Scandinavia & America: Love & misunderstanding
It’s no secret the United States of America gets a disproportionate amount of world attention relative to its size, not least in an election year as hysterical and troubling as this one.
We know the names of more of its politicians, governors, mayors, even judges than we do our own domestic kind. We avidly read its news sites, watch its news channels, follow its opinion leaders, all via its tech platforms. We’re sponges, satellites, and amplifiers of its many strengths and its weaknesses.
But it doesn’t work the other way round, and herein lies the problem.
There are some places in the world that have enough evidence of better progress that they could actually teach the US a few things about the values America so famously defends or the ones it doesn’t. About democracy, freedom, justice, human wellbeing, environmental responsibility, even happiness, while still being drum-beaters for American hegemony.
And yet, while the evidence is there, it’s easier for the United States to simply package, pigeon-hole and trivialise such countries and valuable lessons, as to leave them continually inconsequential and disregarded.
So, on election eve, we took a look at the long history of Scandinavia’s relationship with the United States, and vice versa, to better understand why the opportunity for the leader of the free world to improve by listening to one of its greatest regional allies is so constantly missed.
Because, if you’re an American looking for a remote, oddball region to place your character or story, then look no further.
The early years
Ever since the 1800s Scandinavians have flocked to the land of the free, originally to escape crushing poverty back home. Today, there are about 12 million Americans of Scandinavian ancestry — about half the population of Scandinavia itself — many of whom made their home in the Upper Midwest in places like Minnesota, where the Vikings play football.
The American Revolution had a profound impact on newly-independent Norway back in 1814 who drafted their own constitution partially based on the American original. You read it here, Norway is actually younger than the United States of America. And inspired by it.
As early as 1853 Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen predicted the footnote role Scandinavia might play in future American visits back to Europe in his prophetic essay ‘A Thousand Years From Now’. Sixty years later, Denmark sold their part of the West Indies to America, now known as the US Virgin Islands.
Sweden, meanwhile, has the highest density of McDonald’s restaurants in Europe (per head of population), and a similar propensity for American chrome. The world’s largest US classic car gathering is actually held in Lidköping every July, the petrolhead subculture of Raggare can be found in even the remotest forest, and it is said there are more restored 50s American cars over here than in the US itself.
The more difficult recent history
The current US-Scandinavian relationship — much like the rest of the world’s — has been dominated by the divisive opinions of President Donald Trump and the typically stunned, politely angry, or subtly witty reactions of those countries on his radar.
First, it was the Danes who flippantly asked Trump, following his inauguration, if they could come second after America first. They then neatly defended themselves from a Fox News tirade about rotten socialism in the state of Denmark, though no doubt to deaf ears. The Prime Minister was even reluctantly involved when obliged to diplomatically deflect his sudden idea to buy Greenland. On rejection, Trump called her ‘nasty’ and cancelled a state visit.
The Swedes, historic models of discipline and progress, have found themselves either having to clarify that their country is not on the road to hell as the result of an inclusive immigration policy, or trying to dampen Oval Office outrage over the arrest of A$AP Rocky for assault outside — you guessed it — a US-inspired Swedish burger bar.
Then the Norwegians, one year after being recognised as the world’s happiest nation, had to fend off his suggestion to invite more of them to emigrate to the US instead of people from “ shithole countries “ — not surprisingly just one day after he received a visit, and big military order, from the Norwegian Prime Minister.
Nordic neighbours, the Finns, were even drawn into his orbit when he mentioned the apparent Finnish ‘custom’ of raking their forests to avoid catastrophic wildfires while standing among the burned-out remains of a former Californian Paradise. ‘ Rake America Great Again ‘ was the droll Finnish response.
We could go on.
It’s all so funny, if only it wasn’t so sad.
Because if America is indeed still the land of opportunity, then it’s missing a very big one here.
But then again, perhaps, come the morning of November 4th, there is someone else in control in Washington who might just start listening a bit more.
Original version published at https://skandinavisk.com, October 31st, 2020.
