The Correct Way to Cut an Avocado and What To Believe About Perfect Scandinavia

These days the internet tells you so many things – how many calories you should be eating in a day, how to do make up properly, how to cut an avocado correctly etc. There are no limits. If you ask mr. Google a question you can be sure to find the exact answer you want – not necessarily the correct answer but the answer you want to hear. We seek confirmation; Yes, I eat too many calories a day. Yes, I do my eyeshadow the wrong way. No, I have never been cutting my avocados correctly. We tend to seek the negative answers – I am not doing anything the right way. I am not sufficient. I am not perfect. However, if the answer you got was that you need to be eating 800 calories a day, that you need to use this specific and very expensive eyeshadow brush and that you have to cut your avocado into cubes in order to do it correctly you are sure to feel insufficient. We need to be more critical about what we read on the internet! Just eating 800 calories a day will ensure a rapid weight loss with severe health implications as a consequence hereof.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Ello, LinkedIn or whatever social media you log onto will bombard you with these pictures filled with facts about everything from how to cook to this is how they do things in Scandinavia. Many of which will make you want to do what they say so you can lead the perfect life.

From a Dane's perspective Scandinavia is getting a lot of attention these days because of the welfare states and the hight rankings in the happiness indexes. But most of the things you read on Facebook are only true to some extent – thus we need to be more critical. Yes, from an American's perspective it must sound like a dream to have free education all the way through university, receive approximately 900 USD from the state while you are studying and work at McDonald's and get a salary of 22 USD/ hour.

One of the most regularly shared info pictures about Denmark is this:

But as previously mentioned, we should not blindly believe everything we read. While this picture may be giving you some true facts the reality is much more complicated – so should we not make a reality check? Let's find out how true the most popular facts about the Danish welfare system are:

Fact 1: $20 minimum wage

It might shock some people but in Denmark there is no legal minimum wage. Therefore this fact is not entirely true but it is true to some extent. One would think that having no legal minimum wage would mean very low wages comparable to those of Asia however the average minimum wage is still 110 DKK or approximately 20 USD/hour for people aged 18 or more. To put this into perspective the minimum wage in the USA is 7.25 USD/hour. So how on earth is this possible you might ask?

The thing is that in Denmark the minimum wages are set by trade union agreements which are renegotiated every two to three years. These agreements cover about 80 - 90% of the Danish workers.

Furthermore, the purchasing power parity (PPP) is also worth bearing in mind. If Danes were to buy the same goods and services that in the USA would cost 100 USD the danes would have to pay 128 USD. In other words: Goods and services are more expensive in Denmark than in the US and thus the wages need to be higher in order to maintain the same consumption.

In short: Partially true. Denmark has no legal minimum wage. The minimum wages are negotiated by the trade unions and are on average 20 USD/hour but we need to bear the PPP in mind.

Fact 2: 33-hour work week

The truth is that on average Danish workers work 33 hours per week. The typical hours of work a week is determined by trade union agreements – it is 37 hours a week. Some people work more, some only have part time jobs, some have sideline jobs thus the average work week is 33 hours long.

In short: Not true. The work week is 37 hours for fulltime employed workers while on average the Danish workers work 33 hours a week.

Fact 3: Free university

This one is more true than number one and two. Yes, it is free to attend university in Denmark. Education all the way through university is paid for through taxes. Bearing in mind that to top marginal tax rate is 55.8 according to OECD statistics one could say that university is in fact not free since it is paid for through the high taxes.

Danes no not pay tuition fees directly to the university and they still have to pay for books, photo copies etc.

In short: Yes, university is free in the sense that tuition fee is not paid directly to the university but through taxes.

Fact 4: Danish students get paid to study

No – Danish students do not get paid to study. They receive money because they study. It is called The state's study grant and is approximately 5900 DKK/month for students not living with their parents. This is an attempt to make social mobility higher so students do not have to quit their studies because their parents cannot support them financially – every student can thus focus on their studies rather than on having a fulltime job while studying – otherwise students with rich parents would most likely get a higher education and more qualifications than student with less wealthy parents simply because their focus had to be on work rather than studies. This is a priority made by the society to prevent distortion giving everyone the same opportunities no matter their financial background.

In short: No, danish student receive money because they study.

Fact 5: Free childcare

No. No. No. Childcare is not free. However, the state gives subsidies to parents whose income is lower than a certain level. Kindergarten in Copenhagen costs 2,551 DKK/month with lunch (1,921 without lunch) and if you have an income lower than 516,800/year you can apply for subsidies.

In short: No, though subsidies are given

Fact 6: Free healthcare

Yes, but again (like number three) this is paid for through the high taxes. This is again in order to have greater equality. This is because they think that your financial background should not limit your abilities to get medical treatments. Another perspective is that usually low-income families need more medical attention than high-income families. Free healthcare ensures equal access to medical treatments – no one has to prioritise between getting food on the table or get medical attention.

In short: Yes, but it is the same story as number 3; It is paid for through the high taxes.

We have now gotten a more in-depth perspective on these facts – we have been critical. Whether you agree with the system or not is another discussion. This is how Denmark has chosen to organise their society. It is doubtful that this system could be directly transferred and implemented in the US considering the American cultural background – we should bear that in mind. There is no such thing as a free lunch and the benefits from the Danish welfare system are not free; recall the marginal tax rate of 55.8 %. One system is not necessarily better than the other but it might fit better with a certain political ideology. However, the Danish system does make its population more egalitarian which many economists argue have some benefits – both social and economic (which is a whole other debate we will have at a later point in time).

As we saw here everything was not correct – most facts were only partially correct and making decisions based on a half truths is probably not the best idea. What we can learn from this is, that we should not just believe everything we hear, read or see. We should always be asking questions no matter how credible the sender is. Your boss is not always right neither is the professor nor the politician.

Mr. Google is great. Facebook is amazing. Instagram is wonderful. They have one thing in common: Not everything is true and if we make decisions and conclusions based on lies and half truths we might end up believing we are insufficient or at the best that there is but one correct way to cut an avocado.

#Blog #Equality #EconomicInequality #Scandinavia #Denmark #MinimumWages #Welfaremodel #Welfarestate #Criticalthinking