"It requires personal energy, commitment and desire for self-management in the community to become Svanholmer. Both people with work "out of town" and people who want to work at home on the estate can participate."
This doesn't sound like they just hand out money, and seems likely (I'm just guessing here), that if you don't work you may get kicked out.
I'm not at liberty to disclose company names, but I live in Finland and I can tell you it's normal here. It's basically equivalent to "renting" workers. I would be willing to bet that "rent-a-worker" industry exists in Denmark as well, and that it also includes IT work.
We don't generally work that hard in Denmark, tbh. I lived in the UK in the late 80s and it was much harder than DK, like fight-to-survive harder. And I've also lived in a country which was even more extreme. Seriously, a benevolent social security system makes sense
So true. There was another article on HN about the Danish welfare system and how it encourages people to go out on their own and take business risks because basic things like healthcare isn't out of reach.
> Speaking at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Danish PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen told students that he had “absolutely no wish to interfere the presidential debate in the US” but nonetheless attempted to set the record straight about his country.
> "I know that some people in the US associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism. Therefore I would like to make one thing clear. Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy,” Rasmussen said.
> “The Nordic model is an expanded welfare state which provides a high level of security for its citizens, but it is also a successful market economy with much freedom to pursue your dreams and live your life as you wish,” he added.
I just found this quote from the Danish PM. What I find interesting about it is that it indicates the kind of distrust of socialism that I grew up with. I don't feel that social programs are bad, but socialism as a political goal is particularly disturbing. Based on history, governments should not be trusted with that kind of control - even if there are altruistic people involved, the bureaucracy can't meet the changing demands of society. And there are few altruistic people involved in government.
Personally, I think that people in the US shouldn't be thinking about solving problems with more welfare, but in figuring out what's wrong with existing welfare programs which are extensive. That and we need to revise the kind of productivity and consumer friendliness that we expect out of our government. Things like Universal Income wouldn't be considered if someone in trouble could expect to receive help in a timely manner, and if the help was smart and not tied to rules that don't make sense and put additional burdens on struggling people. Most people that are dissatisfied with our current welfare system would be astonished at the resources that are available, and frightened by the hoops that people have to jump through to receive much of it. We've been exposed in a small part by the health care changes recently, but I doubt anyone in my current social circle has experienced waiting in line for 16-24 hours at a social security office, nor have they known anyone who has tried to work for free in order to work their way up the ladder to a job that would both get them off of a welfare program and provide enough income to get by. I've gone off on a tangent, so I'll stop now. :) Your perspective was helpful to me.
Welcome to the wonderfull life of socialist Denmark. Were you're sure the Government will control what is good for you and what is not good for you.
The newly elected government in Denmark campaigned on the promise of NOT making some much needed reforms to the Danish social care welfare system (about half of the Danish population recieves benefits from the stated one way or the other), so now they are trying to gather money anywhere they can, to keep this promise.
This tax is not a well thought out tax, intended to increase the general well-being of the Danish population, it's the first of a long run of weird taxes we'll see from the newly elected Danish Government.
The Danish system is only super simple if you are a salaried employee. Once you run your own business it’s generally as difficult as the American system.
Well, that's certainly different from what I am used to! I suppose people in Denmark must not relocate for work very often? Hard to imagine uprooting one's household on a six-month gamble.
My wife is (and owned a business). As far as I'm aware that information is not correct. If I remember correctly in Denmark you have to pay mandatory social security (ATP), industry injuries insurance, a sort of vocational and training fee (AUB it's called I think), another labour market insurance thing with a triple letter name, and there might be another one if you have foreign workers. Denmark may still have lower labor related costs than the rests of Scandinavia and a somewhat more flexible system but it still has some of the highest labor costs in Europe and employers take a good amount of responsibility, and that's a vital part of the system. (and to note we never thought of it negatively).
Also, from the english translation: https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?act=url&...
"It requires personal energy, commitment and desire for self-management in the community to become Svanholmer. Both people with work "out of town" and people who want to work at home on the estate can participate."
This doesn't sound like they just hand out money, and seems likely (I'm just guessing here), that if you don't work you may get kicked out.
This all in all seems a lot different than UBI.
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