Danes go to college for free, so there is less worry and stress about how to pay for school. They also have free health care, so they can go to the doctor whenever they are sick, and they don't have to pay anything. In order to obtain these free services, they do have to pay higher taxes. Maybe you have heard your family talk about paying taxes. This is when you are required to give the goverment money so that the government can provide those public goods (such as libraries, sidewalks and buses) that I talked about in a earlier article.
In Denmark, people pay a lot of money towards taxes. Almost 50% of the money they make from their jobs goes towards their taxes so they can have those things. What is different about taxes in the United States is that each state gets to decide how much they ask their citizens to pay. For example, taxes in New York are a lot different from those in Washington state, where I grew up. It just depends on what people in each state want. For example, do they want really good buses and public transportation, or do they want the freedom to choose their own transporation and save their money?
Although the Laws of Jante might sound a little strange to us, I think it is very important to learn the same lesson that Danish kids do: you shouldn't laugh at anybody and you should treat others how you would like to be treated. I also think it's important to remember some of the American lessons we learn: you are definitely special in your own way.
