Socialism and happiness

Anyone who has been reading the first posts here must be wondering when I’m going to get around to addressing one of the main questions implied in the launch of this blog with its reference to Bernie Sanders’s campaign: that is, does socialism create happiness? Are people happier in welfare states? I want to investigate Denmark in general, not only its political and economic dimensions, but those aspects are of course most relevant for people who want to understand how Sanders’s platform might play out in the real world, if it ever gets a chance.

The short, simplistic, perhaps misleading answer is yes. Who wouldn’t prefer to have five weeks’ vacation, unlimited health care services, paid maternity and sick leave, free college, and everything else? The social democracies of Western Europe generally give greater personal security than the American free market. There’s relatively little poverty, a minimal viable standard of living, and help available from the system.

The Danish welfare state’s slogan is probably a line from a 19th century hymn by N.F.S Grundtvig, “… when few have too much and fewer have too little.” Denmark scores highest in happiness because it has the fewest low individual scores because the safety net functions mostly as it’s intended to and catches them.

Sharing the wealth

In a more egalitarian society, not only do fewer suffer privation and are fewer corrupted by superfluous wealth. People have more in common with one another, relate more directly to one another, and are more willing to cooperate, compromise and make sacrifices for the common weal.

One of the most striking differences in quality of life is evident in the so-called work-life balance. Besides the large amount of vacation time they enjoy, people work fewer hours per week, normally 37. Employers respect their evenings and weekends. There’s time for socializing at work, and business management is less hierarchical and authoritarian. Childcare programs are guaranteed, subsidized and better. The level of comfort in everyday life is higher than for probably all but the top quarter of the US population.

Too much of a good thing

Be that as it may, the Danish media are declaring an epidemic of stress – not only among careerists but also the unemployed, parents of small children, single parents, college students, high school students, civil servants, the police. Leftist sociologists tell them that they’re the not the beneficiaries of the welfare society but rather the victims of the “competition state.” This might be a clue that ample creature comforts alone don’t guarantee lasting well-being.

So, a few qualifications to the short answer: First, individuals want to maximize their material circumstances, but what happens when the abundance is readily available: the tragedy of the commons. The more welfare, the more that free riders can siphon off. The high achievers accept high taxes and slackers as the price of living in a stable society. If they want more upside potential and excitement, they can shop their app or startup to Silicon Valley.

Second, research in psychology demonstrates that happiness and status are relative, that is, dependent on social comparison. It’s the same hamster wheel at any given level. Danes don’t compare themselves with overworked, underpaid American burger flippers or starving Nigerians but to other Danes who know how to work the system. Hence their equal opportunity to feel stressed.

Small is beautiful, so are people like me

Third, other factors may be just as important in fostering happiness: for example, the small population, the relative ethnic homogeneity, the shared history and traditions that characterize all the contented northern European enclaves. What came first, the welfare state or a strong sense of community?

Homo sapiens evolved in the Pleistocene to live in tribes of up to around 150 members, and smaller populations are more likely to be egalitarian even without a policy of progressive taxation. When people know one another, they are more accountable; there is greater social cohesion, harmony and fellowship.

The OCD alliance and Uncle Morten’s 70th

These qualities are supported by concrete customs and institutions. In Denmark, there is a robust tradition of local clubs and associations for all imaginable collective activities and interest groups. Families gather regularly – and extended families drive across the (admittedly small) country for baptisms and "round" birthdays – to cultivate their celebrated hygge (a special sense of familiar, cozy togetherness). Workplace departments commemorate personal milestones and hold weekly breakfasts.

Such conventions and routines didn’t come from social planning by bureaucrats, and large, multicultural societies cannot easily reproduce them. In this informal survey of Danish happiness, I want to look not only into its socio-economic foundation but also into these other possible contributing factors.