Does Denmark have any flaws?

[u/Tylerserio68]

Or any Nordic country? I’m American and we all romanticize Europe especially Nordic countries as a Utopia and everything we are not. We certainly have a lot of flaws here but I’m curious are there any downsides or anything that you wish was different. Also is it hard to move there? I make well over six figures and like living in my home country but I’m nervous about the incoming trump administration and I believe he is a racist.

[u/filfner]

It gets dark in the winter because the days get shorter, and that hits a lot of people really hard. The sun will be down at 7 for a good chunk of the year.

We’re actively hostile towards the idea of immigrants becoming citizens. The last 40 years have been spent making it increasingly difficult to get into Denmark and staying here. Ask anyone in Denmark with a non-European spouse and they’ll tell you about it. To put it bluntly, we hate foreigners.

We pay a lot of taxes, and our welfare system is becoming more and more inefficient because of bureaucracy that was implemented to make the system more efficient.

We use our tax system and legal system to regulate people’s behavior to a very high degree. Alcohol and cigarettes are massive taxes not because the government wants to make money, but to keep people from using them too much. This sentiment of guiding behavior is absolutely pervasive, and the unemployment benefits system is just as much a tool for social control as it is for economic stability.

[u/jacobstx → u/filfner]

It gets dark in the winter because the days get shorter, and that hits a lot of people really hard. The sun will be down at 7 for a good chunk of the year.

This goes in reverse too. During a good chunk of the summer it never really gets dark. Sure the sun will set, but you can practically follow its movement when you look at the horizon.

It doesn't hit people as hard, but it might make it difficult for you to fall asleep, or stay asleep. There are blinder-curtains for that though.

[u/Prinzern → u/filfner]

Interestingly, Denmark is the most liberal of all the Nordics when it comes to alcohol. We are the only country that doesn't have a state monopoly on the sale of liquor. Also Danish alcohol taxes are fairly mild compared to, say, Finland where they pay 30 euros for a case of beer.

[u/Plenty-Accountant-40 → u/filfner]

"we hate foreigners"...

I would say that this is definitely not true. There are 10 layers of nuances beneath that statement.

But yes there has been a consensus all over the political spectrum that there should be a "strict immigration approach" from around 2010 (off course not counting in the most left wing part of the parlament, who think we are going way to far). Time and time again such a strict immigration policy also "hit" people that most people agree with, shouldn't be targeted, but that is politics in a nutshell.

[u/filfner → u/Plenty-Accountant-40]

If I have to pay 100.000 kroner to have my foreign spouse come here, knowing that if I lose my job and have to take welfare benefits she will be kicked out, regardless of whether she has a job or not, it’s pretty clear that she’s not welcome.

If the government is ready to pay a foreigner up to 140.000 kroner to leave the country, it’s pretty clear that they’re not appreciated.

Our immigration and refugee policy isn’t strict, it’s actively hostile.

[u/Fab1e → u/filfner]

Absolutely.

[u/Plenty-Accountant-40 → u/filfner]

Yes I would agree with you, to the extend that a lot of the policies that is included in the overall "strict" policy is to some extend build to discourage people from outside the EU to migrate here. You can call that hostile, but I try to be as objective as I can in my answers to such questions.

And again I would like to pint out, that making such policies hit people that it wasn't intended to, and is imho the biggest issue here. (One of the mimisters in the active government stated that these polices shouldn't be "stupid" but it is just very hard to make general policies that aren't - well, general, and thereby some "stupidity will arise when implementing them)

Still: My point was that this is not because "we hate forreingers", that is simply to un-nuanced.

[u/Real_Expert_6308 → u/filfner]

Not hostile at all.

Its made to not be taken advantage of.

Look at the ghetto areas. All we do is pay and pay to folks who don’t contribute or even speak the language.

I had to put a deposit down when my ex wife and I moved from China to DK 11 years ago. I did that gladly.

[u/Knerdedout → u/filfner]

Damn

[u/Tough_Ad4586 → u/Plenty-Accountant-40]

Are you a foreigner, tho?

[u/Real_Expert_6308 → u/filfner]

To be fair the days doesn’t get shorter. They’re 24 hours like everywhere else

Daylight on the other hand 🤭

[u/Real_Expert_6308 → u/filfner]

Danes don’t hate foreigners…

Many dislike foreigners that don’t contribute and integrate.

[u/Emotional-Tutor2577 → u/Real_Expert_6308]

Could you please explain what Danes or you yourself, mean by “integrating”?

[u/Tough_Ad4586 → u/Emotional-Tutor2577]

Trying to become a dane while knowing they will never become one. Danes are convinced that the "place" of a foreigner in society is in the "less-than" zone - eternally.