It's midsummer (or Juhannus as they call it) here in Finland at the moment, and although I enjoy the importance and the traditions of this time to the Finnish people, I am an outsider. I don't fully connect in the way they do.

And so I also find myself dispassionately analyzing it every year. It makes me think about how significant culture is to all the societies out there.

But the great thing about traditions and culture is that they can be changed for the better, because they're arbitrary.

The bad thing about them is that they can be abused to manipulate people.

And the amusing thing about them is ... well: 🧄