ABOUT THE LAW OF JANTE
MAY 28:
You now and then hear, also from international studies, that the Danes are the happiest people in the world. If it is true it is, of course, good 😊
The interesting and necessary question then is: Why is it so?
The Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose wrote in 1933 a novel, where he tries to find the answer. The title of the novel is: A fugitive crosses his tracks. It describes what many consider to be the Danish-Nordic caution, moderation and modesty. Others say that they aspire to be average. All this should - according to some - give happiness.
Sandemose is writing about life in a small provincial town, he calls JANTE. And he describes how people, incl. the young, are influenced by living there.
He puts the rules of life into a law with ten commandments. It is called the LAW OF JANTE.
Here they are:
- You're not to think you are anything special.
- You're not to think you are as good as we are.
- You're not to think you are smarter than we are.
- You're not to convince yourself that you are better than we are.
- You're not to think you know more than we do.
- You're not to think you are more important than we are.
- You're not to think you are good at anything.
- You're not to laugh at us.
- You're not to think anyone cares about you.
- You're not to think you can teach us anything.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante
The big question is, if this law is more universal? Not only in Denmark, but everywhere? A good topic for reflections and discussions.
Many years have gone by and much wine been enjoyed since 1933. So maybe it’s upon time to make a new, modernised version of the Law of Jante.
More about that tomorrow.
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