If someone’s bleeding, first stop the bleeding. If a house is on fire, put out the fire. In this election season, we’re facing a crisis. People are being harmed. The upcoming midterms need to at least stop that harm.
What then? Scot Nakagawa (a writer on Substack) explains that we have two huge tasks to accomplish at this moment — block and build: “Block prevents the worst from happening. Build makes possible the better that comes next.” He continues: “A movement that only blocks can win the immediate fight and lose the long one. A movement that only builds cannot survive the immediate fight long enough to see the long one.”
I recently returned from a week in Denmark. I went there to see if they might have ideas, solutions, ways of thinking that show us what we might try to build here. Denmark is widely admired as a prosperous, well-governed country, regularly topping global rankings for happiness, low corruption, and public trust. Maybe we could learn from them.
In Denmark, the welfare state means something different than here. There, “the welfare state” means the whole system of universal, tax-financed services that every resident uses: healthcare, childcare, education through university, eldercare, pensions, and unemployment support. Benefits are tied to citizenship rather than to poverty or work history, so the middle class is the main user and a main supporter. The term carries a positive meaning across the political spectrum. Parties argue about how to run and fund the system, not whether it should exist.
I talked to an economist, a think tank leader, a professor, and two journalists. I also stayed with hosts who shared their experiences and views of the welfare state. Here are a few of the bigger themes that emerged.
- Trust is the foundation. Danes trust each other, their news media and above all the state. One called trust “the main difference” between Denmark and the US.
- Welfare is a right, not charity. Universal healthcare, free education and elder care are funded by broad taxes on almost everyone.
- History made it possible. Centuries of lost territory, a strong centralized state, few natural resources and a post-war drive to guard democracy produced a small, cohesive nation.
- Lessons for the US. Universal healthcare is seen as the most transferable idea; interviewees also urged the US to stop cutting taxes and fix its deficits.
These Danes say that trust and a broad, stable consensus hold the Danish model together.
I experienced directly a few examples of trust working in Danish society. I went to a museum where I was supposed to get a discount because I’d gone to a related museum. I did not have my ticket from the first museum, but the attendant gave me the discount — “I trust you.” Another — the Copenhagen metro doesn’t have barriers blocking passengers entry until they pay. Instead, people use an app to check in and out every ride. A monitor can ask to see someone’s ticket, but I never saw one. People follow the system. Last one — leaving babies to nap in strollers outside while parents sit inside a café is a normal and common practice in Denmark. Crime rates are low; social trust is high. Most Danes feel the system works. And they agree everyone should do their fair share. It’s a huge economic advantage to have a society where the government and companies don’t have to spend tons of money protecting against cheating.
On my last day in Copenhagen, the New York Times happened to publish a story about the lack of trust in American society. According to the Times, recent polling data in Denmark showed that 78% of Danes trust their fellow citizens. That number in the US was 17%, close to the bottom of world nations.
I don’t have easy solutions for how to increase levels of trust in American society. It doesn’t help to have a president and political leaders who lie and create their own facts. It also doesn’t help to have so many people here struggling to live decent lives. I think trust is built by people and their leaders living up to their responsibilities, and by the government actually working for the people, fixing problems and investing in our lives. I think that’s what we should set out to build. Maybe Denmark has some lessons for us.
First we have to block! Vote, vote, vote.
Peter is a Greenfield resident, retired educator, and engaged citizen. Contact him at pagarbus@gmail.com.