Simple Living Works! eNews #33 – Why Are Danes So Happy?

Posted by: Simple Living Works! on: August 23, 2014

• In: Others' resources | Personal | SLW! resource
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Rita and I are proud to be Danish-Americans. Both of us come from Danish stock, so we paid tribute to The Motherland by visiting Copenhagen with daughter Elysha for a week this spring.

[Photo: We three share an ice cream with Ron Rentner, a school mate of mine at Concordia, Oakland, Calif. in the ’60’s. Ron — in the black shirt — serves as pastor of the International Church of Copenhagen.]

The Danes are considered to be the happiest people on Earth. Outwardly they don’t appear especially happy. That’s because their happiness is not a shallow veneer. Their’s is an inner contentedness.

And why? Largely because Denmark is a Socialist Democracy. They have little of the gross economic inequality that America has. They willingly pay high taxes and it really works. Copenhagen is on track to be the first carbon neutral capital by 2020!

Prices seem higher there than in the U.S. They pay a 25% VAT (value added tax) on everything. Ouch! you may think. The VAT is already in the price, not added to it, as our sales tax is. We in the U.S. also pay additional fees that they don’t pay. An obvious example is tipping. Here we pay 15-20% for service. Tipping is not expected in Denmark because SERVERS ARE PAID A LIVING WAGE.

I recommend my interview with John De Graaf, co-author and producer of the Affluenza videos and books. He is co-founder of the Happiness Initiative. Though he focuses on Bhutan, his insights are relevant to Denmark as well. (Read my blog posts on The Geography of Bliss and Global Happiness Initiative.)

Why be concerned about happiness? One big reason would be that we Americans need to redefine happiness, away from consumerism toward contentedness. Why? Human civilization will go through immense trauma (some say extinction) by 2100. Let’s prepare ourselves, our children and grandchildren for the change now. Yes, we can mitigate some of the worst effects through simple, green living but we cannot reverse the inevitable through geo-engineering or magical, wishful thinking. (See my blog post Vision of the Future.)

Recent ADDITION: Stop Complaining about Big Government & Embrace It – Thom Hartmann: The Big Picture, Aug. 20, 2014

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What’s NOW with SLW!

• Father’s Day – 6/15

• Tony and Shane Uncut: Tony Campolo & Shane Claiborne’s complete dialog on simpler living and global justice, in eight parts.

• To LISTEN, click the player at the top or the bottom of the Show Notes, or visit the Episode Index. You can listen to each episode as it is released the 1st and 15th of the month, May-Aug. Or listen to several or all episodes at Preview/Back-up. The detailed Show Notes are similar for each episode, though the topics are different.

• Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure: eNewsletters and Email Lists. Read MORE

• Frances Moore “Frankie” Lappe’ Shares Her Co-Creative Way to Ecological Healing – TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 48.

• Simpler Living Alternative Daily Calendar – June
• Check out a few of these thought-provoking, timely resources that might meet your personal, family or congregational/group needs. They’re all FREE.
  • Treasury of Celebrations*: Create Celebrations That Reflect Your Values and Don’t Cost the Earth Earth – May-Aug.
  • Worship Alternatives: Pentecost/Ordinary Time
  • Spirit of Simplicity: Lent/Easter ART | QUOTES
  • 10 Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Celebrations | SPANISH: 10 puntas
  • Alternatives’ Seasonal/Thematic Index

• Alternatives’ Media Legacy | Some AV stories by others

What’s Coming

• Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure – Blogging |  Podcasting | Internet Radio | Basic Marketing Plan Checklist

What’s Happened

• Easter in Grand Canyon
• A Personal View of the Ascension
• Alternative Pentecost & Ordinary Time

What Others Are Doing

• Simple enough: Spirit wind and fire by Bob Sitze
• Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability – New Course from Northwest Earth Institute
• Interviews, Book Groups, etc. – Spreading the Conversation about The OneEarth Project and the book, Blinded by Progress: Breaking Out of the Illusion That Holds Us, by Lee Van Ham. | TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 42 | Lee’s new Slide Show

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Episode Index: #1-3: Getting Acquainted | #4-5: Beyond a Consumer Lifestyle | #6-11: Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? | #12: Living More with Less UPDATED | #13: Let’s Get Ready for a Simpler Lent & Easter | #14: Simple Living 101 + Social Media BONUS | #15: author Cecile Andrews, Champion of Simplicity Circles and Community Conversation | #16: Rites of Passage, including Wedding Alternatives | #17: Vicki Robin, co-author of the best-seller Your Money or Your Life | #18: Not Ordinary Time: Eco-Justice Ministries | #19: Simply Delicious: Quantity Cooking for Churches / Hunger / Alternative Summer Festivals | #20-27: Tony and Shane Uncut

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Peace, Gerald “Jerry” Iversen, Chief SLW! Activist

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*Treasury of Celebrations: published by Northstone, a division of Wood Lake Publications, BC, Canada, best known for its Seasons of the Spirit curriculum.

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