Hello, everyone.

I don't wanna take up too much of your time, so I'll try to keep it short. (Note: I couldn't)

I'm an electronics engineer living in Tampere. I moved here for my undergraduate education, then pursued my master degree here and ended up finding a job and settling down. I'm from Azerbaijan, which is why I have somewhat pale skin and light hair (brown by Finnish standards). I haven't faced much racism, aside from few incidents like ending the conversations suddenly when people learn about my background or giving strange look when they hear my Finnish accent. Personally, I have no issue with that; I understand that Finns have created a great working system and are cautious about it can be destroyed by foreigners. I even find Finns to be quite humble, cause it's so hard to create such country in this climate, bordering Russia and Sweden. I always saw myself as a skilled immigrant who contributes to society and tries to keep it stable. I still do tbh, although a Finnish neighbor raised some doubts in me today.

I bumped into him at the grocery store, and we left the store talking about regular things (don't shock, some Finns like small talk). 3 Arab looking guys passed us talking and laughing loud, he said "Why can't these people be quieter?" I replied, "It's cultural, but they should adapt to local norms." He continued "Immigrants are harm to the society and the economy, including immigrants like you" and then he presented his arguments about how skilled immigrants also damage the economy. I have mixed feelings about this, and I'm curious to know what you think:

1. "You are a burden on hyvinvointivaltio"

It's true that I received free education here. However, I was working when I was a student, now I work full-time and pay tax back to the government. I also have bipolar disorder and require medications like lithium and Xanax, which I used to get help from government when I was a student because I couldn't afford them. Now, I can afford my medications and pay for them myself.

2) "You are a burden on the housing market"

This is true to some extent, but I don't believe it's primarily due to me or other immigrants. The government should manage housing availability. Additionally, I used the card every pro-immigrant person use: Finnish birth rates are low and some houses will be empty anyway.

3) "You contribute to lower wages and higher profits for corporations."

The argument is that skilled immigrants prevent companies from competing for employees and offering higher wages and benefits. Although I can see some validity in this, I don't think it's entirely true. For one, the private sector must face demand. Imagine having no internet because there's no workforce to maintain it. Secondly, companies have budget limits especially in smaller countries like Finland so they won't necessarily offer millions to people due to labor shortages. Lastly, in the case of labour shortage only rich companies will offer hihger salary to become monopoilies and as a result try to max their profit.

His reply for my response was "Finland has enough labour". Which is not so true, because dentist next to me was closed because of lack of professionals. But couldn't remember that during that.

4) "Your future children will also be a burden on the government."

I don't plan to have children right now, but if I did, and I continued to live in Finland, yes, their education would be a cost for the government. But there is nothing I can do about that, sorry :(

That is it, what do you think about his arguments? I personally don't entirely agree with him, but I also don't want to negatively impact the quality of life for the people of Finland.