At some point the richest man in Finland, Linder was a pretty open boss (the kind that preferred 8-hour day work for productivity reasons). When in 1918, the Red/White civil war started in Finland, he fled. Once back, the Whites having won, he is surprised to find his factories empty and his workers in jail. So he then wrote an article, calling for each side to admit its wrongs and to shake hands.

Finally, a question of conscience for all of us Whites: What have the Reds done of which we can absolve ourselves? They attempted a coup, and now we, who fought for law, for justice and for our form of government, the most democratic in the world, are doing the same.

By putting down with arms with the largest party in our country, we turn a blind eye to the 48% of support, which we dictatorially disregard in national decision-making.

This is not in line with the principles of parliamentarism. This is dishonourable hocus-pocus politics that cannot be justifiable for this or future generations. 

There is nothing more dangerous than to be moderate at a time of extremes. Man hadn’t noticed the country had changed, and after atrocities at the hands of the Reds, it was time for revenge for the Whites. This short book is built around his letter of class suicide, the article he had published, "Enough with the bloodbaths", which generated such a backslash he had to hastily dispose of his fortune in Finland and flee again.

The class suicide eventually turned into an actual suicide a few years later, when, now a poor man, he cut his veins in Marseilles.

I very much enjoyed this small window into Finnish history.