The
Faeroe Islands is an isolated community in the North Atlantic with
long family histories, where fathers pass their trades or companies
onto their sons. Everyone knows everyone else and it is difficult to
separate business from friendship. Your co-workers sit in the same
church, live in the same village and you can drop by for a cup of
coffee without calling ahead. It is a quiet, safe and rooted by deep
traditions and norms. To hire your friends and family first is second
nature, no matter the job, and to do otherwise can cause friction in
the community. However, the isolated community in the middle of the
North Atlantic is no longer isolated from the rest of the world, and
is being influenced by technology and culture that was before foreign
to it, and with the immigration of technology and culture, new norms
that the Faeroe Islands never knew before.
The
world is evolving, and a global culture is slowly forming, marked by
films, foods, languages and sports. Along with common sports such as
football and hand ball, and films that are shown the world over,
comes norms and morals. Every culture in history has been introduced
to new norms and morals at one point or another, as a gate way to
participating in an global economy, telecommunications and society.
The Faeroe Islands is no exception. New norms are making in roads,
and it is no long true, that everyone knows everyone else. Still,
there are some bastions that have a strong foot hold in the culture,
the chief among them is nepotism.
The
definition of nepotism is, according to Wikipedia, favoritism granted
to relatives regardless of merit. If you grant your son a job,
despite others performing better than he, then you are practicing
nepotism. If you were passed over for a job, despite being the most
qualified candidate, and see a relative of the person hiring granted
the position, you were the victim of nepotism. Most of us have
experience with nepotism in one or another form.
But
is it okay?
We
all should respect the rights of ownership and dominion over
property. If the owner of a business chooses to give the business
away, no one can dictate who the business is given to, for example, a
child. The dream of handing down the family business is strong in all
people. Nepotism can be a necessity in this case, where a child must
be raised for the position. To those working for the company, it may
seem like the child was never qualified for the job, that they are
more deserving of the rewards given to the child. Ownership of a
business doesn't require any qualifications, other than you are
legally allowed to own a business. However, to run a business, owners
must know something about business, and that can require a little bit
of on the job training.
In
other instances, nepotism has nothing to do with necessity, but
protectionism at the expense of others. The dangers of nepotism is
how it affects society. Even when you do not work for a company,
organization or office, the nepotism practiced there can effect you
personally. If an person is hired based on family relations instead
of qualifications, you are at risk of receiving unqualified service.
When you file a request at the local kommun office, you have the
right to be served by the most qualified person the kommun could
hire, and have a reasonable expectation for professional and
competent service. This is not always the case, and receiving
incorrect information or unqualified service can result in cases
lost, appeals denied and personal economic damages. In these cases,
nepotism was never a necessity and should never be tolerated. Like
wise, when you apply to work for a company, you can experience
nepotism in the form of a hiring manager favoring a cousin who just
graduated 10th grade, for a position that receives public
funds, money to which you contribute to through taxes.
But,
what can one do you protect yourself from this practice?
The
best advice available is to write a letter to a news paper, telling
the reader where and who is practicing nepotism, and how it has
unfairly hurt you; if you were hurt by this practice, others are also
at risk and should know about it. You can also tell your friends,
this company or that office may not have the most qualified
employees, enabling your network to make more informed decisions, if
they will spend their money for services from a company that has
questionable hiring practices, or if they should be careful when
dealing with a public office.
In
the worst cases, your legal rights may have been violated. By hiring
unqualified people, both in the private and public sector,
professionalism suffers and discrimination based on race, gender or
political affiliation can become an everyday occurrence. The papers
you file can be lost, or mistakes can be made in standing cases. If
these occurrences are intentional or not, you still have the right to
professional service and the kommun should strive to provide you with
that. In these instances, it is best to contact a lawyer.
As
time moves on, the Faroe Islands will need to adopt new norms if it
is to participate on the global stage and be considered a peer among
governments. Old bastions of culture and society no longer support or
advance it, but weighs it down. The Faroe Islands can move on, as it
integrates with the rest of the world. As a foreigner living here, it
is part and parcel that I help the society free itself of a few of
these chains.
-
Servus
