I spent Saturday night at a friend's house and so I was forced to watch 20/20. So you can imagine the sound of my jaw hitting the floor when I heard this on the mouth piece of the neocon news show:
The happiest people in the world pay some of the highest taxes in the world -- between 50 percent and 70 percent of their incomes. In exchange, the government covers all health care and education, and spends more on children and the elderly than any country in the world per capita. With just 5.5 million people, the system is efficient, and people feel "tryghed" -- the Danish word for "tucked in" -- like a snug child....
And Denmark is what is called a "post consumerist" society. People have nice things, but shopping and consuming is not a top priority. Even the advertising is often understated. Along with less emphasis on "stuff," and a strong social fabric, Danes also display an amazing level of trust in each other, and their government. A University of Cambridge happiness study found that both kinds of trust were higher in happier places.
http://abcnews.go.com/...
The happiest people in the world pay some of the highest taxes in the world -- between 50 percent and 70 percent of their incomes. In exchange, the government covers all health care and education, and spends more on children and the elderly than any country in the world per capita. With just 5.5 million people, the system is efficient, and people feel "tryghed" -- the Danish word for "tucked in" -- like a snug child.
Those high taxes have another effect. Since a banker can end up taking home as much money as an artist, people don't chose careers based on income or status. "They have this thing called 'Jante-lov,' which essentially says, 'You're no better then anybody else,'" said Buettner. "A garbage man can live in a middle-class neighborhood and hold his head high." ....
Ninety-two percent of Danes belong to some kind of social club, dancing, singing, even practicing laughing with other Danes. Get a few people together who enjoy model train building, for example, and the government will pay for it. In Denmark, even friendship is subsidized.
And Denmark is what is called a "post consumerist" society. People have nice things, but shopping and consuming is not a top priority. Even the advertising is often understated. Along with less emphasis on "stuff," and a strong social fabric, Danes also display an amazing level of trust in each other, and their government. A University of Cambridge happiness study found that both kinds of trust were higher in happier places.
http://abcnews.go.com/...
What? Taxes won't hurt you and material wealth won't make you happy? Who are you really? What have you done with the ABC network that would not let Kucinich debate in New Hampshire??
Denmark is the country that I was most impressed with when I wrote my health care legislation.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
http://www.dailykos.com/...
And now I see why. They are the happiest people on earth.
Denmark came top, followed closely by Switzerland and Austria. The UK ranked 41st. Zimbabwe and Burundi came bottom.
A nation's level of happiness was most closely associated with health levels.
Prosperity and education were the next strongest determinants of national happiness.....
Mr White, who is an analytic social psychologist at the university, said: "When people are asked if they are happy with their lives, people in countries with good healthcare, a higher GDP [gross domestic product] per capita, and access to education were much more likely to report being happy."....
"A recent BBC survey found that 81% of the population think the government should focus on making us happier rather than wealthier....
"The frustrations of modern life, and the anxieties of the age, seem to be much less significant compared to the health, financial and educational needs in other parts of the world."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Wow. The UK thinks we should pursue happiness, not ever increasing gross domestic product that is constantly distributed upwards to the already rich. Too bad there isn't a well known document in the United States that puts the pursuit of happiness at the top of the list...
How come the bumblebee is able to fly? It lacks aerodynamic construction and from all appearances should crash at its first try at take off....
Danish Minister of Finance Mogens Lykketoft understands that from a western view of thinking Denmark is like an economic bumblebee defying financial theory on several levels. "How come the Danish bumble bee is flying?" Mr. Lykketoft asked rhetorically earlier this year at a Washington forum examining strategies for 21st century government. "How are we able to combined a big public sector and a high tax level with satisfied citizens and strong economic performance: good growth, a surplus of public finances and a historically low rate of unemployment?" Mr. Lykketoft answers his own questions simply: "The basic explanation is that the public sector is not just a huge bureaucracy,"...
But Mr. Lykketoft is convinced that by reducing public debt, instead of cutting taxes, Denmark will be able to achieve its goal of a "neutral fiscal policy in 2000" and towards the year 2005 a marked reduction in public debt (at maximum 40% of GDP) will be reached....
http://www.internationalspecialrepor...
The Danish are 3 times as upwardly mobile as the United States.
http://www.therationalradical.com/...
Episode #114
Wait a minute. You mean that having good social safty net and low deficit is actually good for the economy? It results in a strong dollar instead of investors that are scared of the dollar and a mortgage/financial world meltdown?? Was John Stossel on vacation when this was produced?
High taxes seem to be the back end of the bumblebee that should make the system impossible to fly, but people pay the taxes and get free health, education and substantial unemployment benefits in return. Mr. Lykketoft admits nobody really likes paying high taxes but given a choice Danes will keep taxes in exchange for services. Although both Denmark and America have high standards of living the big difference is the framework of the society.
"We have decided, through our very strong political consensus, that access to the health system, to hospitals and to education, old age care, kindergarten should be paid totally or mainly through taxes and not through private insurance."......
"We have a lots of surveys and opinion polls showing that that's the way [Danes] want it. On at least two occasions opposition political parties tried to win the elections through promises of tax cuts Mr. Lykketoft says but oddly enough that didn't woo voters. "What is very peculiar for this country is that they lost trying to promote tax cuts. Because people kept asking where is that money from [for services] and what are we going to lose of the services we have?" Mr. Lykketoft says....
According to surveys Mr. Lykketoft says 75% of the Danes think that the level of taxes and public services should either be sustained or increased.
What?! These heavily taxed people are happy about it? Does the GOP actually know this?? Do the Democrats know this???
People residing in Denmark pay various kinds of tax:
o Direct tax on personal income
o Indirect tax, e.g. VAT and duties on goods and services
o Property tax
o Church tax, members of the state church only
Denmark has a graduated taxation. That means that the more one earns, the more tax one pays. There is, however, a tax ceiling of 59% of ones income to state, county and municipality...
Along with the other Scandinavian countries, Denmark is one of the countries in Europe with the highest taxes and duties....
The reason is that many social services are offered by the public authorities. The taxes thus finance a long list of welfare services, such as kindergartens, education, care for the elderly, access to medical aid and hospitals. I many other countries these things are covered by private insurances or by social security contributions. Furthermore Denmark offers a high level of welfare which is accessible - often free of charge - for all.
http://www.workindenmark.dk/...
Yep...they have high taxes and they are happy about it. Who knew? That kinda blows the whole Neocon "Tax and Spend Democrat" idea. This means that Democrats must be the "Tax and Happiness" party doesn't it? In fact it blows everything that we have heard about the economy from the right wing.
This delicate bumblebee-balancing act is made even more difficult for Denmark because it is a welfare state. "The public section in Denmark is like one big insurance company," Mr. Lykketoft says. In this Denmark's welfare society Mr. Lykketoft explains, services like care for the elderly, health care, child care and education are provided almost solely by public institutions and predominantly financed through general taxes. This is necessary, he says, because of the full participation of women in the labor market where an estimated 91 women are working for every 100 men. "This has created the economic foundation for [the] welfare society -- and at the same time the needs for its services, because women were no longer there in the homes to take care of the children, the sick and the elderly."...
http://www.internationalspecialrepor...
Wait a minute...Don't we have full employment of women?
Various explanations have been offered to explain this paradox:
- The Danes have lower expectations.
In the Dec. 23 issue of the medical journal BMJ, researchers review six possible explanations, and conclude that the country's secret is a culture of low expectations.
http://www.iht.com/...
Neocon lesson: Don't expect much from your government and you will be happier. Never mind that Danes actually get something of value from their government like health care, unemployment insurance and college education.
- Genetics. They are just genetically or culturally happier people.
- Lack of diversity.
The poeople are all the same color so it is easier to give money in taxes because the money will go to some one just like you. Okay...I guess there was one Neocon excutive on board at 20/20 on Saturday.
- Personal Freedom. Here is an explanation from Ming--an actual Dane:
The part about low expectations might indeed be a key. Danes aren't very patriotic and don't have any ambitious agenda as far as their role in the world. Denmark is a small country and it hasn't been any kind of superpower for a very long time. And being ambitious tends to be socially frowned upon in Denmark. "Don't come here thinking you're anything special", is sort of a hidden Danish attitude. There's even a name for it, the unwritten "Jante Law", which says that if anybody tries to stand out in any way, everybody else will knock them down to size.
But if I should add a factor which they didn't mention, it is that Denmark is a free country, in the sense that you can say whatever you want, and there's very relaxed standards in terms of morals and vices and freedom of expression. It is not for nothing that it was in Denmark that porn first was legalized. Danes typically have no hangups in that regard. The age of sexual consent is 15. There's no age for when you legally can drink or smoke, or whatever. There are no words you can't say on TV. There's no censorship. Thus, there's an absence of the moral mind control you find in many other countries. In comparison, Sweden is a much more controlled society where the government will regulate what part of the cigarette you're supposed to smoke, and you can only buy alcohol in government owned stores. In this regard Denmark is very comparable to the Netherlands, which indeed is number 2 on that chart there. I'd say that's a big factor. Danes are quite free to be themselves and do what they enjoy doing, which ought to produce some kind of contentment.
http://ming.tv/...
So you decide. Why are the Danes so much happier then the US? Are they just a happy people? Do they have low expectations and their government surprises then every year....with the same thing? Is Ming right and it is about Democracy and personal freedom? Or is it that the Danes feel "tucked in" by their government?
Happiest Country Ranking:
- Denmark 41. United Kingdom
- Switzerland 82. China
- Austria 90. Japan
- Iceland 125. India
- Bahamas 178. Burmdi
- United States
To learn more about Happiness go to the
World Database of Happiness:
http://www1.eur.nl/...