What Can We Learn From Denmark?

[dairygirl4u2c]

What Can We Learn From Denmark?

Senator Bernie Sanders – Independent U. S. Senator From Vermont

Danish Ambassador Peter Taksoe-Jensen spent a weekend in Vermont this month traveling with me to town meetings in Burlington, Brattleboro and Montpelier. Large crowds came out to learn about a social system very different from our own which provides extraordinary security and opportunity for the people of Denmark.

Today in the United States there is a massive amount of economic anxiety. Unemployment is much too high, wages and income are too low, millions of Americans are struggling to find affordable health care and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider.

While young working families search desperately for affordable child care, older Americans worry about how they can retire with dignity. Many of our people are physically exhausted as they work the longest hours of any industrialized country and have far less paid vacation time than other major countries

Denmark is a small, homogenous nation of about 5.5 million people. The United States is a melting pot of more than 315 million people. No question about it, Denmark and the United States are very different countries. Nonetheless, are there lessons that we can learn from Denmark?

In Denmark, social policy in areas like health care, child care, education and protecting the unemployed are part of a “solidarity system” that makes sure that almost no one falls into economic despair. Danes pay very high taxes, but in return enjoy a quality of life that many Americans would find hard to believe. As the ambassador mentioned, while it is difficult to become very rich in Denmark no one is allowed to be poor. The minimum wage in Denmark is about twice that of the United States and people who are totally out of the labor market or unable to care for themselves have a basic income guarantee of about $100 per day.

Health care in Denmark is universal, free of charge and high quality. Everybody is covered as a right of citizenship. The Danish health care system is popular, with patient satisfaction much higher than in our country. In Denmark, every citizen can choose a doctor in their area. Prescription drugs are inexpensive and free for those under 18 years of age. Interestingly, despite their universal coverage, the Danish health care system is far more cost-effective than ours. They spend about 11 percent of their GDP on health care. We spend almost 18 percent.

When it comes to raising families, Danes understand that the first few years of a person’s life are the most important in terms of intellectual and emotional development. In order to give strong support to expecting parents, mothers get four weeks of paid leave before giving birth. They get another 14 weeks afterward. Expecting fathers get two paid weeks off, and both parents have the right to 32 more weeks of leave during the first nine years of a child’s life. The state covers three-quarters of the cost of child care, more for lower-income workers.

At a time when college education in the United States is increasingly unaffordable and the average college graduate leaves school more than $25,000 in debt, virtually all higher education in Denmark is free. That includes not just college but graduate schools as well, including medical school.

In a volatile global economy, the Danish government recognizes that it must invest heavily in training programs so workers can learn new skills to meet changing workforce demands. It also understands that when people lose their jobs they must have adequate income while they search for new jobs. If a worker loses his or her job in Denmark, unemployment insurance covers up to 90 percent of earnings for as long as two years. Here benefits can be cut off after as few as 26 weeks.

In Denmark, adequate leisure a⁼⁼nd family time are considered an important part of having a good life. Every worker in Denmark is entitled to five weeks of paid vacation plus 11 paid holidays. The United States is the only major country that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation time. The result is that fewer than half of lower-paid hourly wage workers in our country receive any paid vacation days.

Recently the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that the Danish people rank among the happiest in the world among some 40 countries that were studied. America did not crack the top 10.

As Ambassador Taksoe-Jensen explained, the Danish social model did not develop overnight. It has evolved over many decades and, in general, has the political support of all parties across the political spectrum. One of the reasons for that may be that the Danes are, politically and economically, a very engaged and informed people. In their last election, which lasted all of three weeks and had no TV ads, 89 percent of Danes voted.

In Denmark, more than 75 percent of the people are members of trade unions. In America today, as a result of the political and economic power of corporate America and the billionaire class, we are seeing a sustained and brutal attack against the economic well-being of the American worker. As the middle class disappears, benefits and guarantees that workers have secured over the last century are now on the chopping block. Republicans, and too many Democrats, are supporting cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, nutrition, education, and other basic needs — at the same time as the very rich become much richer. Workers’ rights, the ability to organize unions, and the very existence of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are now under massive assault.

In the U.S. Senate today, my right-wing colleagues talk a lot about “freedom” and limiting the size of government. Here’s what they really mean.

They want ordinary Americans to have the freedom NOT to have health care in a country where 45,000 of our people who die each year because they don’t get to a doctor when they should. They want young people in our country to have the freedom NOT to go to college, and join the 400,000 young Americans unable to afford a higher education and the millions struggling with huge college debts. They want children and seniors in our country to have the freedom NOT to have enough food to eat, and join the many millions who are already hungry. And on and on it goes!

In Denmark, there is a very different understanding of what “freedom” means. In that country, they have gone a long way to ending the enormous anxieties that comes with economic insecurity. Instead of promoting a system which allows a few to have enormous wealth, they have developed a system which guarantees a strong minimal standard of living to all — including the children, the elderly and the disabled.

The United States, in size, culture, and the diversity of our population, is a very different country from Denmark. Can we, however, learn some important lessons from them? You bet we can.

Originally Posted At Huffington Post: http://huff.to/1an8O5u

[Anastasia13]

Something is rotten in Denmark...

[CatholicsAreKewl]

I love the Danes!

[CatherineM]

I think we could learn more from Iceland.

[Luigi]

What can we learn from the Danes? Danish, and that's about all.

 

 

 

First of all, somebody's always trying to sell us a story about "the right way to do this" while blithely ignoring the obvious social, cultural, economic, historical, and political differences. Denmark as a country is smaller than Chicago as a city, for God's sake! 

 

Secondly, these stories of Shangri-La have been around forever. The first once was called Eden, but there have also been Shangri-La, Holland (for dope smokers and euthenasiasts), Denmark (see original post), Sweden, Nepal (the hippies thought Katmandu was the pinnacle of human evolution), Cuba, North Korea, and lots of others. Basically, everybody - at some point or another - thinks there's an earthly paradise that we could enact if we could all just get along! 

 

Third, the original post is from the Huffington Post. Which means it can be rejected out of hand.

[ardillacid]

no one cares

[Lil Red]

tl;dr 

[PhuturePriest]

I think we could all learn more from me and my wisdom.

[dairygirl4u2c]

maybe we could put it this way. there is an enormous amount of extreme poverty. people who cant afford things like garbage bags, or things other than food that are usually considered somewhat of a necessity of life. in america this runs rampant. 

 

how much would it take to ensure people had just a minimum? people who are considered disabled by social security can get SSI, considered a basic minium to live. let's say that is 700 a month. not a lot, but 700 is 700 more than some people see, and to some like winning the lottery. 

how much would it cost to have this for everyone?

 

basic math. 

 

300 million * 700 = 210,000,000,000

that's 210 billion dollars a month * 12 months = 2.5 trillion

 

our national budget is 3 trillion. our GDP is 15 trillion. you think we can't afford 2.5 trillion? 
i won't deny it's a chunk of change, but we could do it, id think.

 

conservatives like to spin it like we have no choice but to accept destritution for the impoverished. take away the basics from the poor, so they can try to get jobs as to get that basic amount on your own? and if there basically are no jobs? survival of the fittest? people actually have to0 starve so John can afford to hire another employee? yet we see that if you are simply down on your luck, it's not much to ask the govenment to help. if we take food from bob to in theory get a job for someone else... what about the basics of food for that person taken if we cant give him a job? or whatever your minimal acceptance is. we ensure people can eat first, and then we see about maximizng employment. it would be optimal for everyone to be able to work for their food etc, but for even too many good faith folks etc, this simply isnt possible. basics first, tehn employment. if we are trying to get everyone food, we might as well ensure them food first and see if maybe we can get them to earn it. life will go on, dont be so afraid. 

 

ultimately then it's not a necessity thyat we must cut food stamps, health care, and other basics. if not a necessity that we cut them, then why do it? why cause suffering?. whether we have a minimum system or not is entirely our desicion based on preference alone. maybe food is what your minimum is, who knows. you probably have a basic standrd for humanity. we should err on the side of the poor.

 

Edited May 30, 2013 by dairygirl4u2c

[dairygirl4u2c]

i used 700 cause it's a common SSI disability amount. but i could have made it about a lot of numbers. let's say we ensured everyone get only 300 a month, or around ten dollars a day. that makes it only 1.7 trillion, a lot more manageable of a load for our national income and budget. 

[dairygirl4u2c]

and if we consider that famous statistic that half of people pay taxes,a nd half dont. that means those who pay taxes dont need stipends or basic amounts per month. so instead of 1.7 trillion, half of that is 800 billion. even more a lot more manageable.