Jante Law

I mentioned this in the last post, so I thought I'd paste it in. The "Jante Law" came from a book by a Danish writer where he portrays his view of what it was like to grow up in a small Danish town. It isn't a law, per say, but rather an idea in Danish culture that has roots way back.

The ten rules are:

1. Don't think that you are special.
2. Don't think that you are of the same standing as us.
3. Don't think that you are smarter than us.
4. Don't fancy yourself as being better than us.
5. Don't think that you know more than us.
6. Don't think that you are more important than us.
7. Don't think that you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at us.
9. Don't think that anyone cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach us anything.

It is a somewhat controversial topic in Denmark and is probably debated how much it still applies in large cities like Copenhagen. But I think it gives a good picture of why Danish culture is the way it is in different ways.

Do we have some of these ideas in Minnesota too?