This is a blog about Denmark, social democracy and happiness
from an American perspective. Denmark ranks at the top of global happiness
surveys, and American progressives, calling themselves democratic socialists, are exhorting the United States to emulate it - with universal health care, paid maternity and sick leave, free college tuition, etc..
Is socialism the path to happiness?
Is Denmark really socialist? How much of its happiness comes from
socialism or how much from other factors? What can
Americans learn from its example? And if it’s desirable for the US to adopt features of the European welfare state, is it at all feasible?
The intention is to offer a general portrayal of Denmark with
such questions in mind and give the American debate some
background on the realities behind the democratic socialists' ideal. Not from
a strictly economic or political perspective but more informally – to consider selected aspects of Danish life and various social, cultural, economic and political factors that may contribute to the country's high quality of life.
Take monarchy, for example: Would a truly socialist country have a royal family? Since the vast majority of its subjects don't want to part with it, it must still be doing something for their national identity and pride. Or janteloven (the Law of Jante), a seemingly noxious social principle that can be summarized as the opposite of the American Dream but that many believe helps to foster a salutary modesty and equanimity. Or another distinctive quality of Danish social life that perhaps gives Denmark its tiny margin of victory in the happiness contest: hygge, translated roughly and inadequately as "coziness."
These are only a few of the curious phenomena we will encounter on a somewhat casual quest to find the secret of Danish happiness.
Take monarchy, for example: Would a truly socialist country have a royal family? Since the vast majority of its subjects don't want to part with it, it must still be doing something for their national identity and pride. Or janteloven (the Law of Jante), a seemingly noxious social principle that can be summarized as the opposite of the American Dream but that many believe helps to foster a salutary modesty and equanimity. Or another distinctive quality of Danish social life that perhaps gives Denmark its tiny margin of victory in the happiness contest: hygge, translated roughly and inadequately as "coziness."
These are only a few of the curious phenomena we will encounter on a somewhat casual quest to find the secret of Danish happiness.
Mark Perrino has lived in Denmark for more than 20 years. He has been a
lecturer at Manhattan College and a financial editor at Lehman Brothers, New
York, and Danske Bank, Copenhagen. He is the author of The Poetics of Mockery.
