Not Generous to a Fault

Back in September, the United Nations issued a report published by its Sustainable Solutions Network. After surveying 156 nations, the report ranked which countries had the happiest people. Northern Europe rocked. The United States, not so much. “Denmark, Norway and Switzerland [led] the pack. Among North American countries, Canada took sixth place, while Mexico (16) slightly outranked the U.S. (17)… [Togo tanked at the bottom]

“The report is the second of its kind released by a coalition of researchers including John F. Helliwell of the University of British Columbia and Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the London School of Economics's Richard Layard and Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute. The team drew upon Gallup World Poll data from the past three years to rank the 156 countries on aspects such as healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices and social support.” Huffington Post, September 9^th.

But Denmark led the pack, and when you look at the reasons cited, it almost seems is if the very values that define fiscal and social conservatism in the United States are the opposite of what makes the Danes happy. What do the survey results say?

“While American women scrape by with an average maternal leave of 10.3 weeks, Danish families receive a total of 52 weeks of parental leave. Mothers are able to take 18 weeks and fathers receive their own dedicated 2 weeks at up to 100 percent salary. The rest of the paid time off is up to the family to use as they see fit.

“But the support doesn't stop at the end of this time. Danish children have access to free or low-cost child care. And early childhood education is associated with health and well-being throughout life for its recipients -- as well as for mothers. What's more, this frees up young mothers to return to the work force if they'd like to. The result? In Denmark, 79 percent of mothers return to their previous level of employment, compared to 59 percent of American women…

“Danish citizens expect and receive health care as a basic right. But what's more, they know how to effectively use their health systems. Danish people are in touch with their primary care physician an average of nearly seven times per year, according to a 2012 survey of family medicine in the country. And that means they have a single advocate who helps them navigate more complicated care.

“‘This gatekeeping system essentially is designed to support the principle that treatment ought to take place at the lowest effective care level along with the idea of continuity of care provided by a family doctor,’ wrote the authors of the family medicine survey.” Huffington Post, October 23^rd. Back in the states: Obamacare, we are told by too many, will destroy America (and yes, we do know it needs fixing). Hmmmm…

More values back in Denmark: Gender equality has been prioritized, and Danish cities are built for bicycles (read: no greenhouse gasses and lots of healthy exercise). But here’s the biggie: they support each other, do more unpaid volunteer work (40% of the entire adult population!) than almost anywhere else, and 87.7% of those eligible voted in the last election. “Danes don't prioritize social security and safety simply so they can receive benefits; there's a real sense of collective responsibility and belonging. And this civic duty -- combined with the economic security and work-life balance to support it -- results in a high rate of volunteerism.” Huffington Post. Wow!

Contrast this notion of Danish “responsibility” with the harsh, judgmental tones, the “cut the entitlements to those lazy bastards and damn government involvement, because in the good old USA, it’s everybody for himself” mantra that seems to emanate from a large body of people who define themselves as Christians… as least when they robotically go to church and appear to miss the teachings that unpin the basics of their faith. Suspect thy neighbor and care only for yourself and your view of the world? Could it be that we are so low on the happiness chart because we just don’t care about or even tolerate each other. Is there a lesson here?

I’m Peter Dekom, and back in the USA, it never ceases to amaze me that if you repeat a stupid slogan long enough, you may well develop a massing following who will actually believe you.