Recently there was a feature on Oprah showing that Denmark has the happiest people in the World. I’m a Dane, but looking back I’ve never been so happy living there. Now I live in the US. Obviously, there are some aspects I prefer about Denmark compared to the US like its health care system. However, on the whole, Denmark is not the best place for ambitious people who plan to retire early or do what Americans call the best.
things. I think it is unlikely that I will ever return permanently.
That’s right, Americans tend to call everything including their breakfast “good”
😉
First, Oprah’s segment basically showed Copenhagen’s upper middle class. What you saw was unusual—the apartment shown is currently on sale for $1.25 million, very few people live like that.
but the attitudes expressed are similar to that of the “educated,” that is, about 40 percent of the population—especially those who hold secure government positions, which is a large number.
Your average house in the suburbs outside the capital costs between $200k and $400k.
In comparison, the Dans spend most of their money on houses (the houses are very well built) and very little on home furnishings because they have little money left over. 
There is universal health care, universal education, and unemployment “insurance”. It is true that there are very few homeless people (they are all drug addicts). The roads are safe, but don’t leave an unlocked bike anywhere(!). The Danes are not violent but many are not loyal citizens. Priority is on vacation and rest time, not work time—this is because the low tax rate is excessive, so why bother with work, and because the unions are strong, which means that those who work get more time off but vice versa. that unemployment is high. Is this a good thing? That is when you have a job.
Religion is very weak. This is for socio-economic reasons (no one needs to find meaning in religion) and for historical reasons. The Danes had always been a pagan group and were quick to “believe” in whatever their king subscribed to. The marriage arrangement is traditionally withdrawn. People have children before they get married, if they get married at all. Anyone who has lived together for two years is considered to be in a valid marriage, that is, they have the same rights as legally married people. Denmark was the first, if not the first country to legalize same-sex marriage. In fact, no one really cares. Humanism is the highest; compared to GDP Denmark is one of the largest donors of foreign aid.
What don’t you like? Bad is the result of small town thinking
and low tolerance for individuality, difference or contrast, low tolerance for ambition, very low levels of entrepreneurship, delusional belief that it is the best country in the world (well, you see that in the US too, except in the US it is not smug
😉
), and few opportunities as it is a small country.
This is obvious to me as I was born there and lived outside the country for 10 years.
Everyone gets the same average (mediocre?) education whether they are talented or not. In other words, if “average” is the goal, this is a good world since almost everything will guide you to the _average_. In that regard, for example, the school system does not issue “awards” for anything that is significantly different from the US system.
However, it can be shown that happiness is mainly caused by comparison with the neighbor so if the neighbor is average and you are, it makes you happy. This, I believe, is the main reason why most Danes are happy. There are, however, a few extreme boys there and find it difficult to be happy in such a place so they emigrate. How to become a Dane: You can become a citizen by living there for 7 years. You can do that with any EU passport (open borders). I know you can marry a European, obviously. I don’t know about other ways, but getting a job there can work; I think it’s the same in the US. Check the embassy/embassy near you. If you want to immigrate to another country I would recommend that you do not bring your culture or a large part of your culture as this is not desirable. Sure, Danes are very tolerant but only if you are exactly like them, yes?Copyright © 2007-2023 earlyretirementextreme.comThis feed is for personal, non-commercial use only.Use of this feed on other websites violates copyright. If you see this notice somewhere other than your news reader, it makes the page you are viewing a copyright violation. Some sites use random name changing algorithms to hide the origin. Find the original, unadulterated version of this post at earlyretirementextreme.com. (Digital fingerprint: 47d7050e5790442c7fa8cab55461e9ce)First posted 2009-10-23 12:30:23.
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