Why has Denmark been rated the happiest country in the world in many World Happiness Reports. Trying to understand this I feel goes a long way towards understanding or answering the question of ‘what is Danish’. How can Danes with a such a cold, “dark, wet, flat little country … and a handful of stoic, sensible people and the highest taxes in the world” (Michael Booth) be so happy? The Danes have come on top of the EU’s first ever well-being survey – The Eurobarometer – as long ago as 1973 and are still on top today (also the United Nations’ first ever Happiness Report [2012], The Gallup World Polls, World and European Values Surveys, European Social Survey, etc.). Denmark was ranked #1 by the World Happiness Report for 2013 and 2014 (slipped to 3rd place in 2015) and has received much attention in recent years.
However, it would appear that what is being measured is happiness defined as contentment and satisfaction. The generous welfare system definitely has something to do with relieving many people of stress and worry. But also the values held by the people seem to have an impact on their levels of satisfaction hence happiness and contentment. Danes live in a highly egalitarian, non competitive society where humility and trust have high values. Extraordinary levels of trust in fact. A 2011 survey by the OECD stated that 88.3 percent of Danes expressed high levels of trust in others, more than any other any other nationality. Other surveys show that Denmark has not only shown greater levels of trust than other countries but it has maintained an unbroken upward trajectory for the last half century.
Denmark, a highly egalitarian society, is often thought of as one giant ‘middle class’. This sense of equality is distinctive and permeates all things Danish. Equality can be said to not only be a financial benefit (more may be obtained from an individual’s wealth), but it avoids a lot of the negative aspects of inequality eg. envy, stress, depression, and a host of other problems. The unspoken norms of the laws of Jante play heavily in Danish society. Jante law poses one of the biggest differences between Danish and western society. The ten laws, basically extreme in their translation, focus on how Scandinavians should treat and think about each other. Opposed to the competitive, ego bound behaviour found in North American society, Jante law supports humility and non-competitive behaviour. You do not brag, you do not look down on others, you do not think you are better than others, you do not envy others, etc. This underlying difference is to me the biggest and most subtle difference between Danish and North American cultures. I was always taught not to compete with others but to compete with myself (to strive to be a better me). But I think a lot of people living in North American society think that progress cannot be made without people competing with each other. Taken to an extreme though this produces dissatisfaction, unhappiness, distrust, etc. Jante law supports humility (not to be boastful) and trust. Thus people do not view others as distant from themselves but similar to themselves.* Lots of stress is relieved here. Too often though in North America humility (non boastful behaviour) is viewed as passive and undesirable. A person behaving this way is thought of as weak and ineffective. On the other hand, people who are aggressive and boastful are often seen as assertive and strong. Notably, one of the reasons Jante law took root in Denmark was because of the influence of the Lutheran religion which stressed humility, egalitarianism, inner conscience, shunning of ostentation and distrust of emotion.
The art of Danish hygge and leisure time.
Hygge, so typically Danish, is a concept which I really love. The concept of Hygge (loosely translated as coziness) is often thought of as relaxing with friends or loved ones, enjoying good food and drink under the glow of softly lite candles. But the concept of Hygge is much broader and complex. Overall it is being calm, relaxed, social and enjoying the pleasures of the ‘now’. “Hygge requires equality of participation (it is decidedly uhyggelig for one person to hog the limelight), and is predicated on the participants living in the moment”. (Michael Booth, p.91) Social interaction and free time are given strong emphasis in Denmark. The Danes tend to work significantly fewer hours than the rest of the world and thus have a refreshing work-life balance. Work identity is not so ego bound in Denmark.
Danes have a cultural norm called naervaer which translates into being mindful and present. It talks of appreciating simple pleasures and of living in the ‘now’. Mindfulness includes focusing on and appreciating what one has now and of revelling in the ordinary (for example, the pleasure of eating simply and mindfully – no mindless eating in front of the TV). This is very much in contrast with Western and North American culture which focuses more upon what one lacks and upon the future, of wanting more and mindless acquisition (thus dissatisfaction and lack of appreciation for what one has now). I think that this ancient scripture speaks beautifully of this concept.
Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary Life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.
Tao Te Ching
(from Piece of Danish Happiness, Sharmi Albrechtsen)
*Contrary to the happy majority, there is an unhappy minority composed of disgruntled angry outcasts living in Danish ghettos. These ‘exceptions’ lack integration into Danish society and speak of the downside of this “Almost Nearly Perfect People”. (Michael Booth). Thus immigrants (often visible minority), the homeless and abandoned people for whatever reason fall through the cracks of this ‘idealized’ society.