Comments on: And The Happiest Place On Earth Is...

Morley Safer On Why The Danes Are Considered The Happiest People On Earth

[cbeckley9]

6 weeks per year vacation time is laughable.

In Denmark I would never have been able to build a business from nothing and take an average of 8-9 weeks vacation per year - and I intend to increase that to 12 weeks per year in the coming years.

Denmark might allow the average person with average abilities to be happy, but those that have ambition and talent will always have their spirits crushed... that''s why the best and brightest will always move to America.

There are enough socialist countries in the world already. The politicians and media are pushing to make America just like Europe. Why not let there be one country remain as its founders intended that allows people the freedom to grow to their full potential?

[cbeckley9]

6 weeks per year vacation time is laughable.

In Denmark I would never have been able to build a business from nothing and take an average of 8-9 weeks vacation per year - and I intend to increase that to 12 weeks per year in the coming years.

Denmark might allow the average person with average abilities to be happy, but those that have ambition and talent will always have their spirits crushed... that''s why the best and brightest will always move to America.

There are enough socialist countries in the world already. The politicians and media are pushing to make America just like Europe. Why not let there be one country remain as its founders intended that allows people the freedom to grow to their full potential?

[cbeckley9]

6 weeks per year vacation time is laughable.

In Denmark I would never have been able to build a business from nothing and take an average of 8-9 weeks vacation per year - and I intend to increase that to 12 weeks per year in the coming years.

Denmark might allow the average person with average abilities to be happy, but those that have ambition and talent will always have their spirits crushed... that''s why the best and brightest will always move to America.

There are enough socialist countries in the world already. The politicians and media are pushing to make America just like Europe. Why not let there be one country remain as its founders intended that allows people the freedom to grow to their full potential?

[cbeckley9]

6 weeks per year vacation time is laughable.

In Denmark I would never have been able to build a business from nothing and take an average of 8-9 weeks vacation per year - and I intend to increase that to 12 weeks per year in the coming years.

Denmark might allow the average person with average abilities to be happy, but those that have ambition and talent will always have their spirits crushed... that''s why the best and brightest will always move to America.

There are enough socialist countries in the world already. The politicians and media are pushing to make America just like Europe. Why not let there be one country remain as its founders intended that allows people the freedom to grow to their full potential?

[stensticks]

Once agains, shame on 60 minutes for the usual leftist, socialist, and very anti-American/anti-Capitalist slant on life...I''m an offspring of Danish and Norwegian immigrants, and I assure you, there is NO COMPARISON...sexual immorality and the move to silence Christians there is d i s t u r b i n g !!!!

[ufcraigfl]

Wow, if only you could see me grimacing and then finally flicking-off the TV you would know my opinion of the story.

There is nothing wrong with the "American Dream" and if you work hard in high school you can "get paid" to college too... I am not sure what that story was supposed to do, except cause more discontent for the Danish.

Was there even a point?

[ufcraigfl]

Wow, if only you could see me grimacing and then finally flicking-off the TV you would know my opinion of the story.

There is nothing wrong with the "American Dream" and if you work hard in high school you can "get paid" to college too... I am not sure what that story was supposed to do, except cause more discontent for the Danish.

Was there even a point?

[kansas1946]

They just sound pragmatic, and I have noticed that pragmatic people tend to be happier, or at least, less stressed. I have tried to develope pragmatism in myself, but it isn''t easy to tame my reactionary personality. Maybe it is in the Danish DNA. Pragmatism!

[pupeta-2009]

Esbech, don''t even bother explaining these americans anything, they don''t even know where denmark is on a map,all they know is playstation, apple pie, being fat, have guns, and sit all day wondering which country they are going to hate today. The most unhappy nation in the industrialized world. Let them live their lives with debt, no health care, no freedom, no education.

[gangsterper]

And btw.. We''re not a socialists country.. We''re social-liberal. In the private sector it''s a free market. But when it comes to certain things, like education, medical etc. the government takes care of the bill using our tax money. Which is fine by me..

[gangsterper]

"68% taxes?????!!! 25% sales tax?????

I love it when socialists think everything is "free.""
I love it when people see what their want to see and hear what their want to hear. 68% tax is the maximum and it''s only people that gets pay a whole lot of money. The sales tax is incl. in everything we buy. When you go to the market and buy, lets say, cereal. The sales tax is already incl..

[motoartiste]

Saying that Denmark has social programs -- healthcare, higher education -- that the USA doesn''t have because of tax rates "Americans won''t support" is naive and simplistic. Add up what you pay in taxes in the good ol'' USA, folks, and you''d be surprised and dismayed at how little you get for it. From federal income and SS taxes all the way down to municipal franchise fees on your utility bills, you pay way, way more than 50% of your money back to the government. The FIRST -- not the total, just the first -- appropriation for Iraq would have paid full-time tuition for every student at Harvard for almost 100 years. It''s not what your tax rate is, it''s how it ends up being spent. The difference seems to be that the government of Denmark is in business to take care of its citizens, while the government of the USA is more intent on taking care of its cronies -- using our money.

[easeup-2009]

68% taxes?????!!! 25% sales tax?????

I love it when socialists think everything is "free."

[a_esbech]

To start off, I''m Danish. For those of you who doesn''t want the government to pay for your health care, this is a real life story. My father has been hemiplegic for about 12 years, this was a result of a rare disease in which he also had kidney cancer, which resulted in several years of dialysis. He has extremely low blood pressure and therefore has had several operations in order to counter this. This operation i mention included a small device in the price range of 150.000$. If we had to pay for this I don''t believe I would have ever finished school or be living in the same house as I do now. When we have paid for the first of my father''s illnesses, we wouldn''t have the same amount of money, then came the second, third and fourth medical problem. We could have been down and out, if the Government didn''t take care of us.

I am extremely pleased to be studying law, paid by the government, and I''m looking forward to the day I start to contribute to society so that my fellow man can have an acceptable living.

Regarding minimum wage and taxes, minimum wage here is about 18-20$ I make 20$ an hour, being a mailman, and that''s about as low as it gets. I pay 39% of my income tax along with 25 % sales taxes and many other sorts of taxes. The more money that come in the more tax you pay, I believe that right now the highest tax you''ll get to pay is approx. 68%.

I would advise some of you to look up the Jante''s law, ''cause I believe that many of you has caught this Danish phenomenon.

[gangsterper]

@ bindedig: Yes, Janteloven (Jante''s law) basically means that no one is allowed to stand out. Look up the definition on wikipedia. It''s a strange phenomenon that occasionally occurs.
@ chime1212: The minimum wage differs depending on your age and what job you have. An 18 year old working at a supermarket would get about 18 dollars an hour, I would say. Just an estimate, although not far, since that''s what I got paid having the same job. That was april 07, so it probably went up as well.. Furthermore, certain tax rules stated that I only had to pay 39% in taxes out of that.

[incog-nito]

Just got back from the Urgent Care for one of my kids. It just happened that the two people with kids in front of me did NOT have health insurance and had to pay cash, a lot of cash. They didn''t look shabby, but also didn''t look like they''re the affluent type. I''m starting to think this is becoming the norm in America, sad to say.

[nobody25-2009]

The 60 minutes segment seems to be referring to a metaanalysis done by Adrian White at the University of Leicester, UK. His article is available at http://www.le.ac.uk/users/aw57/world/sample.html. Contrary to Morley Safer, Denmark is not the happiest place in the world (it is tied with Switzerland for first place with a score of 273), there is no data on Iraq, and the U.S. is ranked 6th (not 23) in happiness (SWLS score: 247)along with 9 other countries (including Norway) with the same SWLS score. The reason that the U.S. is 23rd on the list of countries (but not ranked 23) is that countries having the same happiness score are listed alphabetically and the U.S. begins with the letter "U". Austria and Iceland tie for second place (score 260). Norway which has an extensive social safety net has the same happiness ranking as the US.

[anita251]

I don''t consider it freedom to have the government choose my level and type of healthcare I need. I want the freedom to choose what healthcare I want. Keep my money and decide what I want to do with it.

[bindedig]

I lived in Denmark for a while. Almost 12 yrs actually. Yes there are good things and bad things about any culture or country. I have too been on the receiving end of the ''Your not from around here, are you boy?" conversation, and I had to learn Danish before I could get a job. It was not easy and people said as long as i kept my mouth shut i blended in. The reason I came back to the states was just that, I could not ''go up the ladder'' because I was not a Dane, or EU. Granted the taxes are 50% or better, but there are REAL perks that the US does not have. Social medicine for example. No need for that stupid 16 page set of forms to fill out and a good chance that you will not be seen by a doctor if you do not have insurance. Yes there is 5 or 6 weeks vacation, and EVERYONE gets them and they do transfer to your next job so no ''use it or lose it'' rule, and if you cant actually find hte time to take it, you can get it in cash in some cases. Yes, they are a bit xeno-phobic when it comes to different cultures and ideas entering there little chunk of land that they have left. But I too would be upset if i was told that what I have been doing for 400yrs was ''wrong'' or not the ''norm''.

[bindedig]

I lived in Denmark for a while. Almost 12 yrs actually. Yes there are good things and bad things about any culture or country. I have too been on the receiving end of the ''Your not from around here, are you boy?" conversation, and I had to learn Danish before I could get a job. It was not easy and people said as long as i kept my mouth shut i blended in.
The reason I came back to the states was just that, I could not ''go up the ladder'' because I was not a Dane, or EU.
Granted the taxes are 50% or better, but there are REAL perks that the US does not have. Social medicine for example. No need for that stupid 16 page set of forms to fill out and a good chance that you will not be seen by a doctor if you do not have insurance.
Yes there is 6 weeks vacation, and EVERYONE gets them and they do transfer to your next job so no ''use it or lose it'' rule.
Yes, they are a bit xeno-phobic when it comes to different cultures and ideas entering there little chunk of land that they have left. But I too would be upset if i was told that what I have been doing for 400yrs was ''wrong'' or not the ''norm''.
I remember that the I was told over and over not to be better than anyone else, no need to reach high goals or be rich, it is not what Denmark is about. I think it is something called "Janta-loven"(sp)? My ex-wife always said "Be happy in your own skin and just relax."