The Happiest People on Earth?

The Happiest People on Earth?

Scandinavians are often said to be some of the world’s happiest people because of their socialism. But culture, not government, is the strength of Scandinavian society. ...
John Larabell

According to the World Happiness Report published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Danes are the happiest people in the world. Norwegians are the fourth happiest (out of 157 countries), and Swedes are the 10th happiest. Americans, by the way, come in at 13th happiest. So what’s their secret? According to many liberal progressives, it’s their Big Government social-welfare states providing for the well-being of the populace that ensures such domestic bliss.

Here’s an alternate explanation: It’s culture, not Big Government, that is the core of Scandinavian society, and that makes its welfare state work to the degree that it does. So let’s take a look at some of the unique highlights of Scandinavian culture that set this region apart from other countries.

Janteloven, or the Law of Jante, is a term used to describe a powerful emphasis in Scandinavian culture on social conformity, on not trying to stand out and succeed, on not thinking you are anything special. The term comes from a novel entitled A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks, written by Dano-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose and published in 1933. In the book, Sandemose (born Aksel Nielsen) writes about a fictional Danish town called Jante in a thinly veiled parody of his rural Danish hometown of Nykøbing Mors. In Jante, the residents, through strong social pressure and passive-aggressive behavior, enforced an unwritten code of conduct upon each other called the Law of Jante, which consisted of 10 rules:

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