No. Not really.
However, I just watched a report on 60 minutes about how people in Denmark are the happiest people in the world and why. For one, the education of all citizens is paid for straight through university. Also, they have paid health care and subsidies for child and elder care. That could be a good portion of the happiness they experience.
Also, they have an average 37 hour work week, little unemployment or poverty and 6 weeks of vacation. That's right. SIX WEEKS. Does Rosetta Stone sell Danish?
The country also has a low crime rate -- stabbings are considered front page big headlines in major newspapers. They also haven't experienced war or any type of conflict in over half a century.
Apparently, another reason is because they do not have high expectations. The report speculated that our need to achieve the ever-changing "American Dream" and to "keep up with the Joneses" are what cause so much unhappiness in our country. One Dane they interviewed said his goal in life was to "have a lot of time to spend with my family" and another said her goal was "to have a job I enjoy doing".
The one thing that we as Americans would not like about living in Denmark though are the taxes. Something has got to pay for all of that free stuff, right? It seems they pay around 50% of their income toward taxes (or so said the 60 minutes report).
As the report ended, I thought about how I could incorporate at least the value of not-so-great expectations into my life since I really couldn't change any of the other things dictated by our government, our culture and our history. Maybe this would be a life changing thing.
Then I changed the channel to the Fine Living Network. Oops. Mistake. I immediately saw a renovated bathroom that, of course, I instantly wanted. This new mindset won't come so easily after all.
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7 comments:
We saw some of that report too. It really does seem appealing...what a carefree lifestyle. I'm too tired to start having the debate in my brain about whether or not I'd want to give half of my income to the government--even though the payoff seems great. Still, nice to daydream.
Check out www.edufire.com, I know they have a couple Danish tutors that can assist you with your language learning. Pretty good free site that I'm using to learn Spanish. I don't know if others like livemocha.com have Spanish but I would check that site out too. Good luck and Have fun
I don't understand why we Americans look at that those taxes with such shock. Socialist economy taxes actually turn out to be a deal. If you take what the average person spends a year on things like healthcare, education, etc. and then adds that to the taxes they pay it still works out fine.
I'd be happy to have less take-home pay if those little necessities were already taken care of. But I also grew up a military brat. And used to things like housing, military hospitals, base schools, etc all being there. Sort of our own little microcosm of socialism.
I totally agree with Becoming Mommy. The amount given to taxes in places like Denmark seem crazy to us, but we don't factor in what we get. In the US, we are so used to thinking "what's in it for me?" and that we don't want our tax dollars going to other people who we think may be taking advantage of the system or not working as hard. They just have a whole different mindset over there, and what EVERYONE gets with those tax dollars makes it worth it.
I'm with you. Let's move to Denmark! Or Iceland... I've heard great things about Iceland...
becoming mommy and caramama -- I agree that having more taxes taken away would be beneficial if the money were used the same as the Danes. I think Americans do have the "what's in it for me" mentality but I think some, like me, also wonder if our government could spend those taxes properly. Especially since it seems we can't go more than what, 10 years (I'm guessing here with no googling) with a war or "conflict"? OH well. Maybe we should all invest in some Danish lessons and winter clothes and move to Denmark!
So what Shakespeare SHOULD have said is "Everything is fab-u-lous in the State of Denmark."
And more importantly, forget the "even handed" reporting they did during the segment...what did Andy Rooney have to say?
Well, as an American living in DK, I can say it did (and still does) take a lot of adjusments but overall it is a saner way of life.
There is not as much uncertainty and the added security gives you a certain piece of mind that counts for a lot.
You can see my post about this prgram and other reactions on my blog here: http://lbstadler.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/60-minutes-features-denmark-the-happiest-place-on-earth/
Cheers!
Laura
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