Most societies have quirks. In Uganda, everything moves at a snail’s pace, so the easiest task can take days on end. Recently it took me 3 months to dry clean a hat.

In Thailand, people will tell you anything that will keep you feeling happy, even if it’s not true at all. Klenjaing someone  may express itself as refusing help or faking happiness to avoid  “losing face” or causing someone else to lose face.

And in Japan, everything can appear as one big quirk. Especially dating dolls, or not particularly enthused about sex.

Denmark’s many quirks did not amaze me.

Ok, mothers put kids outside to sleep in the winter (unsupervised in strollers) because it is healthy. At the royal palace, there are almost no policemen. Toilets often have music playing and are beautifully  “designed to calm”. One can ride the train without a turnstile on either end. And everything works well+.

All this is fascinating but it is not what amazed me.

What did and still does rattle me is how much deep thought was unleashed by my trip to Denmark .

My mind has been overwhelmed with questions since I returned home vis a vis the question “what makes Denmark such a success?”

1. What is the role of wealth vrs homogeneity in the establishment and maintaining  of a successful and flourishing society? (Denmark is a very homogenous society. Ethnic Danes make up about 86 +% of the population of Denmark. There are approximately another 15.5  thousand Norwegians as well as  15 thousand Swedes. Immigration is severely restricted.)
2. What has gone wrong in so many countries whereby  people no longer trust their government? (Danes trust their government)
3. In order to drive compromise between polarities, what needs to change? Could it be that in too diverse a society, this is impossible? (Danes share a consciousness of kind which means that compromise which will hold us together)
4. Does being left of centre mean being tolerant of every excess? Does being right of centre mean you lean towards fascism? Maybe left and right mean nothing anymore. (In Denmark, everyone is left of centre, and a bit right of centre)
5. What can societies do to remain human and highly digitalized at the same time? (Denmark is both)

In many ways, Denmark is a miracle;  a veritable  pearl of a country.

What have they done right (or who are they) so as to differentiate themselves from a world which is slowly descending into a pit of horrendous dysfunction? THAT is something to think about.

One cannot come away from Denmark without thinking that many basic assumptions we have about society and politics need serious re-examination.

The Danes (1) are, or (2) are doing, something very very much better than all of us. Maybe one, maybe both.

+ Almost everything. The signage in the Copenhagen Metro is very confusing, and we headed in the wrong direction several times. The ticket machines for the metro are frustrating to say the least. We often just gave up, travelled gratis and prepared our excuses.