This man, known as Dovne Robert (Lazy Robert), has become a minor celebrity in Denmark for his negative attitudes towards working. There even was an interview with him in the NYTimes.

You take the blue pill – you get your drømmejob (job-of-your-dreams), with long, interesting, busy days and en fed løn (a fat salary). You take the red pill – you get a deltidsjob (part-time job) with short days and a lot of fritid (leisure time) – but considerably less penge (money).

I hope you forgive me paraphrasing The Matrix! The point I’m trying to make is … that you can probably not imagine how many Danes would’ve taken the red pill!

According to a fresh survey by the Danish statistical organization Yougov and the paper Metroxpress, every second Dane (49 % of the population) thinks that ”my leisure time” matters more than ”my job and career”. Only 19 % of the people in Denmark think it is more important at gøre karriere (to make a career).

”Are they nuts?” I just hear the reactions from typical arbejdsnarkomaner (workaholics, literally ”job junkies”) in career-minded countries like Mexico, the US and China. How could ”leisure time” ever matter more than the ”job and career” needed to make one’s dreams come true?

Well, for one thing, the ”Danish dream” is quite different from den amerikanske drøm (The American Dream). Sure, there are Danes in Hollywood and even a Danish astronaut or two, and Danes too are fond of their iPads & clothes & stuff… But still, the ideal for many people here remains at have det hyggeligt – to be in the warm state of ”cozy” togetherness and safety and comfort known as hygge. To lots of Danes, that’s more important than being famous or driving a fancy car. Hygge doesn’t mean that Danes avoid luxury – far from it. Yet it sometimes means that people here prioritize a bit differently. The Danish response to the reaction I imagined above might be: ”What’s the point of working all day to buy that big shiny villa, if you haven’t got the time to light a candle and share a good bottle of Friday evening wine with your friends?”

Secondly, and most importantly, Denmark is a relatively wealthy velfærdsstat (Welfare State). You don’t have to work so much in order to survive. The worst paid jobs – like students’ jobs – typically yield about 100 Kroner an hour (18 US dollars) – and that’s about as low as it gets. A bread costs about 20 Kroner. People who don’t have a family can work like two days a week and still pay for a room, food, clothes, a cinema ticket and a couple of beers…

Losing your job is not a catastrophe in Denmark. Most working Danes are members of an a-kasse or ”unemployment fund”. You pay a certain amount each year, and in case you lose your job, the other a-kasse members ensure that you get dagpenge (”day money”) for some time (a couple of years, at the most). If you get sick and can’t work, or if you lose your a-kasse benefits, you’re guaranteed to get kontanthjælp (”cash help”), a kind of monthly support from the state.

According to DR (Danish television), the support for jobless people is so good that 17.700 Danes would actually increase their incomes by quitting their jobs and registering themselves as unemployed! I guess that only the hygge of their arbejdsplads (workplace) keeps them there…