|
BotanyChild
Cuban Frogs Gang



Registered: 12/14/19
Posts: 292
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
|
Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. 1
#26385480 - 12/16/19 04:47 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
I honestly hope to go one day. The below quotes are good standing points. Really this place is a real modern day Utopia.
Quote:
Denmark earns more of its income from taxing its population than any other developed country, new figures have revealed.
Why Danes Happily Pay High Rates of Taxes?
Quote:
People in the European country see taxes as an investment in their quality of life.
Quote:
Denmark has one of the highest tax rates in the world, which is often mentioned as one of the biggest objections against the Danish welfare model. The average annual income in Denmark is about 39,000 euros (nearly $43,000) and as such, the average Dane pays a total amount of 45 percent in income taxes. Danish income taxes are based on a progressive tax system, so if you make more than 61,500 euros (about $67,000) per year, an additional tax rate of 7 percent is added over this threshold.
Nevertheless, a Gallup survey from 2014 showed that almost nine out of 10 Danish people happily pay their taxes to some or a high degree.
Investing in quality of life
The reason behind the high level of support for the welfare state in Denmark is the awareness of the fact that the welfare model turns our collective wealth into well-being. We are not paying taxes. We are investing in our society. We are purchasing quality of life.
The key to understanding the high levels of happiness in Denmark is the welfare model's ability to reduce risks, uncertainties and anxieties among its citizens and prevent extreme unhappiness.
The Danish welfare model provides opportunities for its citizens to pursue their happiness from advanced starting positions disregarding economic, social, gendered or cultural backgrounds. Let me give you some examples.
Education is free and even at university level, there is no tuition fee. Meanwhile, every Danish student receives around $900 per month from the state. This means I won't have to worry about how to finance my kid's education. It will be their talents and dreams that shape the path of their careers, not the size of my wallet.
Quote:
The Danish laws for parental leave are among the most generous in the world with a total of 52 weeks, out of which the parents can receive up to 32 weeks of monetary support from the state. Furthermore, most employees have five weeks of vacation allowing families and friend to spend quality time with each other.
There is free quality health care for everyone and the welfare model works as a risk-reducing mechanism. Danes simply have less to worry about in daily life than most other people and that forms a sound basis for high levels of happiness.
Quote:
The Danish flexicurity model
The Danish labor market is based on flexibility for employers, security for workers and an active labor market policy. These three elements in combination constitute the golden triangle of flexicurity, working out to the mutual benefit of all the parties involved. The golden triangle suits the needs of employers, workers and the unemployed, by allowing companies to adapt to changes and stay in business, and by providing a safety net for workers and the unemployed. Employers can easily make changes in staff, and the unemployed can look for new jobs without the same level of financial anxiety.
Also, an active labor market policy is meant to keep both the employed and unemployed active and skilled. For workers, there are many opportunities for the ongoing development of useful skills and continued education. For the unemployed, the active labor market policy provides services assisting with the job search, keeping those out of the workforce actively engaged in applying for a new job.
Quote:
The golden triangle of flexicurity
According to several scholars, the welfare model's ability to alleviate risks and insecurities in people's lives is one of the keys to understanding why Denmark does well in the happiness surveys. This is mainly because Denmark does well in terms of preventing extreme unhappiness. In a research paper from 2010 it was shown that the poorest Danes generally are quite happier than the poorest Americans – since the poorest people in Denmark enjoy a wide range of public social benefits that the poorest Americans do not – while the difference between the wealthiest people in each country is very little. That is also why Denmark is one of the countries where people feel most resilient to changes and least anxious in their daily lives.
Thus, Denmark is very equal in terms of happiness. As Richard A. Easterlin, Professor of Economics at the University of Southern California, explains, "There is greater equality in happiness in Denmark and Scandinavia. Mainly because the poorest groups are doing better than in other countries."
Quote:
Happiness – a new measure of progress
Happiness is becoming a core concern for the people who pass the laws shaping the circumstances of our lives.
In recent years, happiness, well-being and quality of life have made a powerful imprint on policy-making. The United Nations passed a resolution inviting countries to start measuring the happiness of their populations. Similarly, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development now includes life satisfaction as a parameter for the development of the member countries, and OECD Secretary General Ángel Gurría declares that "Improving the quality of our lives should be the ultimate target of public policies."
These ambitions reflect the growing awareness among people, politicians and scientists that economic progress is no longer a satisfactory indicator for the progress of a society.
Despite economic growth, I see massive economic anxiety. I see countries such as the United States and South Korea having achieved tremendous growth in the past decades, but failing to convert wealth into well-being for the people.
Denmark is by no means a perfect utopia, and the country faces challenges and issues like any other country. But I do believe Denmark can be a source of inspiration in how countries can increase quality of life.
|
qman
Stranger

Registered: 12/06/06
Posts: 34,927
Last seen: 1 day, 12 hours
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: BotanyChild]
#26385512 - 12/16/19 05:06 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Do you really think this blueprint would work throughout the world? It works for Denmark for a variety of different reasons, but that doesn't apply to most other nations around the world.
|
BotanyChild
Cuban Frogs Gang



Registered: 12/14/19
Posts: 292
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: qman]
#26385604 - 12/16/19 05:58 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Quote:
qman said: Do you really think this blueprint would work throughout the world? It works for Denmark for a variety of different reasons, but that doesn't apply to most other nations around the world.
I can only hope or move there myself. Just something I have been thinking about for some time now after I had a conversation with an actual citizen of Denmark on another online forum where the topic was taxes. Very random indeed but it opened my mind to other existences on Earth. I have been in Florida for 29 years to date, so I pretty much only know about where I live and have grown tired of this culture. I just don't want to be a Floridian and become old looking at the floor drunk off my ass thinking about the past and so on. Very depressing if you get my drift. Even my neighbors mess with my gardening, the one thing I love about living in Florida.
Btw, my Denmark internet friend and I had a short but very sincere conversation. Overall it gave me my reasoning behind my posting here
|
JohnRainy
Stranger

Registered: 07/09/19
Posts: 1,244
Last seen: 3 years, 11 months
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: qman]
#26385859 - 12/16/19 07:39 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Quote:
qman said: Do you really think this blueprint would work throughout the world? It works for Denmark for a variety of different reasons, but that doesn't apply to most other nations around the world.
I don't see why it wouldn't work. What's the difference between the needs of people in one country vs another?
Culturally, sure huge differences in religions and a number of other things like that, but everyone wants a decent paying job if they decide to work, everyone wants to be able to afford go to the hospital if they need to, everyone wants to be able to go to post secondary debt free if they decide to pursue a higher education.
Everyone would like to receive a pension when they are old, everyone would like to get some welfare cheques when they are down and out, etc.
|
Antigov



Registered: 03/17/19
Posts: 792
Loc: Deep within the BibleBelt
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: JohnRainy] 1
#26385876 - 12/16/19 07:54 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Taxation = theft
--------------------
|
Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,499
Loc: Uncanny Valley
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Antigov] 2
#26385899 - 12/16/19 08:04 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
That's ridiculous. Taxation isn't theft.
-------------------- Censoring opposing views since 2014. Ask an Attorney Fuck the Amish
|
qman
Stranger

Registered: 12/06/06
Posts: 34,927
Last seen: 1 day, 12 hours
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: JohnRainy]
#26385909 - 12/16/19 08:07 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Quote:
JohnRainy said:
Quote:
qman said: Do you really think this blueprint would work throughout the world? It works for Denmark for a variety of different reasons, but that doesn't apply to most other nations around the world.
I don't see why it wouldn't work. What's the difference between the needs of people in one country vs another?
Culturally, sure huge differences in religions and a number of other things like that, but everyone wants a decent paying job if they decide to work, everyone wants to be able to afford go to the hospital if they need to, everyone wants to be able to go to post secondary debt free if they decide to pursue a higher education.
Everyone would like to receive a pension when they are old, everyone would like to get some welfare cheques when they are down and out, etc.
Yes, human needs are very similar, but resources vary from nation to nation. We can go around the world and see the massive discrepancies in standards of living, natural resources, economic and military strength. All of those factors play important roles in the form of government that works best for each population group.
|
BotanyChild
Cuban Frogs Gang



Registered: 12/14/19
Posts: 292
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: qman]
#26385959 - 12/16/19 08:25 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Thanks guys for your input, as I see it, we can run a society like a RTS video game if not better because it's real and the Earth has unlimited resources as long as the Sun stays alive, btw, I will ask since I understand the mind state here, do you guys think the sun has a conscience?
Edited by BotanyChild (12/16/19 08:26 PM)
|
Antigov



Registered: 03/17/19
Posts: 792
Loc: Deep within the BibleBelt
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Enlil]
#26385963 - 12/16/19 08:26 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Enlil said: That's ridiculous. Taxation isn't theft.
Taking money from me and my family and redistribute to others is theft. And when you don’t pay they send a man with a gun after you.
--------------------
|
Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,499
Loc: Uncanny Valley
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Antigov] 1
#26385966 - 12/16/19 08:28 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
You can legally avoid taxes.
You using government services without paying taxes is theft.
-------------------- Censoring opposing views since 2014. Ask an Attorney Fuck the Amish
|
BotanyChild
Cuban Frogs Gang



Registered: 12/14/19
Posts: 292
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Enlil]
#26385969 - 12/16/19 08:30 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Yes, we only feel stolen from because it does not go to help us.
|
Antigov



Registered: 03/17/19
Posts: 792
Loc: Deep within the BibleBelt
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Enlil]
#26385988 - 12/16/19 08:40 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
There are, I’m not trying to be argumentative but I had to pay federal last year and probably this year too. 1%ers don’t pay any. Buffet brags his secretary pays more taxes then he does. There is something wrong with that.
|
Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,499
Loc: Uncanny Valley
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Antigov]
#26386000 - 12/16/19 08:44 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
No he doesn't brag, and the secretary pays a higher percentage... not a higher amount.
-------------------- Censoring opposing views since 2014. Ask an Attorney Fuck the Amish
|
JohnRainy
Stranger

Registered: 07/09/19
Posts: 1,244
Last seen: 3 years, 11 months
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Antigov]
#26386048 - 12/16/19 09:12 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Where do think talk of that sort will get you? What do you think your country would look like now if not for taxation and public spending? I'd like to see you 'taxation is theft' people get your wish sometime, as long as it's not in my country.
Im sure you use things that have been paid for publicly, as do we all. Thieves don't cut you in.
If it wasn't for taxes, you might have a hard time calling on the police and courts when someone really robs you.
|
Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,499
Loc: Uncanny Valley
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: JohnRainy]
#26386052 - 12/16/19 09:15 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
The internet wouldn't exist without taxes.
-------------------- Censoring opposing views since 2014. Ask an Attorney Fuck the Amish
|
Oldnameforgotten
Traveler

Registered: 10/19/19
Posts: 956
Loc: Pilbara Australia
Last seen: 2 years, 10 days
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Enlil] 1
#26386259 - 12/17/19 12:58 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
The argument: "That couldnt exist in a country with a lot of people." is the argument always used against adding anything new.
You can ALWAYS use it. Pick any program we have today in america. Remove it. Now if someone suggests adding it... you can respond "We couldnt possibly afford it! Theres TOO many people!" And you could be just as self-righteous and feel just as economically responsible as you do now when suggesting things like healthcare couldnt be added.
It not being affordable is simply nonsense.
Healthcare is the most obvious next step in human rights that has ever existed. There are too many people in america who have a pain somewhere.... or a lump somewhere... that are ignoring it because they need to put food on the table. Too many broken legs put in homemade splints. Too many simple cuts turned into infections. Too many people in poverty due to medical bills that could have succeeded if they didnt have an illness they didnt earn.
And it is inevitable to be a human right. You can fight it all you want. But history will prove you to be wrong and a fool. You will never take free healthcare away once it becomes law. People will laugh at you. The obviousness of it becomes apparent to all once it becomes law.
|
Loaded Shaman
Psychophysiologist



Registered: 03/02/15
Posts: 8,006
Loc: Now O'Clock
Last seen: 28 days, 6 hours
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Oldnameforgotten]
#26386324 - 12/17/19 01:51 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Anything requiring someone else's labor isn't a human right, though.
Positive rights contradict the very notion of rights.
The so-called "right to health care" infringes on negative rights by imposing forceful obligations on taxpayers and health care providers.
I know people are at the "Well who fucking cares people are dying" stage, but that doesn't negate this principle.
We all want healthcare bullshit fixed but "it's a right" isn't how it works, no matter the amount of emotional resistance to this fact; it is what it is (and is no less a cluster fuck for it).
--------------------
  "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance." — Confucius
|
Oldnameforgotten
Traveler

Registered: 10/19/19
Posts: 956
Loc: Pilbara Australia
Last seen: 2 years, 10 days
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Loaded Shaman] 3
#26386340 - 12/17/19 02:12 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Loaded Shaman said: Anything requiring someone else's labor isn't a human right, though.
Positive rights contradict the very notion of rights.
The so-called "right to health care" infringes on negative rights by imposing forceful obligations on taxpayers and health care providers.
I know people are at the "Well who fucking cares people are dying" stage, but that doesn't negate this principle.
We all want healthcare bullshit fixed but "it's a right" isn't how it works, no matter the amount of emotional resistance to this fact; it is what it is (and is no less a cluster fuck for it).
All of government is based off someone else's labor. That is such a silly argument. Libertarians have an illogical argument to the core.
Police = A right Regulations = A right Firefighters = A right Public roads = A right Healthcare = A right
|
JohnRainy
Stranger

Registered: 07/09/19
Posts: 1,244
Last seen: 3 years, 11 months
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Oldnameforgotten] 2
#26386354 - 12/17/19 02:32 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
A Libertarian society would be free for the oligarchs who would run it.
It's a harebrained bunch of disempowering nonsense designed to eliminate public expression through a democratic government. That's why it was cooked up. The only institution that is capable of forcing the corporations and the system to behave in a manor agreeable to the public is a democratic government. That's why you are supposed to hate government.
Its sad some people actually buy into it. I can understand though, they push this shit.
|
Loaded Shaman
Psychophysiologist



Registered: 03/02/15
Posts: 8,006
Loc: Now O'Clock
Last seen: 28 days, 6 hours
|
Re: Denmark is a role model for the world to follow. [Re: Oldnameforgotten]
#26386375 - 12/17/19 02:56 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Oldnameforgotten said:
Quote:
Loaded Shaman said: Anything requiring someone else's labor isn't a human right, though.
Positive rights contradict the very notion of rights.
The so-called "right to health care" infringes on negative rights by imposing forceful obligations on taxpayers and health care providers.
I know people are at the "Well who fucking cares people are dying" stage, but that doesn't negate this principle.
We all want healthcare bullshit fixed but "it's a right" isn't how it works, no matter the amount of emotional resistance to this fact; it is what it is (and is no less a cluster fuck for it).
All of government is based off someone else's labor. That is such a silly argument. Libertarians have an illogical argument to the core.
Police = A right Regulations = A right Firefighters = A right Public roads = A right Healthcare = A right
Never said I was a libertarian. Nor did I argue government isn't based off of other people's labor. I can agree to those things and still assert an objective definition for what rights are. It can have the definition AND still be morally fucked up. I'm not arguing morality here.
Once again, everything you just listed there isn't a right, for the reasons I mentioned above.
Say what you will, your post here doesn't preclude nor negate my original claims.
--------------------
  "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance." — Confucius
|
|