Learning about the Danish lifestyle was a very interesting topic. When learning about other peoples way of life, it is always something that I look forward to in order to gain knowledge on something that I believe can be valuable when going out into the world. When interviewing the Danish students they seemed surprisingly similar to many students in SOF. They talked about how they get drunk, use illegal drugs, and overall do things that they know isn’t something that can benefit them. After interviewing the students, many people were saying that they were rude because in the middle of a conversation they would stop speaking English and begin to talk in their language. At first I believed that this seemed a little rude, but when thinking about it...we didn’t speak in their language at all so who are we to judge them on wanting to speak in their own language after having conversations with us in our language? This experienced helped to gain insight on another lifestyle and learn that many other lifestyles are similar to the way many Americans live.
When comparing the United States systems to the systems used in Denmark it showed a lot of differences in the way things by the government are done. Many people aren’t aware of the all the different systems the united states has that can benefit them in a time of need, therefore if they don’t know about the help they can get...than it means they stay in the bad predicament that they are in. During class we did a experiment by calling 311(created by mayor Bloomberg to help people learn more/get government assistance) and pretending to be a male who lost his job, had a child and needed help fast. They woman speaking on the line seemed very helpful by giving him telephone numbers to day care centers where his child can go for free, numbers in which he can call to ask about affordable housing and place where he can receive free food. Although these things are helpful, the woman asked for telephone numbers and email addresses in order for him to take advantage of these opportunities...but if he is homeless with no money how would they money to maintain a have a cell phone or email address?? This serves as something that keeps them in the bad situation because its impossible for them to better themselves if they don’t have the resources. Another possible reason for this is that many people feel ashamed when they have no money, being that money is said to equal power in the united states...it shames people when it is known that they aren’t financially stable. No one wants to be a charity case for another individual...most would rather struggle than to ask for help. This connects to Denmark because it doesn’t matter how much money you make when working, the government gives you money anyway and the citizens of Denmark aren’t ashamed to get help from the gov’t. The way of life in Denmark is one that stands out. They have free education after high school and they even get paid to attend college. In America we have to pay for college if no scholarship is given. There is free child care services in Denmark no matter if you make over a certain amount money, the government pays for health care to a certain extent, and if you are unemployed you are found a job as fast as possible. Denmark’s way of running things seems to be one of the best systems that I have heard of. Maybe the united states should take note on how Denmark is run and alter some of the things that its government does. The system that Denmark uses is called a social democracy, which means that if something is needed to live a decent life than it is publicly guaranteed. Social democracy is something that isn’t followed in the united states, instead we follow something called mixed economy. This is when things are privately and/or publicly owned. Publicly or private owned things can be education, health care, prisons, and bank ownership. Things in a social democracy can be libraries, parks, health care..and mixed economy examples can be stores such as the Gap, abercrombie n fitch and record labels. The mixed economy system allows Americans to have private owned things while still having access to publicly owned things. In america there are three taxes...social security (7.65%) which goes to old people and is something that we will receive once we get older, income tax depends on the amount of money a person makes, and sales tax (8.25%) which is what we pay when purchasing something. Money from these taxes help put money towards public services to benefit those in need. There are also different types of taxes called flat tax- everyone pays the same amount but only people with the same amount of income, regressive tax- where the poor people pay a higher tax, and progressive tax which means rich people would be paying a higher tax amount. Although there are systems in America that help people, it just seems as if the Denmark system is better in order to have equality and a lower number of people struggling in the world.
