Dansk lykke: ytringsfrihed, demokrati og velfærd

I don’t believe that many Danes consider themselves as the happiest people on earth. However, I do think though that many are aware that they live in a very good country and have access to freedom all over our proud country. And that freedom, as well as our freedom of expression, is two key- factors of a good country. It is values that we appreciate so much in Denmark, and values we won’t let go. Many countries in the eastern part of the world don’t understand this so-called freedom of expression. When Kurt Westergaard made the world-infamous Muhammed-Cartoons in 2005, a lot of those countries didn’t understand him and they interpreted the cartoons as highly offending – of-fending their prophet and their God, Allah. Westergaard’s cartoons were legally made and printed in the Danish papers, only because of the Danish freedom of expression, which obviously allows this. Thus, the freedom of speech is, indeed, an important value. Perhaps even the most important?

Another important value in Denmark is our free rights. Our rights to do whatever we want and whatever we would like to do. Obviously, we can’t just go out in the backyard and then kill the neighbour. Of course we have to accept the rules of the country and adapt us to those certain rules. Otherwise, you’ll be considered as criminal and might, with high likeliness, end up in jail. When speaking about free rights (in Denmark), the meaning is quite clear: for example you are al-lowed to vote if you’re above the age limit, which currently is 18 years. In that way you can get an influence in how the Danish democracy is supposed to look like (in your own sole opinion). No one decides who you should vote for and unlike other (eastern) countries, you won’t find a pistol behind your back when putting your cross on the voting paper. I think it’s great with democracy. I would definitely rather prefer that compared to some dictator-states, or a similar system.