Suggestion for Denmark from an American Friend
(please share this to get it to Danish citizens who can refer it to their government for consideration)
I am one of the millions of Americans who are disgusted and outraged that Trump has threatened to commit a war crime against your country. We know he is in the wrong and you have every right to tell him, as one of your members of parliament recently did, “fuck off.” However you need more than words, and I am pleased to see other law abiding countries supporting you.
Trump is a bully who fancies himself a crime boss, and in fact behaves as one. He has installed a disreputable man in his cabinet to run military matters, whose only qualification is that he is a bigoted neo-nazi who is willing to commit war crimes at Trump’s command. He is already moving to purge LGBQT soldiers from the military, and is coming for our female fighters and anyone he suspects will disobey an order to commit war crimes. He has been captured on video openly rejecting the Geneva Convention, for example. He really is a bad person and we decent Americans are horrified and mortified.
Trump thinks he can bully you because you are a small country with a small military. If you are interested in expanding your military with already trained fighters, I would like to suggest the following idea:
Offer Danish citizenship to purged US military personnel in return for joining the Danish armed forces. There are also many recent US veterans who are also under assault by Trump. He is moving to shut down the agency that provides medical care and other services to veterans.
We Americans are told all our lives that we live in the “greatest country” however no one defines what that actually means. Sadly, many Americans have no idea how people live in other countries, and those who join the military may only experience their first trip outside America’s borders when they are sent to war torn lands. Few Americans have had the good fortune to visit your wonderful country, as I was able to do when I was a student decades ago.
Most Americans have never heard of the World Happiness Index survey where people rate how satisfied they are with life in their country, so they don’t know that Denmark is often in the #1 spot, and always in the top five, while the US is never even in the top ten. Of course the people in Greenland are delighted to be part of Denmark rather than the US.
Should you decide to recruit American fighters, here are some important points to make about life in Denmark:
1) No one in Denmark goes into medical bankruptcy, nor has to leave illness untreated due to lack of funds. Every Dane receives needed treatment without a fee, just as one calls the fire department when your home is burning without a fee because healthcare is a human right in your civilized country.
2) By law, every employee in the private sector must receive five weeks paid holiday per year. This in contrast to the US, where not only are paid holidays not legally required, many people are compelled to work two jobs just to afford the bare necessities of life.
3)PAID Maternal and Parental leave: All pregnant women have the right to 4 weeks of leave before the birth and 10 weeks of maternity leave after the birth. Fathers and co-mothers have the right to 2 weeks of paternity leave in connection with the birth.
After the first 10 weeks of maternity leave, each of the parents has the right to parental leave for 32 weeks. A father or co-mother may begin the parental leave before the first 14 weeks after the birth of the child.
4) By law there may not be discrimination based on gender in the workplace, and men and women receive equal pay for equal work.
5) University education is free for Danish citizens and citizens of the European Union (EU), and for permanent residents of Denmark.
6) Being LGBTQ in Denmark: Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was entirely prohibited in 1996. Denmark has allowed same-sex couples to jointly adopt since 2010, while previously allowing stepchild adoptions and limited co-guardianship rights for non-biological parents. LGBTQ people are also allowed to serve openly in the Danish military. Like its Scandinavian neighbors, Denmark has been described as one of the most LGBTQ-accepting countries in the world
7) Most Danes speak English, so you won’t have problems communicating until you are able to speak Danish.
It’s hard to make a generalization of people of a country, and I was only there as a tourist many years ago. That said, I found the Danes down-to-earth, open-minded, innovative, courteous and fun loving. The environs were a mix of old world charm and cutting edge design. The capital, Copenhagen is a world class city. Simplicity was valued over pretentiousness. As a young woman at the time, I always felt comfortable, safe and free.
There is only one thing that might be said to be a downside: that is the short days of winter because it is located much farther north than the US lower 48. (But the long days of summer are glorious). Despite being so far north, winter is actually much milder than in the northern tier of the US.
Denmark is known for its wonderful coffee houses, great places to hang out on a cold night. Beer is a big thing and in addition to its well known brand Carlsberg, the are over 100 microbreweries. And, as a citizen of the EU, you can travel freely to any of the other EU nations. You can spend your 5 weeks paid vacation in sunny Spain or on a Greek isle, for example.
Here’s a picture of Nyhavn harbor in Copenhagen. How cool is that!!
!