The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia

by Michael Booth

Pedersen immediately put me at ease, both personally and with regard to the Danish system. “Nah, bullshit. That’s absolute bullshit,” he laughed when I asked him about the Viking inheritance theory. “Absolutely it is because of the equality and our tax rates and the welfare state. The trust is based, on my understanding, on the welfare state, period. You trust your neighbor because you know your neighbor is paying tax just like you are, and when that neighbor gets sick, they get the same treatment as you, they go to the same school. That is trust: that you know that, regardless of age, sex, fortune, family background or religion, that you have the same opportunities and the same safety net. You don’t have to compete with your neighbor, or be envious of your neighbor. You don’t have to cheat your neighbor. “The welfare state is the most important innovation of any country in the postwar period. Before it, Denmark was split between 25 percent with the highest income, 25 percent at the bottom: now we have 4 percent at the top and 4 percent at the bottom.”