A member of Finland’s parliament who is running for re-election is reaching out to Klingons, and Earthlings who love them, by providing a translation of his campaign website into Klingon.
Jyrki Kasvi (his Finnish name, not a translation), a Green Party politician who is described as an “ardent Trekkie,” said there were some difficulties with the translation. Among these were the fact that Klingon, a warrior language, does not have words for wussy liberal concepts such as, for example, “tolerance,” which might not be a problem in some cases but is a little dicey for a Green Party candidate. (Also posing a problem: the lack of any word for “green.”)
That tension between liberal and Klingon values may be a continuing problem. Kasvi’s political statement states that he is a “hopeless romantic” devoted to equality, pluralism, and democracy, and says “I strongly trust in love.” As “Brian in Kansas” commented on Kasvi’s website, “Dude—you are entirely too sensitive to be a KLINGON. Where’s the old ‘Any day is a good day to die’ attitude? let’s go choke a targ for fun!” Much more sedate, and less hateful to targs, was “Daniel” from Wollongong, Australia: “I would like to offer you the best wishes in your political aspirations of my friends and I from Wollongong, Australia. We are impressed by your ethical stances on environmental and social issues, and also by the fact that you have translated your website into a alien dialect.” Dude—you are entirely too humorless to be an Australian. And don’t you guys speak English there?
The last straw, though, for a Klingon, would be Kasvi’s concern about “global warming.” Please. Let the Vulcans make their documentaries. This prattle is unworthy of a warrior race.
Kasvi clearly has a sense of humor about the whole thing, and says the website has generated a great deal of publicity (his server apparently crashed yesterday, although that could have been a Federation trick), as well as comments both pro and con. “Some have thought it is blasphemy to mix politics and Klingon,” he said. “Others say it is good if politicians can laugh at themselves.”
The site has also been translated into English and Swedish, and of course there is plenty of the original Finnish, which to the untrained eye looks only slightly less freaky than Klingon.
