The Delightful Denmark thread

[Patrick Bateman]

To commemorate the end of Forbrydelsen/The Killing tonight, let us celebrate the country that has given us the Vikings, Hans Christian Andersen and Blue Swan.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-12- ... sarah-lund

[sneakythesnake]

and Whigfield and Aqua..well Lene is Norwegian but the others are Danish!

[redsock]

The wife and I are actually looking into moving to Continental Europe in a few years time and Denmark is at the top of the list. We went to Copenhagen a few years ago and loved it, such a great pace of life and some great opportunities for our daughter.

[BlueSwan]

The wife and I are actually looking into moving to Continental Europe in a few years time and Denmark is at the top of the list. We went to Copenhagen a few years ago and loved it, such a great pace of life and some great opportunities for our daughter.

How old is your daughter?

[Patrick Bateman]

Is it really as egalitarian as that article says, Blue Swan? My impression from The Killing is that the political class is every bit as mendacious as ours. Can shop workers really live a decent life without the need for 4000% payday loans?

[BlueSwan]

Is it really as egalitarian as that article says, Blue Swan? My impression from The Killing is that the political class is every bit as mendacious as ours. Can shop workers really live a decent life without the need for 4000% payday loans?

Yes. Doesn't really get much more egalitarian than Denmark. At least not when it comes to income equality. From the perspective of most other countries, Denmark is more or less one huge middle class. Few are rich. Few are poor and those who are poor are either not danish citizens or homeless people (who are usually mentally ill or drug addicts).

As for the political class: TV Shows aside there is close to zero corruption in Denmark. The so-called "scandals" we have is stuff that would just get laughed at in virtually every other country. Also, danish politics is consensus driven. They might argue on TV, but get along really well behind the scenes.

All this doesn't mean that everything is dandy in Denmark. We're not particularly easy to get close to. There's lots of institutionalized racism. The weather is terrible. Etc.

[Spittingcat]

Brilliant though The Killing is… IT'S FICTION!

Love how the political leader always gets corrupted at the end.

[redsock]

The wife and I are actually looking into moving to Continental Europe in a few years time and Denmark is at the top of the list. We went to Copenhagen a few years ago and loved it, such a great pace of life and some great opportunities for our daughter.

How old is your daughter?

19 days!

We've been looking into it for a couple of years now and believe it's the kind of place we want to bring up a family.
My wife is a rather high-flying academic and has worked and lived in many places around the world so we're possibly looking at using one of the European Academic exchange programmes to sound out the various countries before we make a firm decision, but Denmark is looking good so far.

[Patrick Bateman]

Yes. Doesn't really get much more egalitarian than Denmark. At least not when it comes to income equality. From the perspective of most other countries, Denmark is more or less one huge middle class. Few are rich. Few are poor and those who are poor are either not danish citizens or homeless people (who are usually mentally ill or drug addicts).

As for the political class: TV Shows aside there is close to zero corruption in Denmark. The so-called "scandals" we have is stuff that would just get laughed at in virtually every other country. Also, danish politics is consensus driven. They might argue on TV, but get along really well behind the scenes.

All this doesn't mean that everything is dandy in Denmark. We're not particularly easy to get close to. There's lots of institutionalized racism. The weather is terrible. Etc.

I just hope for your sake you don't end up with a load of Guardianistas heading over there now that they're enamoured with the country's virtues. They'd soon wreck things.

[daveid]

That wooly jumpered bird tickles my pleasure bone.