Europeans’ puzzlement about Trump

The election of Donald Trump was as shocking and disheartening to most Europeans as it was to polite circles in the United States. In some ways it was even more so, because they know less about the America and have more trouble understanding how it could have happened.

The reactions in Denmark, which were probably representative of Europe, were perfectly predictable along party lines. Most politicians were generally understated in observing that the US remains an important partner in world affairs. Right-wing Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was more cordial, expressing a desire to continue the two countries’ good relations. The Left was aghast and feared for the survival of human rights and, from a slightly longer perspective, the planet. They think Denmark should reconsider the close military alliance it has had with the US since Anders Fogh Rasmussen drank the WMD Kool-Aid in 2003.

Global policewoman 

But it was obvious across the entire spectrum that they had strongly preferred Clinton, as did around 95% of Danes, and found the alternative unthinkable. Danes and most other educated Europeans know Clinton mostly from her role as secretary of state in photo ops with the world’s so-called dignitaries. She was an internationalist; she was well-spoken and well-informed; and she was “tough-minded.” She was also associated with her husband’s tenure during the economic prosperity and international stability in the days before 9/11.

For Danes, Clinton’s most important attribute, given the aspersions Trump cast on NATO, was her credentials as a Cold Warrior and Putin demonizer. Danes often think I’m naïve about Putin when I say that it was the US that fomented a coup against an elected government in Ukraine, much of which had been part of Russia for more than 200 years, and that Russia could hardly be said to have “intervened” in Syria when it was the only major military force that the country had invited.

They say the only reason I don’t worry about Putin is that I didn’t live in a divided Europe during Soviet hegemony. Trump not only is threatening to pull out of NATO, which would give Putin carte blanche to invade the Baltics and push westward; he’s even spoken favorably of that megalomaniac dictator. So Europeans, especially in small, exposed countries, had their own understandable pragmatic interest in the United States’ continuing to defend them against whatever is left of the Russian menace under the vigilant leadership of Hillary, her neocon posse and the US defense industry lobby.

Deplorables may have grievances too 

On the other side of the coin, Europeans were incredulous about Trump’s support partly because they don’t know the real state of what used to be the American middle class. From the same mainstream media that trashed both Sanders and Trump, they heard that US unemployment is below 5%, inflation is below 2%, and economic growth is always starting to gain traction. They don’t know that almost 100 million working-age Americans are out of the labor force; real median wages have fallen for decades; inflation for actual consumers of food, health care services and college tuition is far above the official rate; middle-aged white people in the heartland are addicted to opioids and committing suicide in record numbers; infant mortality … etc. etc.

Europeans had confidence in Clinton because she represented the status quo. Sixty million American voters distrusted her because she represented the status quo. That’s a simplification of course. There were also the classified e-mails on her private server and the apparent abuse of her office for private gains. Her strange, complicated relation to Islam: refusing to identify it with terrorism, opening the immigration floodgates to Muslim refugees, accepting contributions from countries under sharia law, helping to precipitate another Islamic civil war in Libya. And then she alienated a big bloc of the electorate with that elitist deplorables remark.

Caveat, disclaimer and disavowal of liability
I should hasten to add that none of this is meant as an apology for any of Trump’s outlandish pronouncements and behavior. As is well known, most Europeans reject absolutely some of the positions of the American right that Trump has advocated such as relaxed gun control, capital punishment and restrictions on abortion. They also stand to lose from protectionist trade policies. In this brief summary, I have chosen to focus on the aspects of their views I think are most in need of clarification.

Move to Denmark

You may not have noticed, but this blog has been inactive for some time. Since around the time it became apparent that Bernie Sanders was out of contention for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. It was no longer as relevant to consider whether the Danish “socialism” Sanders favored could be transplanted in the United States. But even before that, it was mainly speculation. There was never a real possibility that it could displace the pseudo–free market of American society. That prospect was unrealistic economically, politically and culturally.

It’s still worthwhile to make the thought experiment, but we may need to take a different perspective. If you’re sympathetic to the egalitarian ethos or curious about living in a society that fosters greater happiness and life satisfaction, then don’t wait around for the US to reform itself or its plutocracy to share the wealth with the bottom 80 percent. No matter which one of those two cretins wins the election next week, things are unlikely to get any better. On the contrary, expect a recession, another financial crisis, increasing civil unrest. . . .

Just do it

So just move here. That’s right, simply emigrate to Denmark or somewhere similar. Need to hear the reasons again? Universal healthcare. Paid maternity, paternity and medical leave. Five weeks’ paid vacation. Subsidized day care. Free college. Stipends for study. Unemployment benefits for graduating. Few guns, little crime. . . . Leave all that xenophobia, identity politics, runaway militarism and high infant mortality behind. But not everyone all it once, please.

Is it really possible, though? Can you just drop by as if on vacation and land a job? You can’t just hang out here indefinitely unless you’re from another EU country (see if you can get hold of a Romanian passport). For an extended stay, you need a work and residence permit. But some succeed in finding a job while visiting and using it to expedite their application.

Engineers welcome

Denmark has an official policy of encouraging well-educated persons to immigrate that is similar to the US visa program for skilled professionals. There’s a surprising number of Indian doctors working at hospitals in Jutland, for example. Industry associations regularly decry the lack of native STEM graduates. There are also eastern European carpenters, prostitutes and other tradesfolk, although they’re from the EU and can move in and out freely according to demand.

The policy doesn’t always work as advertised, however. Some people with advanced degrees arrive and find that Danish employers prefer Danish credentials, but “Western” immigrants are viewed much more favorably than others and aren’t considered a threat to worsen the country’s integration problems.

Be a global citizen

So, if you’re resourceful and persistent, yes, it’s possible to find a job. The hiring process at large companies can be drawn out and frustrating, but you can do a lot of exploring and preparation online before you come here because Denmark prides itself on its extensive digitalization. There are several guides and services to help: Expat in Denmark, Life in Denmark, Work in Denmark and New in Denmark.

If you can survive until you get an income and a residence permit, then you’re entitled to all the same social benefits as Danish citizens. And if you don’t use certain benefits, then after several years you can apply for Danish citizenship. The rules on that and the difficulty of the citizenship test can change significantly whenever the government switches between the right- and the left-wing coalitions, but the Danish Parliament just recently passed a law allowing dual citizenship. That means you can always bail if America collapses under the weight of its empire and apartments in San Francisco suddenly become affordable.

Capeesh?

But don’t they speak a foreign language here, you may be wondering, and doesn’t that pose a bit of a problem? Not as much as you’d expect. Danes are about the most fluent ESL speakers around, and they like to show it off. There are jobs at international companies that don’t require Danish, particularly in tech, biotech, finance and shipping. A small country needs to export. In industries with labor shortages, broken English is the lingua franca of globalization. Some expats have been here for years without speaking Danish. It’s certainly advisable to learn the language, though, in order to immerse fully yourself in the happiest society.

That reminds me not to omit the simplest way to emigrate and enjoy all the benefits of the country: marry a Dane. While it facilitates integration greatly, of course it entails certain obligations. A lesson for another day, but I’m sure there’s also an app for that.