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Scandinavians: Can We Be Like Them?
April 18, 2021 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm MST
During the buildup to the 2016 presidential election it was suggested that the U.S. should “look to countries like Denmark, Sweden and Norway and learn what they have accomplished for their working people.”
Countering comments came from several sources, for example, “I love Denmark, “ but we are the United States of America.“ Next came a barrage of statements like, “We are capitalists, not socialists.” But these comments don’t answer the question about what it is that make Scandinavians different.
So the question is, “Can we be like them?” Can we learn from Scandinavian accomplishments? We’ll explore some ways in which the two social and economic models are similar and different.
Dr Jan Hansen will be presenting – here’s a brief bio:
Jan and Miriam Hansen are from Altoona, in western Wisconsin,where they’ve lived for the past twenty-five years. Jan
emigrated from Norway, from the west coast city of Aalesund, to Chicago when he was a teenager. Miriam, a Minnesota native, grew up in Roseville, north of St. Paul. They met as students at St. Olaf College; they have two daughters, both of whom are teachers.
Jan is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Miriam is a former librarian and teacher. Together they’ve been involved with international education, and have taught in several foreign countries.
The Hansens have been active in the Ager Historical Association in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It’s from working in the library there that they became inspired to dig further into Scandinavian culture, economics and history.
Zoom Link will be activated several hours before the meeting.
