An American in Copenhagen # 2

Money in a Sustainable Society
I get the feeling that money isn’t as important to people’s jobs in Copenhagen as it is in the US. Maybe it’s that the Danes just have different values in their work or maybe it’s the fact that the government can take up to 65% of your income, forcing you to find other reasons to justify why you do what you do. It could also be the fact that the Danes don’t have to worry about paying for healthcare or getting money to send their kids to college.

In any case, I don’t believe I’m entirely wrong in saying this and I’m beginning to think that one of the reasons why Copenhageners are able to live so sustainably is that their culture is not as fixated on making, spending, and investing money. There is no Danish Dream quite like the American Dream – there’s no idea of working your way up from a poor down-trodden individual to become a wealthy upper-class citizen. And, to clarify, I am not saying there is anything wrong with wanting to make money or to better your economic situation. There can just be a problem with what you do with the money once you’ve worked your way up in the U.S.

The highest amount of combined state and federal income tax that anyone can pay in the U.S. is 46% and that’s only if you’re making over $1 million USD (5,372,098 Danish Kroner) a year in the state of California. So what do you do with the rest of your money in the U.S. if it doesn’t go to the government? Well, you probably have to pay rent or a mortgage, buy food and pay local taxes but, the typical middle to upper class individual usually finds they have some extra. You can invest that extra and make more money but, what do you do when your investment returns? Will you continually keep investing and horde the profit? Accumulating a fortune and spending nothing? At a certain point, I feel that it devolves, at least a little, into buying things you don’t really use or get as much enjoyment from as you should: several cars, numerous televisions, a gigantic house, an expansive vacant lawn, a huge swimming pool, etc.

Aside from the fact that the use of money in this way is incredibly unsustainable, what is perhaps more of a tragedy is what the money could be going to – things that are not only more sustainable but possibly offer a happier lifestyle. Instead of your expansive vacant lawn, you could have a park filled with wonderful people to meet, long jogging paths to explore, a playground for your kids, and maybe a zoo or a museum. Instead of your chlorinated swimming pool, you could have a high quality public beach or lakeside with safety in a continuous lifeguard watch, and, again, tons of other beautiful people to meet. Instead of a big screen TV you could have a local theater or music performance space that gets you out of your home and gives you something special to talk about with your neighbour. These are all examples of things I’ve experienced in Copenhagen that I know could not be as good as they are without some extra tax dollars.

Now, I’m not saying that all extra money that people have in the States goes to investing and unnecessary spending on products/services. I can at least vouch for people like my parents who, usually indirectly, would share some of their money with causes and organizations they thought were worthy: boy scouts, my high school, our local church, my college education, etc. To pin down exactly what I am trying to say, though, it would probably do my country and its future generations a bit of good to take away some of the money we spend on products and put it to the government – put some trust in what our political system can do instead of putting it in the companies that make our TVs and cars. After all, it’s not the job of the TV company to do anything but make TVs, get you to buy the TVs, and stay away from bankruptcy. It is not a body of officials that you helped elect with the job of ensuring that you and your future generations are happy and have a group of people to identify yourself with. Now, I realise that can be a bit of an idealised vision of what a government should be but I’m beginning to see it as possible the longer I stay in Copenhagen.