finland’s new parliament is dominated by women under 35 — The country could have lessons for the United States
Because it just so happens that — of the nearly 20 now running to unseat President Donald Trump — the most exciting candidate is the youngest, namely 37-year-old Pete Buttigeig. Of course, that Buttigieg is (openly) gay distinguishes him as much as his age does from the old men I want women to replace.
Now for the inconvenient truth.
iPINIONS would feel considerably better about Finland’s gender equality achievements if the country showed any interest in racial diversity. The entire nation is whiter than Vermont, which itself is 96 percent white. Finland is so overwhelmingly white that the women who’ve led it for years don’t even bother publishing statistics on racial diversity.
That’s not leadership to admire. It’s selective progressivism that conveniently ignores the hardest questions about inclusion.
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