Recently there was a feature on Opera It shows that Denmark has the happiest people on earth. I’m Danish, but looking back I was never happy living there. I now live in the United States. Obviously there are some aspects I prefer about Denmark over the US like their healthcare system. However, in general, Denmark is not the best place for ambitious individuals who have a plan to retire early or do what Americans call cool
Things. I think the chances of me coming back permanently are slim.
Well, Americans tend to call everything, including breakfast, “wonderful.”
😉
First, the opera clip mainly showed Copenhagen’s upper middle class. What I saw wasn’t typical, the condo is currently for sale for $1.25 million, and very few people live that way
But the positions presented are typical of the “educated” segment, that is, about 40% of the population, especially those who hold secure government positions, which is a large percentage.
Your public house in the suburbs outside of DC will cost between $200,000 and $400,000.
In comparison, the Danes spend a lot of their money on housing (the houses are really well built) and spend less on things needed to fill the houses simply because they have less money left. There is universal health care, comprehensive education, and comprehensive “insurance” against unemployment. It is true that there are very few homeless people (they are all drug addicts). The streets are safe, but don’t leave a bike unlocked anywhere (!). Danes are not violent, but many of them are not honest citizens either. The priority is vacation and leisure time, not work time – this is because marginal tax rates are extreme, so why bother with work, and because unions are strong, meaning those with a job get a lot of vacation time but the opposite is the case. Unemployment is high. Is this a good thing? That is if you have a job.
Religion is very weak. This is due to social and economic factors (no one needs to find meaning in religion) and historical reasons. The Danes had always been a pagan group and readily “believed” whatever their king stood for. The institution of marriage has resigned itself to tradition. People have children long before they marry, if they marry at all. Anyone who has lived together for two years is considered de facto married, meaning they have the same rights as people who are officially married. Denmark was one of the first, if not the first, country to legalize same-sex marriage. Honestly, no one really cares. Humanity is fairly high. Relative to GDP, Denmark is one of the largest contributors to foreign aid.
What’s not to like? The downside is the resulting small town mentality
With its low tolerance for individuality, difference or excellence, low tolerance for ambition, very low levels of entrepreneurship, and the arrogant belief that it is the best country in the world (well, you see that in the US too, except in the US it’s not so arrogant
😉
), and the opportunities are few because it is a small country.
This is clear to me because I was born there and lived abroad for 10 years.
Everyone gets the same average (average?) education regardless of whether they are gifted or not. In other words, if “average” is the goal, this is a great country as almost everything will point you toward _average_. In this regard, for example, the school system does not give “prizes” to anything that directly contradicts the American system.
However, it can be proven that happiness mainly stems from comparison with neighbours, so if the neighbor is average and you are too, it makes you happy. I think this is the main reason why the majority of Danes are happy. However, there are a few extreme men who find it difficult to be happy in such an environment and so they immigrate.How to become a Dane: You can become a citizen by living there for 7 years. You can do this with any EU (open borders) passport. I know you can marry a European, of course. I don’t know of other ways, but getting a job there could work; I think it’s similar to the US. Check with your nearest embassy/consulate. If you want to immigrate, I advise you not to bring any part or much of your culture with you because that is frowned upon. In fact, the Danes are very tolerant, but only if you’re just like them, right? Copyright © 2007-2023 Earlyretirementextreme.comThis feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. Use of this feed on other sites violates copyright. If you see this notice anywhere other than your news reader, it makes the page you’re viewing infringing copyright. Some sites use random word replacement algorithms to hide the origin. Find the original, undamaged copy of this publication at earlyretirementextreme.com. (Digital imprint: 47d7050e5790442c7fa8cab55461e9ce)Originally published on 10-23-2009 at 12:30:23.
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