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The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

theguardian.com

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Re: The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

#91

Post by indeed30 »

yau8edq12i wrote: post #36
indeed30 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm interested in what you're comparing against. Denmark is typically towards the bottom of any measure of cultural or ethnic diversity - e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_ranked_by_et... I have been to Denmark many times and it strikes me as considerably more homogenous than the UK or the US.

It's funny how little time it takes to go from "cultural" to "ethnic". Say what you think instead of using whistles: you think that Denmark conforms to your racially focused worldview, that it's "pure", or whatever. Am I correct? Funnily enough, Denmark is a few places below France in "ethnic fractionalization", yet somehow, racists worldwide insist that France has become a shithole because of immigration.

I'm not sure what the complaint is here. I don't mind saying outright that I believe ethnicity is deeply intertwined with culture and that the two concepts are inseperable. Ethnic groups are essentially defined by their shared heritage, experiences and culture. When we talk about cultural diversity, we inevitably also discuss the ethnic diversity of a population.

I really don't think that is a controversial position, but clearly you disagree.

Re: The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

#92

Post by [deleted] »

wearen0tsame wrote: post #41
spython wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would that be considered a flaw? The rationale behind it is the same as behind the inability to name your child XAe or any random assortment of letters – to not make the future difficult for your child, even if you as a parent might want it. It is also one of the last tools that prevents parallel societies from forming. Not that German schools are ideal - they are a bit stuck in the past - but the common experien…

Because my children are likely going to have ADHD like I do, and public schools are hell for us. When I was a child I cried every day, hated my parents and didn't understand what did I do that I deserved to be forced into that prison. I am not going to put my children through that. I don't care about your social engineering goals, I care about happy childhood for my children.

[deleted]

Re: The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

#93

Post by spython »

wearen0tsame wrote: post #88
spython wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might consider alternative schools like Waldorf or Montessori for your kids. It's not like there is only one kind of school available.

These legally operate as groups of homeschooled children where I live, and there actually is only one kind of "school". Yes, I'm considering that. One thing I definitely don't want is an "institution" that feels like it's entitled to do or require children to do whatever it wants, even if it has generally enlightened opinions and methods. If my child can't come at all for half a year, that's what will happen.

I agree, and in some countries it does feel like your children get 'institutionalized'. Still, even there, there are differences between schools. What my parents did was to visit the schools, talk to the teachers, see whether they had a good or a bad feeling, and insisting on getting me into a specific class. It does work, but of course all the schools and classes should ideally be good.

Re: The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

#94

Post by bartonfink »

snowpid wrote: post #47
mensetmanusman wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany you are arrested for home schooling. Different cultures have their flaws.

Home schooling is linked to religious extremism

as is facial hair, bro. unsubstantiated factoids are not a contribution.

Re: The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

#95

Post by wearen0tsame »

spython wrote: post #93
wearen0tsame wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These legally operate as groups of homeschooled children where I live, and there actually is only one kind of "school". Yes, I'm considering that. One thing I definitely don't want is an "institution" that feels like it's entitled to do or require children to do whatever it wants, even if it has generally enlightened opinions and methods. If my child can't come at all for half a year, that's what will happen.

I agree, and in some countries it does feel like your children get 'institutionalized'. Still, even there, there are differences between schools. What my parents did was to visit the schools, talk to the teachers, see whether they had a good or a bad feeling, and insisting on getting me into a specific class. It does work, but of course all the schools and classes should ideally be good.

That's a good thing to do for sure. The problem is - my parents did that, and visited more than once, but every time they did, the teachers put up an act of being larger than life and the most enlightened experts of child development under the sun. Unfortunately, they believed them because the act was so good, and because years of life under communism taught them that going against institutions leads you to bad places.

I don't have the latter problem - I got the opposite problem from that, sometimes I hate the system a little bit too much - but still, remembering how the teachers used to threaten us if we don't put up our best act, meaning never speak out about the lies they told when other parents visited, I can't really trust few visits to give me an accurate impression.

Re: The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

#96

Post by throwaway22032 »

Youden wrote: post #59
throwaway22032 wrote: post #9

The common factor in all high trust societies seems to be that they are culturally homogenous.

I disagree. Switzerland is another example of a high-trust society yet roughly a quarter of its residents are foreign. A majority of those foreigners are from the EU/EFTA but if you think that means they're culturally homogenous, I challenge you to feed a German pizza to an Italian or give someone from Suisse romande a Gipfeli and tell them it's a croissant. I'm not accusing you of this in particular but a common pat…

I'm British, not American.

The culture I am speaking of here is not whether Italians put pineapples on pizza or not.

Re: The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

#97

Post by throwaway22032 »

bilbo0s wrote: post #77
slekker wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there more homogeneity in their values instead of saying culture?

But the word "culture" is what was used. Not the word "values". There can be a discussion about whether or not "values" would be a better term. I think that's fair. But switching to a discussion based on values moves the goal posts a bit and we should acknowledge that fact.

I consider them both to be fairly interchangeable in this context, it's obvious that crime isn't linked to whether someone prefers croissants or bratwurst.

Re: The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

#98

Post by jayski »

fvdessen wrote: post #57
jayski wrote: post #52

I visited 2 years ago, it made me rethink everything I thought about society. The parliament has no guards, you can just walk in and talk to one of your representatives. Who BTW all biked there, evidenced by all the bikes outside. 95%+ of people look to be thin and fit. Everyone looks happy. A common misconception is that the Danes success is their system. I like how this article frames it around trust, because that…

You can have a system that produces decent, honorable people, and systems that do the exact opposite

true, but as long as we're talking about a democratic society. it would be improbable that kind of people decide on a counterproductive system.

Re: The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

#99

Post by red-iron-pine »

admissionsguy wrote: post #42
trelane wrote: post #26

This sounds a lot like small midwestern towns, at least a few decades ago.

Has it changed? My medium term goal is to move to a small town in a state like Nebraska. In my limited experience, I found the region as cozy as my current place in the far north of Sweden but without the humongous government.

> Has it changed?

a-yup, sure has. I've seen it.

Wages are stagnant and meth is everywhere. The smart ones left to chase jobs and the remainder who aren't hitting the pipe regularly are deep into MLMs. Everyone -- like, everyone -- drives trucks, and will probably never be able to retire because of it.[1]

The remainder are getting older, more religious, more conservative, and more reactionary, and that translates to terrible schools and poorly maintained roads. The educated folks coming back from college look at that and, even if they can get jobs in town, aren't keen to live there.

[1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-love-affair-with...

Re: The Denmark secret: how it became the most trusting country

#100

Post by Symbiote »

slekker wrote: post #64
vertis wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of Europe has similar taxation. They get a lot for their money though. Public transport and health. I would live in Denmark in a heartbeat, have visited so many times as a digital nomad. But I'd have to go work for a tech company there or convince them that whatever startup I want to have a go at next is enough to be accepted by the startup visa (complicated). If anyone from Denmark or Sweden (which I love as we…

> Most of Europe has similar taxation. Countries like Czechia or France have lower income tax (5%-10% less)

France's top rate is 0.5% points lower.

Denmark is average for the EU (much less than France) once you account for the employee taxes in France.

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