"You're Just a Danish Socialist!" I AM? What the Heck Does That MEAN?

One of the interesting things about having a "public" business — in our case, we had a small gallery and gift store — in a place that gets a lot of visitors is that you get to talking to all sorts of people with all sorts of beliefs... political, financial, religious, philosophical and whatever else you might conjure up.

I'm typically cool with listening to all sorts of different viewpoints, provided they are shared in the interest of learning and understanding, rather than as some from of proselytizing or trying to impose a belief system on someone.

And then there are the "armchair experts" who think they know everything there is to know... but the have no actual "field experience.

You're Just a SOCIALIST!

Being Danish by birth and having lived in northern Europe till my 20s — and still having lots of relatives back in Denmark — I often hear some very interesting things when people discover where I am from.

One of the more common ones... typically offered up by those of more "conservative" (or "Libertarian") persuasions is that I must be — by definition — a "Socialist" or even a "Communist" because I am Danish and happen to believe The Nordic Model of societal structure actually has a lot to offer.

And it definitely has its share of flaws, as well.

But I digress.

People ask me — outright — questions like "Why is Denmark so socialist?" and I just want to shake my head and ask the person back "Do you even KNOW what that word MEANS?" and "why do you look at it like it's a virulent disease?"

Reminds me of an incident shortly after I arrived in the US for college, and someone replied to a statement I made with "Well, that's a COMMUNIST thing to say!"

All I could think — in that moment — was "That was an IGNORANT thing to say!"

Yeah, but What Is a Socialist?

Semantics offer an interesting area of human communication.

After 35 years of living in the US, there seems to be some definition of "Socialism" here that I don't understand. And believe me, I have sincerely tried to!

One theory I have is that "if a place has higher taxes than the US, it is socialist!" That seems to cover a lot of people's issues.

Another idea is that "if a place has more public services and focuses more on the common good than the US, it is socialist!"

Some seem to lean more towards "if a place has a bigger government than the US, it is socialist!"

A few — a little more "on the fringe" — seem to think that "if a place has more firearms control than the US, it is socialist!"

All in all, though, nobody seems quite able to home in on what they mean other than a generalized "I think this represents something I don't like and makes me slightly afraid and I don't understand... so therefore it is Socialist and EVIL!"

Often the phrase "my RIGHTS!" is strongly peppered into the conversation.

The whole thing is rather baffling to me as I have often felt far more "constricted" in the US during the 30+ years I have lived here than I ever did in Denmark.

Of course, the elephant in the room is that Denmark isn't actually socialist, at all! It's a Social Democracy," and actually very pro-business and free market.

Of course, many of these biases came to life during the years I lived in Texas... and I did a lot of explaining!

All I know is that I came from a nice place and we were free to do pretty much what we wanted.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great remainder of your weekend!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2024-03-24 02:36 PDT
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