You may recall that Vincent came back from Denmark saying he wished he could have stayed and hoping to go back there next summer if not forever. We’ll see how long this lasts. But I came across two relevant pieces of information. Findings from the World Values Survey came out last week and showed the Danish are the happiest people in the world (even with the cold and seasonal affective disorder in the winter - when Vincent wasn't there) (folks in Zimbabwe were least happy - we were 16th). Perhaps this general happiness infected Vincent while he was there.
Stephanie and I know from talking with our exchange students and from reading the book about Denmark (and from my familiarity with findings about European welfare states – as well as our experiences in Scandinavian American heavy Minnesota) that Denmark is a high taxes country with a substantial welfare state – and that an underpinning of this is ethnic/cultural homogeneity. It’s hard to maintain a big welfare state in countries like the United States with both substantial immigration and ethnic/cultural diversity (which are related). That’s both because it’s politically difficult to maintain support for a welfare state when some people fear that benefits will be going disproportionately to ‘those people” (whatever subordinate group) and it’s economically difficult to sustain a welfare state without immigration restrictions – it can be too attractive for potential migrants.
I’d read that immigrating to Canada is dependent on what high-brow schooling and professional skills you can bring in – as well as language skills – for example, speaking French in Quebec. My manager had looked into immigrating to Canada after President Bush won re-election, and my brother-in-law had looked into immigrating to Quebec. Stephanie and I suspected that it would not be as easy to move to Denmark as Vincent might think. Sure enough, they have de facto racial grading (that might still not help Anglo Vincent) because they have preferences for people from other “Nordic” (Scandinavian) countries and from the European Community. It helps if you already have a job offer from a Danish company and also if you have a college education (which Vincent doesn’t have yet and which he might jeopardize by spending any more money going over there), but mainly you need skills from a list of targeted skills (mainly professional – but a few odd ones like restaurant work). Maybe Vincent could be a dishwasher in Denmark.
After ruling Denmark for decades, the Social Democrats recently lost an election, and a center-right coalition now runs the country. This coalition includes the Danish People’s Party – partly a reaction against the burgeoning immigrant (including African and Muslim) population. A Turkish friend of mine actually went to graduate school in neighboring Norway, but maybe she would not be so welcome there now. Anyway, part of this anti-immigrant feeling is, I suspect, making it even more difficult for even Americans – including 18-year-olds with no college education – to move there. We’ll see.
Stephanie and I know from talking with our exchange students and from reading the book about Denmark (and from my familiarity with findings about European welfare states – as well as our experiences in Scandinavian American heavy Minnesota) that Denmark is a high taxes country with a substantial welfare state – and that an underpinning of this is ethnic/cultural homogeneity. It’s hard to maintain a big welfare state in countries like the United States with both substantial immigration and ethnic/cultural diversity (which are related). That’s both because it’s politically difficult to maintain support for a welfare state when some people fear that benefits will be going disproportionately to ‘those people” (whatever subordinate group) and it’s economically difficult to sustain a welfare state without immigration restrictions – it can be too attractive for potential migrants.
I’d read that immigrating to Canada is dependent on what high-brow schooling and professional skills you can bring in – as well as language skills – for example, speaking French in Quebec. My manager had looked into immigrating to Canada after President Bush won re-election, and my brother-in-law had looked into immigrating to Quebec. Stephanie and I suspected that it would not be as easy to move to Denmark as Vincent might think. Sure enough, they have de facto racial grading (that might still not help Anglo Vincent) because they have preferences for people from other “Nordic” (Scandinavian) countries and from the European Community. It helps if you already have a job offer from a Danish company and also if you have a college education (which Vincent doesn’t have yet and which he might jeopardize by spending any more money going over there), but mainly you need skills from a list of targeted skills (mainly professional – but a few odd ones like restaurant work). Maybe Vincent could be a dishwasher in Denmark.
After ruling Denmark for decades, the Social Democrats recently lost an election, and a center-right coalition now runs the country. This coalition includes the Danish People’s Party – partly a reaction against the burgeoning immigrant (including African and Muslim) population. A Turkish friend of mine actually went to graduate school in neighboring Norway, but maybe she would not be so welcome there now. Anyway, part of this anti-immigrant feeling is, I suspect, making it even more difficult for even Americans – including 18-year-olds with no college education – to move there. We’ll see.
(Pictured below the Danish flag and map of Denmark are Prince Frederick, Princess Mary, and little Christian, of Denmark's popular royal family.)
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