CRONY CAPITALISM HAS FAILED!!! So do YOU agree with the Nordic (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland) Democratic Socialism???? They ALL have single payer health care. Now the question is why the U.S. does NOT and continues to be a VERY EXPENSIVE health care SHITHOLE COUNTRY with 100 million of its citizens without good affordable health care??? CRONY CAPITALISM HAS FAILED!!! It is time for Nordic Democratic Socialism!!!!!!!!
Denmark’s Model: Quality Living, With Benefits
The key to making the Scandinavian model work, say analysts, is to ensure healthy employment.
By Christopher F. Schuetze ContributorJan. 25, 2018, at 10:58 a.m.
usnews.com
Denmark’s Model: Quality Living
(ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
ON A TYPICAL WEEKDAY morning, commuters pack bike paths alongside picturesque City Hall Square in Copenhagen, outnumbering the visitors who come to take in the iconic red-brick structure. The scene of so many Danish bike commuters — many in suits and ties — that two-wheeled traffic is actually congested would seem surreal to much of the developed world where car — not bike — traffic is the problem.
But although the city easily holds on to its No. 1 position in an international ranking of bike infrastructure, recent figures suggest the percentage of Copenhageners actually commuting to work or school decreased and the official goal of getting half of the city's residents on two wheels is fading.
Although the alderman responsible for bike traffic — yes, Copenhagen has one — points out that the number of miles cycled on average is still growing, the recent drop illustrates that even countries that top as many lists as Denmark does have to fight to keep things that way.
Denmark is a wealthy country that, thanks to its welfare policies, culture of consensus politics and public trust in its government institutions, tops many international rankings. It is No. 2 on the World Happiness Index, Copenhagen is No. 9 on the Mercer Quality of Living Rankings (San Francisco is the highest-ranked U.S. city at 29th), and No. 12 on the prestigious World Economic Forum competitiveness ranking. It also boasts one of the globe's lowest wealth inequality scores (it is 19th-lowest on the global Gini index).
This year, Denmark is ranked as the No. 1 country for both women and in which to raise children in the Best Countries rankings. Further, it ranks No. 2 for providing its people an overall quality of life.
What makes life so worth living in Denmark are the country's strong social policies, say experts. From cradle to grave, the Danish state knows how to help its people: maternity or paternity leave — parents can decide to split it up — is a full year. Nurseries and then schools are both guaranteed and paid for by the municipality. University education is tuition free and students can apply for living expenses. Families with children receive a generous allowance, regardless of income level. Even elderly care, such as senior centers, adapted transport and meals-on-wheels programs are paid for the by the state.
These strong social welfare benefits are also what make the country work.
[READ: See the top 5 countries for raising children.]
"This is a very important element of the Scandinavian welfare regime: everyone is working," says Dr. Peter Abrahamson, a sociologist who studies family policies at the University of Copenhagen. "In Denmark, it's these benefits that allow people to be in the labor market," he notes that with people paying up to 50 percent in taxes, added employment also adds to official coffers.
But besides helping with state finances such policies also lead to relatively low inequality, which in turns leads to consensus politics.
"There's been a strong consensus around these family policies, and actually the whole welfare policy. All the major social reforms went through with strong majorities particularly among the mainstream parties," says Abrahamson.
Even the anti-immigrant, Euro-skeptic Danish People's Party, which in 2015 won a surprising 37 seats in the 179-seat Folketing, the Danish national parliament, generally supports such generous welfare policies in principle.
But while many Danes take such social benefits (and corresponding taxes) for granted, some warn not to get too comfortable.
[READ: Learn which countries are seen as the best for women.]
Muneeza Rosendahl has co-founded a feminist party, for which she ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in last year's Copenhagen municipal elections. "Even though Denmark, compared to a lot of countries. is pretty equal, we still have a lot equality issues," she says.
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Indeed, Denmark's position on the World Economic Forum's gender equality ranking slipped from No. 7 in 2012 No. 14 last year. The ranking not only takes into consideration health, economic and educational equality, but measures such as how many of the country's lawmakers are women. And while the speaker in the current Folketing, Pia Kjærsgaard, is a woman, less than 40 percent of her colleagues are (Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden do better).
According to Rosendahl, despite a good track record on gender equality, Denmark is at risk because no one is fighting for what she calls "sustainable equality."
"I don't know why so many people here feel so scared of gender equality," Rosendahl says.
Even Abrahamson agrees that in terms of such classically progressive policies as a yearlong paid parental leave, Denmark doesn't quite compare to its progressive neighbors, Norway, Sweden or Iceland, since there's no exclusive paternity leave, meaning that in reality most fathers don't take time off.
"The Danish system is not typical of Scandinavian countries," he says.
And while the Danish People's Party supports the current coalition with its votes, its anti-immigrant rhetoric has some Danes worried.
After calling for an end to Danish involvement in the EU's Dublin asylum agreement — which would eventually oblige it to accept some refugees who typically land in the southern countries of the trading bloc — Kristian Thulesen Dahl, the party's leader seemed to suggest that Syrians who wished to be reunited with their family members should return to Aleppo, a Syrian city nearly destroyed by war.
"The Danish people's party are really pushing the boundaries, what would have not been acceptable five years ago is now acceptable," Rosendahl says.
Still, Dan Buettner, who wrote a best-selling book, "Blue Zones" — areas where inhabitants live long lives— says the real success of the Danish model is that its citizens can rely on their government to take care of their needs.
"Because government takes care of all their necessity of their lives — nothing can go too wrong in their lives — they are free to pursue a job that really speaks to their passions," he says. |
