Happiness and Danes


Moksha
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The 60 Minutes TV program did a spot about Danes being the happiest people on Earth. When they examined why they found two items that made sense:

1. Danes have a social system that takes care of them. None of that dog-eat-dog-no-safety-net for them. They care for one another and so thus feel secure.

2. They have low expectations. They do not expect much and are pleased by any pleasant outcome that happens. This is much in line with one of the Buddha's Noble Truths, that desire for what you cannot have causes unhappiness and suffering.

Anyway, I thought this was interesting and wanted to share it with you.

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Thanks Moksha! :)

I was born and have lived most of my life in Denmark. (I now live in England)

Denmark is a nice little country. It's expensive to live there. Tax is really high but what you get in return is really good; great public transport, clean towns, good schools, great 'free' public health care etc etc

Danes in general believe in good education, good health and being happy. (Obviously a huge generalisation but overall a fairly accurate description of Danes)

I'd say Danes are quite straight faced and honest and can be very ironic and sarcastic but in a friendly kinda way; humour is a big part of the culture.

Of course, as there are in all countries, there are lots of 'bad bits' in Denmark and in the culture too... lots and lots... e.g. 'Jantelov' (The law of Jante), intolerance of anyone/anything different, low standards of morality (not in a sleazy way but a general cultural acceptance that 'everyone does it - there's nothing wrong with it and is all natural so what's the problem?...').

But in general I like Denmark and Danes... but then I am slightly biased :D

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HAHAHAHA :D

Yeah, I don't understand why the 'Danes and Swedes feud' is still going on... "Get over it people!!" :)

I know plenty of nice Swedes...they're quite tasty too! :D

It's funny, in Stockholm (Gamla Stan) there's a statue in a church that depicts a knight killing a dragon -- the dragon is supposed to represent Denmark. Yet in St. Petersburg there is a statue of Peter the Great on horseback killing a snake -- the snake is supposed to represent Sweden. Not sure if it's true but didn't Sweden get its rump kicked by Russia because the Danes either sided with Russia or rebelled during the war?

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It's funny, in Stockholm (Gamla Stan) there's a statue in a church that depicts a knight killing a dragon -- the dragon is supposed to represent Denmark. Yet in St. Petersburg there is a statue of Peter the Great on horseback killing a snake -- the snake is supposed to represent Sweden. Not sure if it's true but didn't Sweden get its rump kicked by Russia because the Danes either sided with Russia or rebelled during the war?

Lol cool, I didn't know about those statues :)

With regards to the history of war between Russia, Sweden and Denmark... well I'm not really knowledgeable on that but I think Denmark sided with Russia and then Sweden got its backside pummelled for a while but it all ended with a treaty... :)

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Lol cool, I didn't know about those statues :)

With regards to the history of war between Russia, Sweden and Denmark... well I'm not really knowledgeable on that but I think Denmark sided with Russia and then Sweden got its backside pummelled for a while but it all ended with a treaty... :)

Yeah, and Russia took a huge chunk of the Swedish Empire and used Swedish slaves to build St. Petersburg. The slave thing was pretty common then...Swedes would raid Lapp villages and send them to North America when Sweden controlled the area around New York and use them as loggers. Not as bad as being captured by the Muslims though -- females were sold as sex slaves and males were generally castrated and worked to death.

Here is a picture of the statue in St. Petersburg:

http://www.russiablog.org/PetertheGreatStatueFacingNeva.JPG

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Yeah, and Russia took a huge chunk of the Swedish Empire and used Swedish slaves to build St. Petersburg. The slave thing was pretty common then...Swedes would raid Lapp villages and send them to North America when Sweden controlled the area around New York and use them as loggers. Not as bad as being captured by the Muslims though -- females were sold as sex slaves and males were generally castrated and worked to death.

Ahhh yes, those were happy and peaceful times back then... hahaha :animatedlol:

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I've been to Denmark and liked it very much, I'd happily move there. When I saw this survey and the others published previously which say the same thing, I'd suggest it should read that the Danes are the most content- slightly different from happy, but they certainly seem content.

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interesting question, about contentment. One of our Cabinet Ministers got into hot water last week for asking on his blog why everyone in our country was so miserable. It was an interesting post, but given the current credit crunch/political situation, he got a lot of flak for it and for his timing. Anyhow, reading the responses in the national media made me wonder what in my life made me happy/content, what didn't, and what could I do to change that? So I'm currently in the process of drawing up lists (I swear by lists, but expect this one to take a few weeks). Then, when I've got it all sorted out in my own mind, it's a case of what can I do to eliminate the things that lead to discontentment, and allot more time to the things on the 'make me happy' list. Anyhow, that's the plan. ^_^

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I also saw this program and thought it was very interesting.

I remember that they had their schooling and insurance paid for by the government. They pay up to half of their income in taxes? :o

I can see why they don't have high expectations... they think things will go badly and when they don't they are content. Still not sure that it sounds all that bad... Contentment, this life is a test...

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