The Reality of Socialism: Denmark | Mini-Documentary 

Loui XIV: The State? That's me! Danes: The State? That's us! US-citizens: The State? Where's my gun! These people talk about our goverment as if it's some weird foreign entity controling us. Are they not aware that we ELECT our politicians? They are OUR representatives, they run the country for US. One of our "founding fathers", Grundtvig, said: We want a society, "where few have too much, and fewer too little." What's wrong with that?

I am Danish, and I don't mind paying high taxes. Health care and education is free. We also have 5 weeks of paid vacation and several weeks of paid maternity leave.

I was born in Denmark in 1965. The greatest capitalist country in the world. Free of corruption and fake news.

7.5% of Danes pay the 'Top Personal Income Tax Rate'. To say that's many Danes is perhaps stretching it a bit.

what a load of crap. Denmark is a haven

We don't have socialism here. We have capitalism.

Income doesn't say anything compared to other countries. It's purchasing power that matters.

US Republicans, falsely call Europe and particularly the scandinavian countries socialists and communists without even know what they talk about. It's tiring for most Danes to be referred to as crazed socialists just because we have a tradition of supporting our weaker fellow men and value Healthcare and education as part of our (capitalistic) market driven society. It's just good business to have a well educated, healthy, loyal and mentally well-balanced workforce. Being a capitalist does not mean you shouldn't engage in your community or be selfish and greedy. This is a really good piece, that should be mandatory for all Republicans to see.

Nonsense - Denmark is influenced by socialist ideas for historical reasons, but is NOT a socialist country. What distinguishes a socialist from a capitalist system is the ownership of the means of production and the producers' (workers') control over the manufactured production. Chapter 1 in the textbook on political economy. It has NOTHING, as in NOTHING, to do with the size of the public sector. The public sector in Denmark does not deal with production, but with re-production. In other words, childcare, education and health of the workforce - for the benefit of private capitalist production in Denmark.

And yet if you ask a Dane, they are overwhelmingly happy and content. So much so, the country has been #1 for the past 3 of 5 years.

An odd presentation that only focuses on a comparison between DK and Anglo-Saxon Economies (UK, USA, CAN, AUS) claiming that citizens of developed economies would not "agree" on a strong state with relatively high taxes. This is simply untrue. Please note that Continental countries in Western Europe have a similar view on taxes as the Scandinavians. The Middle Class members of Europe are paying for well-functioning welfare systems. Germany, France, the Netherlands + other countries enjoy a strong welfare system compared with Anglo-Saxon economies. The classification of a strong state as a negative marker reflects a very American mindset. Do yourself the favour to ask American citizens about their views on European healthcare, education, labour market agreements (vacation rights, unemployment support programmes) and social services - all compared to similar US (non existent) rights. When being informed of the benefits enjoyed by Europeans, most Americans would like to enjoy a similar way of life. When asked if they are willing to pay for the benefits through taxes, then the straight answer becomes somewhat blurry. However, Americans tend to forget that American wealth seemed to be better distributed in the 1950ies, and 1960ies through a more "European" like taxation system /back then).

Denmark is not socialist, that's just BS.

The Fraser Institute just told me they know nothing about macro economics. Great job at missing the primary reason why government spendings increased during the late 1970's, also missing the primary reason for why Denmark has one of the largest public sectors in the world.

This video seemingly tries to explain and understand the history and social development of Denmark and the nordic model, but completely miss key points and fail to understand the social structure of the danish people. It's so tendentious and set in its own original premise that anything concluded cannot be taken for anything other than a biased political message.

When your starting point is that far off the point - that socialism is inherently bad and that big government is detrimental to economic freedom - your conclusions will inevitably be off the chart. A more neutral/positive/meaningful reading of the Danish experiment would be that a public spending share of the economy of approximately 50 % can be considered optimal as it makes possible excellent free university education, health care, old peoples care, while keeping a certain level of economic freedom and an excellent start-up climate for new businesses - and not to forget supporting a happy population. Also, obviously, societies with healthy public sectors are less unable to develop beyond fossil dependency and unsustainable modes of action. Unabated market economies seem detrimental to our future living conditions.

Denmark is social-democratic.

Mini doc. made by rich people for rich people. -this was made by wall street, need I say more....

😑Denmark is a social democratic country. Unions have done a lot for the danes. In regards to the unemployment in 70'ties 80'ties the oil crisis played a huge role. Many countries faced the issues back then. Denmark is best country in the world to live in...😁i dont see what the issue is.

Not bad. What is missed though is why Denmark “experimented” with Socialism between 1970ish to 1993ish. It’s down to 3 factors: 1: the energy or oil crisis of 1973 and 1979, Denmark did not produce a lot of oil at the time, creating a large currency deficit. 2: Denmark got a new Social Democrat Prime Minister in 1972-3, Anker Jørgensen, again serving in 1975-1982, arguably the most left wing Social Democrat Prime Minister ever in charge of the country and an utter failure. Foreign debt as a percentage of GNP rose from abt 10pct in 1972 to 36pct in 1982, then started to slow in 1984 and turned around in 1988 just below 50pct, after which it fell. Total debt turned around in 1993. 3: The actual experiment stopped in 1982, when Anker Jørgensen, gave up governing. The Conservative Prime Minister Poul Schlüter took over, turned the county around from 1982-1993, with success, Denmark today runs relatively large currency account surpluses, there is hardly any foreign currency based debts, total debt is low, the budget runs surpluses, with the exception of the 2009 crash and 2019-2020 Covid area.

The lack of knowledge about Denmark or the world outside the US is mind blowing. For instance, on my first visit to the US, back in 2005, I met a couple who firmly believed that there’s no running water in Europe….

One American I met thought the Danish government controls what salary a company can pay their employees. Another one asked me if we have polar bears walking around in our streets. And no: I am (unfortunately) not kidding 😧

I am Danish, and this is a very narrow way of analysing my country. Denmark is a Social oriented country set in a world of capitalism. My dad said it best (80 year old former CEO in the energy sector) - "I have everything I need, why shouldn't i pay more, so that everyone else also have what they need?" Yes, we maintain our welfare state to support everyone and not only the top, as everywhere else.

This video is manipulating and paints a misleading picture. When comparing to other countries it totally ignores, that as a small nation what goes on in the World impacts more than what it does in big countries. And on top it all but fails to mention the many benefits of having a large public sector, like for example that much of the economic success of Denmark comes from the high level of education of great infrastructure - both something the large public sector provides. The whole idea that the size of government economy vs. private economy works as part of measuring economic freedom is just wrong, it matters greatly what the government economy is running and when it pays for education, healthcare, generous social security and so on, then that contributes to economic freedom rather than diminishing it. Like for example, there is freedom in bankruptcy due to medical costs not being a thing, or that the education one chooses is not dependent on money from your parents.

Small error: The majority of the Danish citizens does not pay the highest tax rate. The average is 41-45%, the lowest is 37%

you know nothing about my country

🇸🇪 here. Bad, fact/data picking article. I guess one of the few positive things that can be said about it is that at least they don't, unlike Trump's Denmark ambassador Carla Sands, claim that the reason so many people take the bike to work in Copenhagen is because they can't afford a car 🤣. Besides, the reasons why the Danes pay more tax than the high income earners in the USA is that they, like us other Scandinavians, have access to free education, well-functioning infrastructure, affordable healthcare for all, generous holiday and parental benefits and a social safety net. Which do you think benefits society and people best in the long run? Chew on that libertarians…

If you presented this in school in Denmark, you would fail the course. MIssleading and cheery picking, would be the explanation for your F.

Great mini documentary. “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.”-former Prime Minister of Denmark Lars Løkke Rasmussen, speech at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government on November 1, 2015

Is this sponsored by Fox News?

I noticed the last sentence: " Denmark DOES have a larger wellfare state than many other western countries, but it pays for the system with higher taxes levied on average danes. It's an arrangement largely rejected in most other western countries" - and yet it seems to work, since Denmark are always in top of everything! 🤔 - food for thought!.

We have social-democratic system - a universal wellfare system where people pay high taxes. But it is based on a free capitalist market economy. There - saved you 8 minutes :)

"limited government" is a stretch but I guess everything is relative. What the government doesn't provide is upheld by our amazingly powerful unions. Even as early as 1815 we had publically paid schools.

It is always a scource of much bewilderment and amusement that Denmark is called a "socialist country" by Americans whether they mean it as a compliment or not. We are not socialist but social democratic. That means that we control our campitalism and have developed welfare programs. It means that basic human needs are government funded such as health care, education, elderly care, child care etc. Meaning that our economy is based on capitalism but it is regulated and we happily pay high taxes, so we can live freely without worrying about paying for healtcare and education for our children's education. This also ensures the freedom from much crime, homelessness etc.

Apparently Americans haven't the faintest idea what socialism means -- which is government ownership of the means of production. Denmark has high taxes but is not at all socialist. Our wealth comes from privately owned businesses and corporations.

It's quite telling that the more we've moved towards "americanising" our society in Denmark (which is objectively stupid), the more inequality we have and the worse things are in every aspect of society: Education. Healthcare. Infrastructure. Free Speech. Tolerance.

Seems significant historical element are left out. Suggest you study “andelsbevægelsen” and Grundtvig. Just to take a few key elements.

Business tax rate at 13,8%? The Business tax rate is 22% in Denmark

Not very well researched "mini documentary" , seems like the outcome was given and the facts where made to fit. Goverment spending that includes paying for free schole and healtcare is much more expensive then the US model where you are left on your one.

"Denmark avoids borrowing." That is very logical. Don't spend more than you earn. In the end higher taxes but not borrowing money makes people more wealthy than lower taxes and borrowing money from other countries. Greece was all about borrowing money and low taxes and went bankrupt 4 times so far in last 50 years.

Are workers at this Fraser institute getting paid?

Ok Fraser Institute, Is it socialist or is it not? This video is contradicting itself in real time.

A fundamental flaw in this analysis is talking about government as something static. Disregarding shifts in policy depending on which political parties are in control.

There’s a good argument to be made that government spending is not an indication of freedom, but rather can be a facilitator of one. Consider the extreme case of no government spending, that’s not a free society, that’s Haiti. The reverse is of course also true (North Korea). Therefore it’s questionable if government size really correlates with freedom. Like my Hungarian wife likes to say about the Netherlands: “yes we pay hoger taxes here, but at least we can see where the money goes”

Social programs are not socialism. Nor are high taxes. You cannot compare Denmark to Cuba. jmho

Instinctivly I cry foul when you claim something, but only show statistics for part of the time you mention. A goverment can be heavy regulators without spending extensively. You are using terms withouth defining what you mean by them, and at least partly contradict youself trying to paint a picture that shows what you want. And what we in Scandinavia get from our "high" taxes is safety, healthcare, education etc. We pay around thatof the U.S., if you add in the cost of what we get for our taxexs like healthcare and education.

Did you maybe compare things to how in the 70s, Denmark went through a second industrial revolution and a lot of jobs in the rural sector were lost to more effective methods? How about the general global situation? Like compare unemployment rate in Denmark with those abroad? Or compare, say, how the newly built industrial complex should sell their wares on the international market, maybe that could have an influence? How about showing government spending as a percentage compared to the total economy? If the BNP rose significantly, then even if the spending stayed the same, the percentage would still drop. Also, you're using your own measure of economic freedom? How about also using the heritage foundation's even someone else? And if Denmark is #7, who's #1-6 and who's #8+? And where is America and Britain in comparison? Your documentary simply has too many ill-thought out graphs with lack of context.

Never heard about a business rate tax at 13.8%?? Business corporate tax is 22%..

Funnny how this video forgot to mention the 2nd biggest tax in Denmark, called the PAL tax. Basically it is tax on the profits of retirement funds, 15% to be exact. It swings wildly from year to year, but basically since 2000 it has brought over 100 billion dollars in tax revenue.

Not one mention of the EU 🤔🤔🤔🤔

If the Fraser Institute had its way, Canada (where the Institute is located) would have a government and social system similar to Afghanistan’s. They advocate totally free markets, (like the situation of total freedom to grow and sell heroin-producing poppies in Afghanistan), limited or absent government oversight, where the economy is dictated and controlled by large business interests (ex. Akin to Warlords of Afghanistan), private education, health care, and daycare (in Afghanistan, the average citizen gets nothing, or is even denied an education, in the case of women). In fact, the only area where the F.I. might differ from the Taliban is in the right to carry weapons. However, given as how the F.I.’s inspiration is derived from American right-wing fundamentalism, I would not be surprised if the F.I. began preaching to its audience about the rights of all Canadians to carry weapons. I do know, for a fact, that many right-leaning citizens in the Western Provinces of Alberta, B.C. And Saskatchewan (where the F.I.’s base of support is seated, believe that they already have right to do this. They don’t understand that Canada’s Constitution is fundamentally different than the one in the U.S.A. God helps us in Canada, if the ideas of the Frasier Institute ever get implemented in this country.

Insanely angled. We achieved a strong economy > then we improved the wealthfare for all citizens, so no one should ever fear of losing their financial stability or health - "together we're Strong, divided we fall"

Also watch the speech by former prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen at Harvard Institute of Politics in 2015. He gave a more detailed description of the Danish economy.

7:02 You need to define what is understood by socialism in this context

Denmark is not a socialist country - that is so stupid and uninformed

It's misleading to consider only the high sales- and income tax without also considering and comparing what we get for that money. I have a master's degree from one of the top ranking technical universities in Europe, never paid tuition and even got paid for expenses while studying (food, housing etc.). With two working class parents that was not a given in many other countries. Medical insurance is also not needed, as the public healthcare system is paid for by the aforementioned taxes, and the list goes on.

Feel this wasn't really about Denmark, but justification to keep on trucking for for one country in mind

Americans also pay for their services. It's just a more expensive system though tuition, insurance etc. And the added bonus is that I don't have 25% of kids (and their families) in my country living in abject poverty, like the US and now the UK does.

Think the big diffenrents between people from US and Denmark is Danish people trust their State and Americans dont.. And i Think socialisme means 1 thing in Denmark and something very different in US😊

I am happy to pay my taxes in Denmark. Things function here.

7:28 too soon man... too soon.. on a more serious note: I have a psychological disease that prevents me from having a steady job yet I still survive on basic welfare benefits.. and even i pay around 40% of the "income" i have on taxes... and i would gladly pay that same or even higher tax could i maintain a job... because i know it goes to a betterment of the society in general. Does this mean that there are no problems in Denmark? Hell no... we still have roughly .1% (official numbers, though its suspected to be around .3%) of the population is homeless... and even half of the homeless in this country live not on the streets but in halfway houses run mostly by the municipalities of the countries (there are a few privately owned ones around as well).

community and the willingness to pay for common citizens , we have the most trust in each others

Any Danes in the comments? 🤣🤣🤣

Such a misleading take on the Danish model. It totally leaves out that through that high income tax, we get free health care, and education. With higher education being based on merit. So our little country does have a very socialist take on government spending, in a way you could say that Denmark is so small and homogenic that we take care of each other as kind of one big happy family. Big companies kind of edmit to being depending on the welfare state to have Healthy and highly educated workers with staple and safe lives, so they can be as productive as possible. And the population realize that they need big businesses to get good jobs. But i dont think our model could work in places like usa or gb. They are to big and could never reach our level of community and togetherness.

Well it’s more a kind of capitalistic socialism I would say 😊🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰

we still pay around 40% in taxes

We are not a socialist country, our system only works because of our difficult immigration and sea borders. You have a easier time to immigration legally to the US when Denmark.

The most significant difference is that the government pays for stuff via the taxes. While in places like USA have for profit middlemen nestled in between. The most clear example of this is in the healthcare sector where a trip to the hospital is insanely high becouse everyone needs a slize of the money cake. The hospital, insurance, the pharmasutical companies etc etc. All thoes costs are funneled into private wealthy individuals instead of the state.

Now wouldnt it have been fair to tell that the unemployment rate has been close to 3% for more than a decade? And wouldnt it have been fair to tell the world what a wellfair state is? And wouldnt it have been fair to tell that most of the middle class danes who carries the biggest burden economically also benefits the most due to the wellfair system: Free schools, free universities, SU (the system pays you to study, right now around 5700 kr a month) free medical help, free hospitals and the lidt goes on. If you compare the US to this system most calculations would have the outcome: The danes have more money to spend even after taxes because we dont have to buy healthcare and save up for our childrens education. Just ask the americans who move here.

it is also pensioners who have paid that the rich have received tax relief money has been taken from them by not increasing their pension to the same extent as all those who have work and it started in the mid 90s and nothing has happened since then so the state owes Persians about 1.5 now combined with the mid 90s

Ok as an american who has been living in Denmark for the last 8 years I can say that as a top earner I actually pay around 43% tax. The 57% is complete BS. You are only taxed at 57% on the upper portion of your income. So a person making 1.000.000 kr. a year is not gonna pay anywhere near 57%. When you add in the free health care, government subsidies for your children, paternity and maternity leave, free education etc you can actually live a much better life than you do in the states. The people who made this documentary obviously have not lived in this country. It’s complete propaganda used to scare Americans away from liberal policies.

Does Danish workers own the means of production? No. Thus Denmark is not a Socialist State. If a hig school student made the same reasoning in Economy class i hope they would fail.

we also are widely more educated that the american Hill Billies and have a higher level of educantion among workers of whom are also amongst the most clever workers in the world

I was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1962 and I’m seeing an increasingly stupidity, in this great country, among handling our tax money. I hate when people say “we don’t mind paying high taxes”. What’s important is to get the most out of blood drawing taxation.. Never rest on one’s laurels; keep criticizing and keep aiming for perfection.

"Denmark had a long-standing commitment to limited government". What does that even mean? How do you commit to that?

Click bait, the term Socialism is commonly referenced to communist/authoritarian governments and Denmark is just a Democracy with strong social policies approach. Spreading ignorance through the title of the video, shameful.

I am impressed, learned people in this video still don't get it. We get something from our tax money. FREE healthcare, free education also in universities. We even get money from the state, when studying. We have very cheap medical drugs and more. These clever persons, in this video, should move to Denmark for a year and dive deeply into the Danish system. For a Dane, it is easy to hear they don't know much about Denmark or do they have an agenda?

denmark has got the mixture of free market economics & social democracy just right , the tradition of honesty ensures big business is self regulating & not the winner grab all regardless of the cost to others you have in the uk or us, the same culture of honesty ensures that people appreciate the benefits of the social welfare system but do not abuse it or use it as a lifestyle choice. in ireland we try to follow this scandanavian model , unfortunately we chose the wrong scandanavian country ie sweden

A commitment to limited government while having some of the highest government expenditure in the world. This narrative seems faulty.

That's one of the dumbest conclusions I've ever heard. It is NOT a question of being socialist or capitalist. * Denmark is proud to be the most capitalist free run country for companies, far more than the USA. * But Denmark is also proud to be the most social country in the world, which ensures everyone, rich and poor, and companies a very high and unbureaucratic and efficient service, so that we all only have to do what we are best at: running a business with highly paid, efficient and competent employees. * We are all guaranteed a good life from cradle to grave. * We would like to accept immigrants, but only if they have a good education and uphold Danish values.

As a Dane, our local Mayor just had a succesfuld Bone Marrow Transplant against Cancer, finding the Marrow in Peru! It is done for the many Taxpayers money and it isn't a Personal Problem! I had a transplant of the lenses in my eyes some years ago. Also paid for by multiple Taxpayers money, and not a Personal Problem! You don't risk becoming ruined from health problems in Denmark, without a valid Health Insurance. And I live from a fine, ordinary Public Pension.

I love living in Denmark and have no problem with taxes.

wtf you don't know anything about Denmark

If countries expenditures is meassured as a share of a countrys GNP it shows that the share for health and education is lower in Denmark than in the USA and the acces to these welfare services is highly dependable to the income/insurance/private savings for citizens in USA while the acces in Denmark is "free" depending on the needs for healthcare or for the needed qualifications for the relevant education. Higher taxes does not flees with socialism, seems that higher taxes goes fine in hand with higher wages. This "nordic" model for financing education and health service seems to be much cheaper than that of the US model. The number of millionaires pr. capita is higher in the scandinavian countries than in the USA. But still the conception of Denmark is regarded as "socialistic". An often overlooked trait in Danish economy is the high number /share of cooperatives and an investigation into that would show some remarkable figures.

So they make their own list, using their own criteria. They end up saying Denmark is 7th out of 165 countries, but then concludes it does so poorly on said list. 😂😂 Laughable.

Listening to 'Murican-sounding narrators trying to explain the Nordic model gives me he creeps! They simply do not have a clue what it is about!

Denmark is a monarchy that still exists

Lego

it is not bad to have more people represented in our government, what we are comtrary to the USA we are much better at making compromises in politics , this the USA politicians are lousy at

Very interesting🤔 I'm Danish🇩🇰

Danish peoples need Conservatism, Family Values and Nationalism. Denmark needs more Danish kids not immigrants. Glory to Conservatism.

Watch some vids of Americans living for a longer time in Denmark or the Netherlands. This is mostly ideological BS.

As The Fraser Institute is a libertarian-conservative, as far right as you can get before it is called fascism, think tank, I don't rate their view on Danish "socialism" much higher than the "report" on Denmark by Trish Regan on FOX Business Network!

This is an absurdly biased video that cherry picks statistics and outright misrepresents data. It is astounding that something like this can be produced. Here are a few things that I am sure you will ignore since they contradict your BS agenda: 1. Less than 9% of Danes pay the top tax rate (so the rich are the ones hit most by it). 2. The high government spending translates into very tangible benefits for everyone, so in practice the average Dane gains more than citizens in countries with lower taxes (i.e. their effective costs are lower). 3. You draw all these great conclusions on how Denmark learnt its lesson about high government spending, but by your own statistics it was only decreased from 59% to 50% - which is really very little compared to your original data. And the economy has been going great for a very long time, so clearly your conclusions are nonsense. 4. Throughout that entire period where you claim Denmark struggled so immensely (which is BS as well), it retained a per capita GDP comparable to the US - sometimes a bit higher, sometimes a bit lower. Stop making crap to fit your pre-determined agenda.

Many americans still beleive that the earth is flat and the light is always on inside the fridge

This "mini-documentary" is a rather poor standard, GCSE-level description of Denmark's economy. Chat GPT would have done a better job! They do not really define Socialism and confused government spending with 'economic freedom' as if they a mutually exclusive. The figures from the different graphs on government spending as a % share of GDP contradicted each other... 24.4% in 1970 miraculously became 42% in 1970 @2:29. They simply forgot to mention the OPEC crisis or the end of Bretton Woods. That was egregiously bad research and childish editing 😂

Denmark and all of the north is the best in the world.. i dont care if the tax is high, have what i need and i dont make milions..

At least they don't hide their biased analysis.

funny, none of the grafs was from the same time periode. there fore we as danes had the best econemi as wikings...

There is a lot of false assumptions in this video. Shame on them to make this video. They pretend it was only due to the big government we struggled in the 70, 80 and 90s Which is not even remotly correct. Firstly we didnt struggle in all those years. Thats just nonesense. In the 70s we had the world wide oil crisis. Which hurt all industrial countries in the world and had nothing to do with Denmark even though we were a victim of it, like the intire west. Honestly if the people that made this video want to keep their integrity they need to pull this video down, do some reseach and then make a new video. This is the first time i have ever done it, but i had to report this channel for misinformation. Its sad to see another countries think tank feel the need to manipulate the danish history to fit some kind of narritive that they have. I dont know if its just sheer incompetence or its purposely giving false information. But in either case its really bad.

Funny how u can take facts and twist them to make fake newz...