Left Youth Political Program

Preface
1. Economic policy
1.1 National economy and taxation
1.2 Working life and trade unions
1.3 Entrepreneurship and livelihood
2. Climate and Environmental Policy
2.1 A Just Transition
2.2 Energy Production
2.3 The Environment and Nature
3. Social Policy
3.1 Social Security and Livelihood
3.2 Social and Health Services
3.3 Equality and non-discrimination
4. Education and culture
4.1 Early childhood education, primary education, and secondary education
4.2 Higher education
4.3 Culture and art
5. Domestic policy
5.1 Democracy
5.2 Regions and transport
5.3 Rule of Law and Security
5. Domestic policy
5.1 Democracy
5.2 Regions and transport
5.3 Rule of Law and Security
6. Foreign policy and defense policy
6.1 Defense policy
6.2 The European Union
6.3 International policy

Preface

The Left Youth is a political youth organization guided by an ideological foundation of ecological, democratic, feminist and international socialism. The roots of the organization are in the democratic and socialist worker’s movement and other popular movements. The mission of the organization is to support young people’s development as active political actors.

The ideological foundation of the work of the Left Youth is socialism. We understand socialism as an economic, political and ethical system. The democratization of economic decision-making and the shared ownership of the means of production are the foundations of socialism. Its goal is to bring about an economic system where the continuous accumulation of capital, the oppression of the non-owning class, and the rule of markets over democratic mechanisms are no longer possible.

The socialism of the Left Youth is ecosocialist. The ecological crisis is the most severe threat currently facing humanity. This crisis is primarily caused by the capitalist system directed at the maximizing of economic growth and profits – thus they will not be solved with more capitalism. All political action must take this crisis into consideration and strive toward a political and economic system which is compatible with the carrying capacity of the Earth and capable of minimizing the damage caused by the current crisis.

The socialism of the Left Youth is feminist and intersectional. All people are equal regardless of their personal characteristics. Despite this, our current societal structures restrict the equality and freedom of individuals and create unjust hierarchies. The Left Youth strives towards the abolishment of oppressive structures, norms and hierarchies.

The socialism of the Left Youth is democratic. Power must not be concentrated in the hands of the few; instead, decision-making should be in the hands of all. The pursuit of democracy is not limited to parliamentarianism – we call for more democracy in all areas of society. This also means increasing democracy in the workplace, i.e. transferring decision-making power from the owners to the workers.

The socialism of the Left Youth is international. People are equal regardless of their place of birth, and everyone has an equal right to pursue a good life. One of the most central tendencies of capitalism has been to use imperialist, nationalist and racist policies to make states and groups of people compete against each other. We are building a world which is not defined through nationalities, cultures, religions and other differences between groups of people, but through the equality of all humankind.

1. Economic policy

The socialist economic policy of the Left Youth is based on the principle of securing the well-being of people and the planet. Our goal is an economic system in which production and consumption are set within the limits of the Earth’s carrying capacity, commonly produced wealth is shared equitably and the contradiction between labor and capital has ceased to exist. We oppose capitalism because its goal is the endless pursuit of profit, which leads to exploitation, the accumulation of power and ecological destruction. The aim of our economic policy is to replace the capitalist economic system with a socialist one. Although regulation and minor changes to the capitalist economy are not enough on their own, they are essential steps on the road to a socialist mode of production.

Capitalism is an economic system based on private property, the extraction of surplus value from labor and the accumulation of capital in markets. Private property concentrates the decision-making power over production in the hands of individuals, who form the bourgeoisie class. The working class consists of all those who have to sell their labor for a wage. This creates the central power structure of capitalism, the contradiction between the working class and the bourgeoisie, labor and capital. This conflict leads to the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the few. Bourgeoisie decision-making is guided by the pursuit of profit. As a result, capitalism exploits people, animals and nature. The overconsumption fuelled by fossil capitalism is the main cause of disasters such as climate change and biodiversity loss, which cannot be curbed without a radically different economic system.

1.1 National economy and taxation

After the 2008 financial crisis, there has been a shift to short-term cyclical economic fluctuations. Capitalism is incapable of growth without the support of central banks and the public sector. The public sector must strengthen its grip on social and health services, education, energy and infrastructure, and not subordinate them to the profit motive of the private sector. The financial system must be brought under democratic control. The economy must primarily be measured in terms of human development and sustainability rather than gross domestic product.

Taxation must be set to reduce income inequality and to discourage activities that are harmful to the climate and nature. Its focus should shift from taxing labor to curbing capital accumulation and pollution. In addition to pollution, sustainable activities must be taken into account in taxation. Value added tax must be revised to be environmentally based, taking into account the carbon footprint of products and services. Any tax solution must take into account its overall impact on income distribution. For example, when a tax solution that is necessary for environmental reasons is disadvantageous for low-income earners, the disadvantages must be compensated by income redistribution or other tax reforms.

In a capitalist system of production, work is organized undemocratically. The Left Youth wants Finland to move towards a more democratic working life. Democratizing work is the key to a fairer and more sustainable economy. The change will be made by increasing the concrete influence of workers in their workplaces, but it will also require a broader rethinking of hierarchical work culture.

The Left Youth proposes:

Infrastructure, energy and mining companies should be transferred to public ownership.
Banking and financial activities should be centralized to a publicly-owned people’s bank with the exclusive right to create money. Inflation should be eliminated to prevent the wage-price spiral.
The focus of taxation should be shifted from labor to ownership. Taxes on income and capital gains should be harmonized to the same scale. The progressivity of gift and inheritance tax should be increased.
An asset ceiling of five million euros should be set.
The tax advantage of dividend taxation should be eliminated for unlisted companies and their dividend taxation aligned with that of listed companies.
A capital gains tax should be introduced and capital controls increased.
Worker cooperatives, non-profit associations and foundations should be supported as part of the democratization of the economic system.

1.2 Working life and trade unions

A strong trade union movement has been, and will continue to be, the basis of Finnish working life. A functioning agreement-based society creates stability and predictability in the labor market and provides a stable environment for municipalities and businesses. The Left Youth believes that the rules of working life should be agreed jointly between trade unions and employers’ representatives. No form of employer dictation should be accepted in Finnish working life, and this should be promoted by enshrining the role of the union steward in law. The right to strike must be treated as an unequivocal fundamental right.

Changing working life, atypical employment relationships and precarisation must however be recognised. Society as a whole must reform to take into account the precarious position of people in the labor market and fragmented forms of income. This also applies to the trade union movement, which must take an increasingly strong and broader stance on behalf not only of those in formal employment but of all those working. Self-employed workers should, as far as possible, be able to negotiate the price of work collectively.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence and language models is an enormous force for change that can be seen as the fourth industrial revolution. In the world of work, technological advances mean that there are fewer and fewer wage workers – with more efficient tools, fewer hands are needed. The Left Youth believes that automation can be harnessed for the benefit of people and nature, if the aim is not to increase profits but to reduce working time and the harmful effects of work.

Finnish working life must be progressive and supportive of workers’ well-being. Working hours must be systematically reduced without reducing earnings in both the public and private sectors. In addition to their intrinsic value, shorter working weeks and employee wellbeing are also a means of attracting international expertise and a retained workforce in sectors that are critical to the sustainability of society, such as social services and healthcare. People need to be able to live on the wages they earn.

Discrimination in the labor market must be eradicated. Finnish working life is still highly gendered, and gender affects pay. The gender wage gap must be eliminated and pay openness increased. Equal pay for equal work must be ensured and the underpayment in female-dominated sectors must continue to be addressed. Ethnic discrimination must be tackled, anonymous recruitment must be introduced and career guidance must be provided in different languages. In particular, the use of students, civilian servants, disabled and unemployed people as free labor must be stopped.

The Left Youth proposes:

The work week should be reduced to four days a week or six hours a day without reducing wages.
A minimum wage law should be introduced with a minimum hourly wage of 15 euros. The minimum wage must be at least equal to the European Social Charter’s standard of a decent wage.
Underpayment should be criminalized. A long term strategy should be developed to eradicate labor exploitation and human trafficking.
Trade unions should be given the right of action and sanctions increased for breaches of collective agreements. The position of union steward should be enshrined in law.
Competitiveness Pact payments should be transferred back to the employers.
The ownership of companies should be transferred to workers, for example by creating tax incentives for worker cooperatives and programmes to increase direct worker ownership.
The preferential right of buy back of companies and the means of production should be guaranteed for workers.
Workers’ representation should be increased in company boards and management teams.
Adequate resources must be ensured for well-being services counties to carry out statutory health checks and applying for a medical statement B should be made free for the unemployed.
The system of qualifying periods for benefits should be abolished.

1.3 Entrepreneurship and livelihood

Enterprise policy must aim to increase employment and guarantee competitive conditions in a predictable environment. Finnish enterprise policy must take better account of environmental protection, human rights and workers’ rights. Instead of weakening the position of workers, competitiveness must be improved by investing in people’s working ability and skills. Labor mobility should be improved by developing infrastructure. In publicly owned companies, the state as the owner must take account of workers’ rights and their influence over their work, the environment and regional equality.

At its best, entrepreneurship enables individuals to have autonomy over their own work. There are however many problems with the rights of self-employed people and small businesses, with one third of self-employed people in the bottom income decile. Many have insufficient income and are left to bear financial risk on their own. Self-employed workers must be able to negotiate the price of work collectively. The most vulnerable entrepreneurs must be supported by raising the VAT threshold and reforming social security, pensions and healthcare for entrepreneurs.

Legislation forces many people to become entrepreneurs against their will. In some situations, the only way to get a job is to work as a contractor through a billing service. In addition, some employers seek to escape employer obligations by outsourcing salaried work as entrepreneurial work. Legislation needs to be changed to improve the situation of involuntary entrepreneurs and forced self-employment needs to be criminalized.

The Left Youth proposes:

Working conditions must not be weakened and wages must not be reduced in the name of competitiveness.
There must be sufficient housing and reduced public transport fares to ensure labor mobility.
Starting a business should be made easier by reducing paperwork and lowering incorporation fees.
The VAT threshold should be raised to 30 000 € to support micro entrepreneurs.
A system of advance decisions on unemployment benefits should be introduced, and entrepreneurs should be entitled to unemployment benefits one month after they close business.
Disguising wage labor as self-employment, evasion of weekend and evening bonuses and collective agreements, should be made illegal.
Sex workers should have better opportunities for legal and secure self-employment. The renting of premises for sex work and forming cooperative enterprises should be allowed.

2. Climate and Environmental Policy

The climate crisis is the most serious threat facing humanity and nature. The main cause of the crisis is the capitalist economic system and its relentless pursuit of profit. Corporations constantly lobby governments for looser regulations to maximize short-term profits. A significant part of the ecological crisis is due to overproduction fueled by aggressive marketing. Many current environmental policies are designed according to market demands, making them inefficient and inadequate. A system that requires constant growth cannot solve the crisis it itself has caused.

The goal of the Left Youth is to prevent the deepening of the climate crisis and loss of biodiversity. Destructive fossil capitalism must be replaced with an eco-socialist system built for operating within the limits of the carrying capacity of nature and ensuring a good life for all. The owning class constitutes a small minority of the world’s population but consumes the majority of resources and controls production. Therefore, climate change is also a question of class and democracy. The adequate well-being of people must be ensured by sharing work, power, and wealth equally both globally and within nation states. Finland must take a strict stance in climate negotiations in favor of international emission reductions and financially support countries most affected by the consequences of the climate crisis.

2.1 A Just Transition

The climate crisis affects those already in very vulnerable positions the most, and its direct and indirect impacts are already visible in the lives of low-income individuals. The consumption of wealthy states and the owning class accounts for the majority of the world’s emissions. A just transition requires solutions where emission reductions do not burden low-income individuals and where the disruptions caused by the climate crisis do not jeopardize the fulfillment of basic needs.

The immediate reductions on burdening the environment brought by technological solutions are nullified in the long run if we do not curb the growth of material production and consumption. Instead of using consumption as a measure of standard of living, the focus should be on improving quality of life sustainably. The public sector must support and invest in a just transition. Investments must be made in clean energy, climate-proof jobs, and low-emission transportation. Self-sufficiency must be ensured by building an ecological and sustainable food production system. Ecological farming must be economically viable for farmers, and support must be provided for the adoption of more sustainable methods. Retraining and career change for workers in polluting industries must be supported.

The Left Youth proposes:

A citizen forum on climate issues must be established in Finland
Investing in rail infrastructure for both passenger and freight transport. The monopoly status of VR must be restored.
Setting strict resource efficiency targets for new construction, taking into account the health effects of buildings. Ecological renovation projects are taken as one goal of state-owned construction companies.
Supporting retraining opportunities for workers in environmentally burdensome industries.
Directing support through development cooperation to countries in the Global South for adapting to the consequences of climate change and reducing emissions. Additionally, canceling debts of states most affected by climate change.

2.2 Energy Production

The energy production of Finland has a significant impact on mitigating the climate crisis. Finland must immediately reduce emissions by transitioning to fossil-free energy production by the year 2030. The transition must be ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable. For energy production to be sustainable it must be based on renewable energy sources. State support for wind and solar energy must be significantly increased. We also support the use of nuclear power to replace fossil fuels when deemed cost-effective. Energy solutions must not endanger the livelihoods of indigenous peoples.

The transition to fossil-free production must not happen at the expense of citizens, for the profit of private companies. Electricity is an essential commodity for modern life, and every household must have the right to access it at a reasonable price. Placing energy companies and energy transmission fully under public ownership is the only way to implement a national energy transition policy, guarantee reasonable prices, and maintain national energy security.

The capitalist economic system forces society into reckless and unsustainable energy consumption. The total energy consumption of society must be reduced, and energy efficiency improved. This requires controlling energy consumption and increasing energy efficiency so that electricity and heat are sufficient for the various sectors of society and for a reasonable standard of living without energy overconsumption. Energy efficiency must also be considered in imports to maintain the competitiveness of energy-efficient production.

The Left Youth proposes:

Finland must transition to fossil-free energy production by 2030 and increase investments in fossil-free production to enable this.
The permit processes for wind and solar power as well as modular reactors must be streamlined to accelerate the green transition.
Energy production and transmission must be placed under public ownership to implement a national energy policy and enable the transition to fossil-free production.
A national energy strategy must be developed to guide energy policy and the transition to fossil-free energy production.
Excessive profits of energy companies must be eliminated through taxation.
Neste must be renationalised to end profit-seeking in environmentally unsustainable oil markets. Fortum must be fully returned to public ownership.
State support for improving energy efficiency in businesses and households, for example, by transitioning from oil, gas, and wood heating to geothermal heating must be increased.
The self-determination of the Sámi people in renewable energy projects must be accounted for.
Implementing state mining policy considering the opinions of local residents and ensuring that mining activities are subject to a fundable mining fee. Part of the revenues of the fund will be allocated to improving the livelihoods of local people.

2.3 The Environment and Nature

Humans are not alone in the world; we share it with countless other species. Nature and animals should not be subjected to profit-seeking. Intensive agriculture and industrial animal production are a significant cause of biodiversity loss. In animal production, animals are seen as resources rather than as feeling and thinking individuals. It is the most widespread form of exploitation of other species by humans. Plant-based food production is vastly more efficient in terms of both emissions and resource consumption. This way also agricultural land used for feed production is freed up for restoration.

The Finnish forest industry has focused on producing pulpwood through clearcutting, which undermines biodiversity. To safeguard the carbon sinks of forests and the diversity of forest species, both state and private forest logging levels must be permanently reduced. Logging practices should move towards methods of continuous cultivation. Reducing resource consumption and transitioning to the production of products with a higher degree of refinement ensures the sustainability of the domestic forest industry. The protection level of forests must be increased.

The Left Youth proposes:

Transitioning to an ecologically sustainable food production system where almost all food produced is non-animal-based.
Redirecting agricultural subsidies to sustainable and ecological plant-based production and ending subsidies for animal production.
Adding basic animal rights to the Constitution.
Transitioning to offering only vegan food in public institutions and student dining.
Banning fur farming and phasing it out after a transition period.
Supporting the retraining and career changes of those working in the animal industry.
Restricting commercial fish farming and internationally reducing overfishing by reducing fishing and protecting endangered fish stocks.
Amending the Water Act to better protect fish habitats. Increasing appropriations for pre-emptive and restorative measures for water bodies.
Banning clear-cutting on state lands and setting a logging limit for Metsähallitus.
Increasing Finland’s forest protection level according to the 3/3 principle and planning systematic ecosystem restoration.
Finland must promote the criminalization of environmental destruction.

Everyone has the right to health, well-being, and a meaningful life. The Left Youth sees the promoting of these values as one of the most important tasks of society, and social policy must ensure their actualisation. Regardless of background, all members of our society have an equal right to well-being. Social and health inequalities must be eliminated.

Right-wing politics have deteriorated the level of Finnish well-being, for example, through inadequate allocation of healthcare resources and too low levels of social security. The social policy reforms we propose systematically patch up both the systemically and ideologically dismantled welfare state, and ensure the success of Finnish society.

The purpose of the social security system is to secure the basic necessities of life for all people, such as housing, nutrition, and healthcare. In addition to basic necessities, social security should enable mobility, education, hobbies, and the maintenance of health and social relationships.

The complexity of the needs-based and performance-based social security system, along with structural changes in the labor market, has created a need for a comprehensive reform of social security. A transition to a universal and unconditional basic income, which forms the basis of social security and can be supplemented by means-tested benefits must be made in the reform. The basic income paid to every adult permanently residing in Finland must be sufficiently large to guarantee a good quality of life.

The Left Youth’s concept of basic income is based on freedom and trust. People thrive when society trusts its members, and when each individual can make significant decisions for their own life without external control. Within the framework of the basic income system, individuals can refuse labor that is poorly paid, has poor terms of labor, is detrimental to their well-being or environmentally destructive, without fear of falling into poverty. Basic income enables all work and study to be rewarding for individuals without the fear of changing their status and their status-related income reduction. As we move towards a basic income, the social security system should be improved according to the following proposals.

The Left Youth proposes:

Transition to unconditional and universal basic income. Preparing for the transition by conducting a comprehensive basic income trial involving unemployed individuals, employees, students, small business owners, and those outside the labor force.
Increase basic security to meet the definition of the European Social Charter and tie it to the index.
Develop the pension system fairly without raising pension contributions. Set a cap on work pension accumulation.
Address problems caused by household-based housing allowance by making the allowance more individual-based.
Include student financial aid in the state budget for social security. Increase the student allowance to the level of the basic component of Basic social assistance and increase the number of months of student financial aid to correspond to the duration of study. Abandon the two-tiered structure of student financial aid and the requirement of 20 study points.
Provide state-provided interest rate protection for student loans. Ease the conditions for interest subsidies and loan repayment deferral. Students in need of Basic social assistance should not be required to take out a student loan first. Student loans should not be a barrier to receiving Basic social assistance.
Equalize the national pension for both single and cohabiting individuals.

Ensuring and maintaining people’s well-being are among the most important tasks of society. Social and health services are basic rights that must be available and accessible to all. Access to services should not be determined by money; services should be free for users. There is no place for profit-seeking in the production of social and health services.

Professionals in the social and healthcare sectors are builders and maintainers of the welfare state. They must receive compensation comparable with the demands of their work. Currently, this is not the case, as decades of under-resourcing has led to a shortage of labor and a prolonged waiting lists. The extent and accessibility of the service network in welfare regions should be ensured, including in sparsely populated areas. Welfare regions should be given taxation rights to ensure adequate funding for social and health services. However, regional wealth disparities should be taken into account. In welfare regions with a potential combination of an aging population, poverty and a high tax-rate special attention must be paid to the accessibility of services.

Recent years have seen an alarming increase in the number of mental health issues especially among young people. The mental health crisis must be seen as a phenomenon that affects all strata of society. We need a therapy guarantee, but this must come in accordance with reducing the societal focus on performance and guaranteeing basic needs for everyone. Those suffering from mental health disorders must not be punished but supported. This must also function as the basis for drug policy oriented towards harm reduction.

The Left Youth proposes:

In order to solve the current crisis stemming from years of underfunding, the funding for both social services and healthcare must be increased significantly.
Wellbeing services counties must be given the right to collect a regional tax.
Profiteering in healthcare and social services must be banned.
Patient fees in healthcare centers must be removed. The payment limits of all patient fees of the social and healthcare services, medication expenses, and healthcare travel fees must all be combined into a single, sufficiently high payment limit.
Sufficient funding must be ensured for the child welfare services. A maximum client-employee ratio for the child welfare services must be enacted in such a way that the amount of children per employee can not exceed 25.
Higher education programs for psychotherapy must be made free of charge and the amount of available first-year spots for these programs must be increased. The degree of investment into preventative mental health services must be raised. Rehabilitative psychotherapy must be made free of charge for young people, the economically disadvantaged, and the elderly.
The Kela compensation for therapy must be extended to apply to people over 67 and those who are permanently unable to work.
Healthcare professionals must be trained in the handling of people with self-destructive tendencies and in recognizing the signs of someone at a risk of suicide.
The capacity of psychiatric hospitals must be increased to match the need for psychiatric hospital care. Patients with self-destructive tendencies must not be sent home from psychiatric reception without a guarantee of extended treatment.
The small-scale possession of all currently illegal drugs must be decriminalized and their possible legalization must be investigated on a case-by-case basis.
Cannabis and snus must be legalized and sold exclusively through state-owned stores.
Drug consumption rooms must be made possible through legislation and established according to need.
The ease of availability of alcohol must be reduced in order to reduce harm. The sale of alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of over 3.5% must be moved exclusively to the state-owned alcohol monopoly Alko.

3.3 Equality and non-discrimination

Society must serve the wellbeing and opportunities of all people. All decision-making must take into consideration diversity and strive to dismantle normative presumptions made on the basis of gender, ethnicity, disability, or similar traits. We recognize social class as one of the factors producing inequality. We understand and strive to prevent the combined effects it produces in conjunction with race and gender discrimination. The goal of the Left Youth is a society where the individual is free and not inhibited by societal views about their personal attributes.

Gender roles and gendered norms inhibit a person’s ability to be themselves and to experience the full breadth of being human in the way they see fit. One’s experience of their gender and sexuality and their right to self-expression must be respected on all levels of society. The right and real possibility to define and express one’s own identity without any external pressures must be ensured as early as early childhood education. The gender system is especially oppressive to women and gender minorities, but it also places negative pressures and expectations on men and boys. Those who diverge from gender norms suffer from discrimination in the hands of both wider society and the state. Patriarchal structures must be disassembled on all levels of society. The rights of transgender, non-binary and intersex children and young people must be improved.

The Finnish labor market is segregated and people are discriminated against on the basis of ethnicity during the application process. Many workplace communities and public services do not know how to recognize this discrimination. The cultural sensitivity of especially the public services, education system and healthcare must be improved by offering employees education on anti-racism, different languages, and minority cultures.

The Left Youth proposes:

The personal identification code must be made gender neutral and legal gender must be abolished completely
Gender neutral bathrooms and shower areas must be made more common and their availability must be ensured in public spaces such as libraries and swimming pools.
Medically unnecessary surgical operations on intersex children must be banned.
Healthcare and mental health services must be made better equipped to take the needs of marginalized groups of people into consideration.
Abortion must be made freely available up until the 18th week of pregnancy.
Surrogacy must be legalized. The ethical implementation of this practice must be ensured and profiteering with it must be forbidden.
The labor market must transition into using anonymous recruiting. Positive discrimination, such as quotas for certain public offices where such a policy would serve a purpose, must be used as a part of building a more equal society.
Finland must enact a state programme to counter systematic racism and reserve sufficient resources for it.
Employers must provide employees with disabilities or other limitations with the support and opportunity to work according to their ability inasmuch as this does not negatively affect the safety or the basic quality of the work.
Finland must enact state programmes on LGBTQ-policy and opposing systemic racism and reserve sufficient funds for them. These programmes must be implemented on all levels of administration.
Finland has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and must accordingly commit to protecting the rights of disabled people. The right to self-determination of disabled people must be respected, for example, during the process of choosing a place of residence. The accessibility of all public spaces must be ensured in accordance with the Non-Discrimination Act.

4. Education and culture

Accessible and sufficiently funded education forms the foundation of all sustainable and healthy societies. Universal early and basic education along with free higher education are some of the most important political achievements of the Left. Despite being one of the most advanced in the world, the education system of Finland is not free of the demands of productivity placed upon it by capitalism. The education policy of the Left Youth is based on the furthering of equal opportunity to education, the inherent value of education itself and on the desire to build a more sustainable society. As a principle, classes in all levels of education should be organized democratically. Democratic forms of conduct and participatory models guaranteed to both students and teachers will encourage them to have faith in their own ability to make a difference and participate. This will in turn improve their capabilities as active citizens in the world outside education. We want education to be accessible to everyone from early education to higher education and that the value of non-formall adult education is recognized better than it currently is. Previous choices in enrollment, background, or personal attributes should not affect one’s opportunities for education.

Culture is a central part of education. Every person has the right to art and culture both as a participator and as a producer. The respect and support for cultural identities and different ways of being are important pillars of an equal and creative civil society. Despite this, art and culture in a capitalist society seen not as valuable in themselves are only recognized through the monetary value they produce. Public funding is important for art and culture. However, both public and private funding can be used to strengthen societal power-structures and to homogenize the cultural field. The goal of culture policy must be to support the diversity of people and forms of culture. The independence of people and communities producing culture as freelancers outside of formal institutions must be strengthened.

4.1 Early childhood education, primary education, and secondary education

Early childhood education plaýs an important role in a child’s wellbeing and lays the foundation for further learning. The Left Youth want to promote high quality early childhood education with a high degree of participation. This increases equality between children from different backgrounds and strengthens the foundations for a good life. In order to ensure high quality early childhood education these services must be primarily provided by the public sector and supplemented by services produced by the third sector. Group sizes must remain moderate and the wages of early childhood education teachers must be raised.

The Left Youth strive for primary education that offers everyone equal opportunity to learn and become prepared for secondary education regardless of their background. Different types of learners must be accommodated within primary education and learning environments must be compatible with the needs of all students. Oppressive structures that direct students to certain stereotyped career paths through gendered and racialized presumptions must be better acknowledged within primary education.

The extension of compulsory education has been a major step toward more equal educational opportunities for all and this achievement must be protected. The quality of secondary education as well as it being completely free of charge in practice must be ensured through sufficient funding. The quality of vocational education must be improved and more opportunities for in-person and on-the-job learning must be offered. The degree to which vocational education prepares students for further studies must be improved. The possibility of giving up the current performance-centered matriculation exam must be investigated and an alternative way to complete matriculation must be developed alongside the current system.

The Left Youth proposes:

Profiteering in early childhood education must be banned. Early childhood education must be made completely free of charge and the subjective right to daycare must be expanded to apply to children without legal residence in Finland, such as undocumented immigrants.
A gender-sensitive and norm critical approach must be one of the foundations of education and of teacher training.
The diversity of sexuality and gender along with the right to sexual self-determination must be emphasized within sexual education.
Scientifically grounded drug safety education must be made a part of the primary school curriculum.
Neoliberal style primary education that emphasizes the responsibilities of the individual should be discarded in favor of education that better accounts for the disparate backgrounds and opportunities of people.
The segregation of schools must be prevented by increasing teaching resources.
The role of entrepreneurship education within primary education should be decreased and the role of democracy education further developed.
The current segregative and discriminatory religious education must be abolished in favor of Life Stance Education universal to all students.
The languages, cultures, and history of the Karelias must be included in the primary and secondary school curricula.
The right of sign language using students to study the Finnish or Finland-Swedish sign language as their native language must be emphasized in the training of public officials.
Adequate ratios of student counselors to students must be ensured for student counseling in vocational schools and high schools.
Group sizes must be reduced in early childhood education as well as in primary and secondary education. An adequate ratio of teachers to students in primary and secondary education must be ensured through enshrining it in law.
The necessary resources for inclusive education must be ensured. The access to special education must be made possible to all who need it.
The austerity mechanism cutting the funding of high school education annually must be abolished. Funding for high school education must be unilaterally raised. The core funding for vocational education must be strengthened.
Alternative methods for completing matriculation must be investigated and in the long term the current matriculation exam model must be given up.

4.2 Higher education

The purpose of higher education is to serve the building of a better society and to empower people to pursue a good life. The foundational pillars of well-functioning higher education are its availability to all free of charge and a strong base of public funding free of performance indicators. Universities must possess a high degree of scientific, administrative, and economic autonomy. The influence of the private sector within higher education must be reduced. The goals of higher education policy must be determined through independent scientific research. The goal of basic research must be the acquiring and the applying of the highest possible degree of scientific understanding.

Switching from one field to another must be effortless and opportunities for studying must exist in all walks of life. Higher education must be open for everyone and the tendency for the heritability of university education or the lack thereof requires intervention. Scientific knowledge and information must be open to all. Open and free peer-reviewed journals respected by the scientific community must be developed to replace the current commercial peer-reviewed journals.

Decision making regarding higher education policy must be made according to the subsidiarity principle. All legislative power to influence higher education must be retained only within the EU member states. Decision making within universities must be transparent and democratic and all groups within the university community must be given authority in the decision making process. In other words, the tripartite model must function as the foundation of university administration in such a manner that all groups receive equal representation in all decision making bodies that affect them. University principals must be chosen through elections. The accumulation of power to the top administration of universities must be restricted. The dual model of universities and universities of applied sciences must be retained and all higher education must be public owned.

The Left Youth proposes:

The base level of funding for universities will be raised. In allocating funds, the quality of education should be stressed more than quantitive indicators.
The system of funding universities based on the amount of completed degrees must be abolished.
Admitting students on the basis of their matriculation certificates will be given up as the primary method of university admittance. The role of field-specific entrance examinations as the primary method of admittance will be advanced.
Free-of-charge study opportunities at the Open University and the University of Applied Sciences must be increased.
Pathway studies must be made free of charge.
Each region must have at least one institution or center of higher education.
Regional and qualitative differences in higher education must be reduced through funding.
Conditions for lifelong learning, change of sector and retraining must be improved. Restrictions on the right to study will be abolished.
Tuition and annual fees will be abolished. All degrees completed in Finland must be free of charge.
The funding of student unions will be secured with public funding.
Automatic membership of student unions must be maintained. Membership fees must be reasonable and insolvency must not be an obstacle to studying.

4.3 Culture and art

Public funding for the cultural sector must be increased. The vitality of different forms of art and culture, especially those that are unable to compete in the commercial market, must be secured with public funds.

The number and size of government grants to artists must be increased, and grants must be increasingly targeted at new artists and non-commercial activities. Funding must be targeted primarily at non-commercial and small-scale actors. Free and non-commercial urban spaces and cultural facilities ensure that everyone has the opportunity to create culture on their own terms. Opportunities for minority cultures and indigenous peoples to preserve their culture and pass it on to new generations must be secured.

Different forms of art and culture must be accessible to all. Regional and economic equality and accessibility must be taken into account in both services and opportunities for leisure activities. In matters of copyright, the author’s right to a fair compensation for works used in streaming services and commercially must be taken into account. The responsibility for negotiation must lie with trade associations, not individual artists. The use of works for personal and recreational purposes must be made easier. The system must be developed on the terms of content creators and users, not large media companies. The role of the library network must be strengthened, and publicly funded research must be made available openly and free of charge. The role of the Finnish Broadcasting Company as a national producer and provider of non-commercial culture must be expanded.

The incomes of cultural workers, especially those working in the independent sector, are often fragmented. Self-employment for those working in the arts and culture must be promoted by providing financial support for the creation of cooperatives and adequate advisory services. Employment authorities must be made better informed on the professions and logics of revenue in the cultural sector. Universal basic income is the only sustainable solution to the problems of social security in the cultural sector. It is not however a substitute for public funding or grants, which must be developed alongside basic income.

The Left Youth proposes:

Public funding for culture must be increased and directed broadly to support different forms of art. A percentage principle for the arts must be introduced in all public new, repair and environmental construction, meaning that at least 2% of the construction costs must be spent on the arts.
1.5% of the state budget must be spent on culture and the arts.
Municipalities and cities must provide vacant spaces for the free use of artists and cultural actors. Art facilities built and maintained with public funds must aim for increasing artistic diversity and use their position to strengthen the economic conditions of independent artists.
The state must safeguard the rights of minority cultures and indigenous peoples. This is ensured through adequate funding, respectful operation in public cultural institutions, and by ensuring an adequate level of knowledge of minority cultures among those belonging to the mainstream culture.
Municipalities must support the access to cultural services especially for people with low income and for users of social services. The library network must be comprehensive and complemented by mobile libraries and other public services, such as library services attached to social and health service units. The services must be free of charge.
The conditions for artistic work must be developed by improving social security, unionization, and forms of funding for artists and operators in the cultural sector.
Copyright law must be developed to ensure that artists are remunerated for their work on the terms of the artist and their representative organisations, not on the terms of the big media companies. Copyright royalties must not affect the artist’s unemployment security.

5. Domestic policy

The Left Youth strives for a democratic, flourishing, and safe Finland, where social justice is achieved throughout the country. Our society is not ready, and constant work is still necessary to achieve equality, democracy and a good everyday life for all. To achieve this goal, decision-making must be in the hands of the all instead of the few, and democracy and opportunities for democratic participation must be expanded.

The aim of domestic and regional policy is to ensure equality in the internal development of regions and of the whole country. A socialist society cares for the whole country and seeks to prevent developments creating inequality, insecurity and exclusion in society. The role of the state is to ensure that everyone living in Finland has access to affordable housing, public transport and accessible basic services.

5.1 Democracy

The left and democracy have always had a common counterforce: the power of capital and money, which concentrates power in the hands of the few rather than sharing it. No democratic rights have been handed down to citizens from above; they have been fought for both in the past and present. Parliamentary, regional and local democracy are not the only forms of democracy either.

Existing structures need to be further developed, and at the same time democratic decision-making must be extended to new areas, for example through workplace democracy, citizens’ forums and instruments of direct democracy. Local democracy in Finland must be strengthened by ensuring that all common issues are addressed at the level most appropriate for making the relevant decisions.

A formally democratic system does not automatically guarantee the participation of all people in real decision making. This is apparent in, for example, the visible influence of social class and educational background on turnout in elections.The equal involvement and empowerment of women, minorities and marginalized groups must be an integral part of democratic decision-making. Decision making concerning minorities must take into account their opinions.

The Left Youth proposes:

The voting age must be lowered to 16 in all elections and referendums.
The presidential institution must be abolished and replaced by an elected multi-member council, which acts as a collective head of state in accordance with the model of the Swiss Federal Council.
A limit on the maximum monetary size of election campaigns must be introduced in order to balance the conditions for participation in politics. 10 000 € per candidate for parliamentary elections, 5 000 € for municipal elections and 50 000 € for EU-parliament elections. Campaign funding received from organizations must be made entirely public.
Legislation must be changed so that citizens’ initiatives do not expire at the end of the electoral term.
Referendums must be organized on the basis of citizens’ initiatives. If a citizens’ initiative has more than 100 000 signatures and is rejected in the Parliament, it must be voted on in a direct and binding referendum.
The Act on the Sámi Parliament must be reformed. The ILO169 Convention, which would improve the right to self-determination of the Sámi, must be ratified.
A separate language law must be enacted for the Karelian language. The Karelian language must have its own news and radio broadcasts on the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

5.2 Regions and transport

Equality must be realized throughout Finland. Regions should not be valued solely on the basis of economic criteria. Public services should not be concentrated only in large population centers, as this takes jobs and services away from peripheral areas and increases wait times for services in the centers. The closure of village schools drives away families with children and depopulates villages. The public sector must secure services even in remote areas.

Socialist regional policy gives people the freedom to choose where they live and to move freely and affordably. Everyone must have the subjective right to a home, guaranteed by the state. The building of public rental housing must be increased, as it increases employment and provides people with affordable housing. Municipalities must play an active role in buying and renting land and ensure a sufficient supply of land along with reasonable prices.

To ensure a climate-resilient and equitable society, public transport and light traffic infrastructure must be developed throughout the country. In densely populated urban centers

public transport must be free of charge. The state must support the development of car cooperatives that reduce the need for car ownership. All transport and infrastructure projects must take into account their impace on the climate and environment.

The Left Youth proposes:

The system of central government income transfers to municipalities must ensure the provision of basic services throughout Finland.
A housing guarantee must be introduced to make housing a subjective basic right, meaning that everyone is guaranteed housing and the necessary support services in their municipality of residence within two months of becoming homeless.
State and municipal enterprises that provide low-cost rental housing must be established.
Opportunities for alternative forms of housing, such as communal housing, must be supported.
Profit-seeking connected to rental housing must be restricted, and the accumulation of apartment ownership must be prevented through different means such as taxation.
Public transport must be favored in the transport policies of cities, and be made free of charge in the largest cities.
Public transport must also be improved outside the growth triangle.
Accessibility must be taken into account in public transport and construction projects.
Cycling and its infrastructure must be developed as an independent means of transport compatible with public transport in all urban planning.
Rail transport is to be favored in the construction of traffic infrastructure. VR, the national railway company, must be restored as a state enterprise, and rail transport must be developed by means of strong corporate governance policy.
Obtaining a passenger car driving license at the age of 17 must be allowed only with a special permit. A special permit must only be granted in cases of necessity. The number of training hours required to obtain a driving license must be increased.

5.3 Rule of Law and Security

Finland must be a state governed by the rule of law, a state where equality, human rights and democracy are realized. The exercise of public authority must be based on law rather than arbitrariness, and everyone must be equal before the law. Everyone must have genuine access to justice, regardless of their attributes or economic situation. Hate crimes, the rates of which have increased, must be better recognized by law and their victims must be guaranteed justice.

Building a safe and secure society is primarily based on measures reducing inequality. Everyone must be guaranteed the right to basic services, adequate social and health care, and access to education and employment.Security will not be achieved by tougher penalties and increasing control. Racism and other forms of discrimination rampant in the police institution must be tackled systematically. The resources allocated to the police must be used for efficiently and appropriately conducted crime investigation and patrolling rather than for purchasing expensive equipment and restricting demonstrations.

Finland is and will continue to be dependent on immigration. Nevertheless, foreigners in Finland are at high risk of discrimination, poverty and exploitation. The operational culture and systems of the Immigration Service, or Migri, are punitive and discriminatory, especially towards people coming from outside the EU. The process of entry into the country must be reformed to make it simpler and more equal. This process must be based on the principle of admission into the country without needing a particularly heavy reason. All entrants must be offered services and advice from a social worker immediately upon arrival. Work-related immigration must be developed in cooperation with trade unions to avoid exploitation. Forced returns must stop immediately.

The Left Youth proposes:

In order to make justice accessible to all, the costs of legal proceedings must be reduced.
Hate crimes must be better recognised in law and investigation of hate crimes must be improved by securing resources and developing the skills of the authorities.
Targeted harassment online must be recognised as a form of persecution.
Police officers must be trained to treat the victims of crimes with respect and to guide them towards the spheres of different social and healthcare services. The police must have specially designated and trained officers for the investigation of sexual offences.
Police resources must be redirected to sustainably uphold the most basic functions of the police force. Police operations and decision making must be developed to be more transparent to keep the trust of civil society.
Immigration and the free movement of people must be made easier by loosening criteria for visas and residence permits. The income precondition for uniting families must be dismantled.
The availability of integration training must be expanded, language training must be improved, and the economic preconditions within the integration process must be dismantled. Integration training must be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Culture.

6. Foreign policy and defense policy

With globalization the borders of countries affect trade and markets less than ever. Due to this, the policy of the Left Youth must also be based on an equally international struggle for justice. Capitalist exploitation causes extreme inequality both within countries and between them. Colonialist structures have not disappeared from the world. The only way to remove this inequality is a global redistribution of wealth. We unite in opposing the unjust world created by the power structures of neoliberalism, colonialism, and imperialism, and seek to build a better alternative.

Democratic society must be defended from those international actors who attempt to weaken it through warfare, hybrid warfare, terrorism, disinformation, and propaganda. To achieve this goal, both the defense and the civil society of Finland must be strengthened. We support the struggles of all countries and peoples fighting for their freedom. Finland must not cooperate or deal arms with nations that oppress other countries or their own people.

6.1 Defense policy

The defense policy of Finland must continue to be based upon conscription rather than a professional army. However, Finland’s conscription policy needs significant reform. The current gendered and unequal conscription system must be transformed into an elective conscription applies to Finns of all genders. In addition, the punitive nature of the civil service system is to be removed by shortening the service to half a year. Draft dodgers are no longer to be punished for refusing conscription. Defense resources must be allocated not only to armed defense, but also to support holistic defensive capabilities, for example by preparing for natural disasters and civil crises.

Finnish defense policy must be analyzed from a holistic perspective — in addition to armed forces, the crisis resilience of society must be taken into account. Defense strategy must focus more on ensuring security of supply. This is in part achieved by increasing public ownership of critical infrastructure. Vital utilities, such as water infrastructure and natural monopolies, must not be subjected to the whims of short-sighted profit-seeking. Rather, the usability of these critical utilities must be ensured by public ownership

The first and foremost goal of defense policy must be peace. This means that Finland shall not be attacked or attack another country, but also that Finland must advance peace outside of its borders. Arms dealing with settler-colonialist projects and countries waging wars of aggression must be ended. Finland must promote global nuclear disarmament. Finland must leave the military alliance NATO as soon as possible. As long as Finland remains a member of NATO, no NATO bases should be built on Finnish soil and no nuclear weapons should be brought to Finland. NATO membership must have no effect on the foreign policy of Finland. Finland must actively develop its own foreign policy independently of the influence of superpowers. This is achieved by focusing on making Finland’s own defenses credible and strengthening military ties with the other Nordic countries and other suitable nations and institutions.

The Left Youth proposes:

The current conscription system must be transformed into an elective conscription that is applied equally to Finns of all genders. The punitive aspects of civil service and the punishment of draft dodgers are given up.
The military budget is directed towards basic defensive education and defensive solutions in place of flashy and expensive projects that are only suitable for NATO-operations.
During peacetime, the armed forces of Finland can only participate in limited and supervised humanitarian operations outside of its borders
Arms dealing with countries that participate in colonial projects and/or wars of aggression, such as Turkey, Israel, and Saudi-Arabia, is to be stopped immediately and no new deals with these countries are to be made
Finland must sign a treaty banning nuclear weapons and promote global nuclear disarmament. Finland must not participate in NATO’s nuclear defense program. Nuclear weapons must not be placed in Finland.
Finland must leave NATO.
No military bases of NATO or other foreign powers shall be placed on Finnish soil in the future.

6.2 The European Union

Cooperation on the scale of Europe is necessary in a world where crises do not respect the borders of nations. In its current form, however, the European Union is an institution built upon capitalism and free trade. As such it is incapable of sufficiently responding to the aforementioned crises. To adequately deal with the ecological crises and the growing inequality of our time, both the foundations and practices of the European Union must change. The federalist tendency within the EU must not be advanced as long as the Union works undemocratically in the interests of global capital instead of working for the wellbeing of people and the natural world.

The Founding Treaties of the EU must be reformed to support the wellbeing of people and nature instead of the interests of capital. The EU must work to democratize its banking system and to reform its monetary system to allow for monetary sovereignty. The level of democracy within the Union must be increased and the adequacy of climate action must be ensured. Emission reduction targets, conservation efforts, the usage of renewable energy, human rights, and an adequate level of social security must be ensured on a union-wide level. However, each member state must be allowed to conduct its independent foreign policy.

The cruel border policy enacted by the European Union kills thousands of people annually. European asylum policy must be based on the principles of solidarity and human rights. Entering Union territory must be made easier and the number of legal pathways to immigrate must be increased. The responsibility to accept immigrants must be divided more equally between member states.

The Left Youth proposes:

The members of the European Commission must be elected through a direct election. The European Parliament must be granted the right to dismiss an individual member of the Commission. The Parliament must be granted the right to propose bills independently.
The EU citizens’ initiative must be reformed to mandate the Commission, the European Council and the Parliament to process the initiatives proposed by the people of the Union. The time-window for gathering signatures must be broadened.
The EU must intervene to stop the brazen human rights violations of its members even if this hurts the cohesion of the Union.
The competition legislation Union must be reformed to not hinder democratic decision making. National and local governments must be able to support projects for the common good, to found public monopolies, and to limit the access of capitalist markets to utilities that it deems integral to society
The Stability and Growth Pact must be nullified or reformed so that no sanctions are placed on the basis of a member nation’s debt, and to account for the surpluses of member nations – in addition to their deficits – in order to level them out.
In addition to its function in controlling inflation, the European Central Bank must in the future supervise and promote employment, a just transition to ecological sustainability, and social justice. The European Central Bank must be able to give loans to member states without intermediary banks.
The tax havens within EU-borders must be completely shut down. Banking secrecy must no longer apply to officials and current tax havens are to be placed under strict banking supervision.
Capital flow must be taxed with a sufficiently high transaction tax. Companies must be mandated to report their production and monetary flow on a country-by-country basis.
The current migration and asylum policy of the EU mandates that the country in which an asylum seeker first arrives must process their asylum application. This policy must be abolished. A humanitarian visa must be put to use in the EU. Asylum seekers must also be able to seek asylum in the countries they have departed from.

6.3 International policy

International cooperation is vital in building a more just world. However, current developments are leading us to a world, where the superpowers’ quests for power lead to reduced cooperation and to the degradation of the rules-based world order. This increases the likelihood of conflicts between nations and the risk of nuclear weapons being used. All this at a time when the international community should strive to solve great and universal challenges, such as the climate crisis.

Nation states are not capable of solving the supranational challenges and problems of the 21st century. To save the future of humanity and to end the destructive rivalries between nations, global democracy must be advanced. Our long-term goal must be a world in which every person has freedom of movement, nations no longer need to wage war, and humanity can achieve its collectively set goals.

The already record-breaking number of global refugees will increase in the future due to various conflicts and catastrophes, such as the extreme weather events caused by climate change. The refugee quota of Finland must be raised. Finland must also work within international organizations to ensure the humane treatment of refugees.

We oppose the militarism and imperialism of superpowers wherever it appears. We support the independence of the peoples of Palestine, West-Sahara, and Kurdistan and demand that Finland and the international community work for their liberation through, for example, sanctions and support for local civilian organizations.

The Left Youth proposes:

The UN, EU, other international institutions and the nation of Finland must take a firmer stance against human rights violations through, for example, sanctions and support for human rights organizations.
The unjust institutions within the global market economy, such as the IMF, must be dismantled. All national debts must be forgiven.
In order to lessen global income inequality, the budget for development aid must be increased to one percent of the GDP of Finland.
Finland must support the enactment of a global transaction tax and a global carbon tax.
In order to thwart tax competition, Finland must support treaties that, for example, set international minimums for the taxation of corporations.
Finland must ratify the Moon Treaty of the UN and support the founding of an international space authority that supervises the sustainable and peaceful use of space and its resources for the benefit of the entirety of humanity.
Ukraine must be supported in its resistance against the Russian war of aggression. We support international aid for the rebuilding of Ukraine, especially to improve the health care and social security of the nation. The national debt of Ukraine must be forgiven.
Vladimir Putin and the other war criminals in the Russian government must be prosecuted in international courts.
Finland must recognize the right to independence of the Kurdish, Palestinian, and Sahrawi peoples. Finland must work to protect the sovereignty of these peoples both through bilateral relations and the UN.
Finland must uphold human rights when working with China both bilaterally and through the European Union.
Finland must condemn Israeli apartheid and promote international sanctions against the nation.
The embargo against Cuba must be ended and Guantánamo Bay must be shut down.