This is coming from the generally liberal Washington Post. Time for a dose of Scandinavian reality for Americans who recently have become enamored with far northern Europe lately without knowing much about the place.
So who has the larger ecological footprint, Americans or Danes? Answer: Danes.
Who is more xenophobic, Americans or Danes? According to this article, Danes.
Who takes more anti-depressants per capita, Americans or Danes? Danes. (Happiest country on Earth? I don’t think so.)
Who carries more personal debt, Americans or Danes? Danes.
Aside from Legos, Denmark leaves much to be desired. It certainly should not be held up as an example to follow. At least not for America to follow.
(From The Washington Post)
Politicians in the U.S. like Bernie Sanders praise Denmark for its relative income equality, its free universities, parental leave, subsidized childcare, and national health system. That all sounds pretty good, right?
It is fantastic in theory, except that, in Denmark, the quality of the free education and health care is substandard: They are way down on the PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment] educational rankings, have the lowest life expectancy in the region, and the highest rates of death from cancer. And there is broad consensus that the economic model of a public sector and welfare state on this scale is unsustainable. The Danes’ dirty secret is that its public sector has been propped up by — now dwindling — oil revenues. In Norway’s case, of course, it’s no secret.
