Hey conservatives, if you are sick of PC culture and safe spaces, move to “Socialist” Denmark.

There are no snowflakes in Denmark. When I say “snowflakes”, I am not referring to the weather. No, I am talking about the alt-right’s depiction of a whining millennial who was taught by liberal-leaning educational institutions, that they are “unique” or “special”.

According to Wikipedia, the “snowflake generation is a neologistic term used to characterize the young adults of the 2010s as being more prone to taking offense and less resilient than previous generations, or as being too emotionally vulnerable to cope with views that challenge their own”. If you ask a conservative, a snowflake believes everyone in society is a victim of institutionalized white patriarchy. Of course, privileged white men can also be part of this group, on the condition that they first acknowledge and denounce their privilege, in order to take up arms against social injustice.

So, in that spirit, I would like to start with a disclaimer: I am a privileged white male. I am also a liberal, and always have been, unashamedly. Yet, at times, I get irritated with my own party because it seems these days everyone takes offense to everything. In fact, famous comedians such as Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and John Cleese have all come out against PC culture because everything comedians say on college campuses these days is, “offensive, and no one laughs anymore”. [Click on the links to see what I am referring to]. Now the left may retort by claiming that these comedians just aren’t funny. But is that really the case?

As renowned psychiatrist Robin Skynner put it succinctly, “If people can’t control their emotions, they have to start trying to control other people’s behavior”. And we see this phenomenon occurring all across America, Australia, as well as some countries in Europe. Just to highlight how ridiculous this movement from the left has become, check out this interview between Megan Kelly and Christina Sommers regarding the “safe space” culture.

Just in case you are feeling a bit put off by the rhetoric of FOX news, listen to Obama’s speech about the dangers of safe spaces here.

This need to control others and their behavior in order to protect oneself from hurt feelings goes against every philosophical, religious, and psychological teaching I have ever read. This article from psychology today demonstrates how the safe space culture can actually harm others, is highly exclusive, promotes a narcissistic worldview, and hinders psychological growth.

From a spiritual point of view, Stefan Ravalli describes the SJW culture in this fashion, “If, as a meditation teacher, I were commissioned to provide the SJW archetype with guidance along this kind of path, I would doubtlessly have my work cut out for me. They exist in shrill opposition to these Eastern ideas of health, harmony and personal power. They seem to embody an exaggerated form of ego-fragility, seeking to construct a twisted heroic identity around attachment to Samskara rather than liberation from it. This kind of self-imposed victimhood is one of the most indicative symptoms of spiritual weakness”.

Furthermore, when I personally studied Tibetan Buddhism in a monastery in Glenn Spey, New York, I remember vividly being taught that one should learn to not react to people who come across as offensive but instead try to see that they are suffering from their own delusional thinking. Buddhism teaches that instead of seeking to change others so you can be happy, you should instead strive to change your own perspective in order to find lasting peace. This is the exact opposite of what the safe space culture teaches. The SJW movement strives instead to impose institutionalized PC authoritarianism upon those who make them feel uncomfortable.

So what does this all have to do with Denmark? Well, as most people know, Denmark has gained a lot of press ever since Bernie Sanders advocated for its socialist ideas as a model for the United States. Conservatives typically have a great fear of Socialism, and therefore equate the snowflake generation with left-leaning Marxist ideologies. Based on this logic, you would think that a highly socially progressive country like Denmark would be the most PC country on the planet. But in reality, it is far from it. Contrary to what conservatives might believe, Denmark has a very healthy and mature form of equality spanning all demographics.

Just as an example, when I got my first real corporate job here, I was surprised that I wasn’t forced to sit through the same sexual harassment and cultural sensitivity trainings I grew accustomed to in America. In Denmark, people of all races, religions, and gender can make fun of one another in a jovial kind of way without anyone taking offense. To a Dane, the mentality is more like, “We are all adults here, we can take a joke”.

In Denmark, no one is asking the government to step in and impose regulations so that everyone feels safe. It’s ironic how one can live in a liberal society where everyone is treated with dignity, yet without simultaneously blaming others for their own suffering. The Danes all seem to get along, trust, and respect one another.

My boss is a woman, and she is awesome. The first thing she asked when I attended our weekly department meeting was whether I knew any dirty jokes. To be honest, I was actually afraid to speak up out of years of social conditioning that I might offend someone. So my Greek colleague spoke up on my behalf instead, by mentioning a dirty joke I confided in him earlier. Once the joke was told, the whole room burst into laughter.

This was not at all the same kind of experience I had growing up in America. Consider the time I went to work for UPS part-time. During our training, I made the mistake of laughing at a drawing the instructor made on the whiteboard (I honestly thought it looked like the lion was licking his balls). Although everyone else laughed, the instructor got very angry and humiliated me in front of the group by making me read the UPS sexual harassment policy in front of everyone.

I am sincerely in awe of how much more emotionally stable, intelligent, and rational the Danes are as a whole. No one seems to feel the need to put others ‘in-their-place’, nor has anyone ever told me to ‘check my privilege’. No one’s power seems threatened over here. In Denmark, I feel like I can relax and be myself. Moving here was like getting rid of a 40-year-old PC headache. Many of my Danish friends see what is going on in America right now and shake their heads in bewilderment. So when I hear people on the conservative right complaining about PC culture, I empathize with those who are sick of it.

Unfortunately, many on the left feel that the correct response to alt-right rhetoric is to push back even harder by publicly shaming them, silencing them, and by using every available institution to ‘educate’ those who are blinded by their privilege. This is not a very effective way to unify people. In reality, this anger from the left only strengthens the resolve of those on the right.The reason being, humans have a strong knack for self-preservation.

The left needs to understand that any kind of hostility aimed towards the right gives them all the justification needed to push back even harder. It kind of reminds me of watching thinned-skinned Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un sling insults back and forth until someone drops the first bomb.

I am no fan of Trump. In fact, I disagree with conservatives more than liberals on most issues. But I appeal to my friends on the left because they are usually the more compassionate side, and I therefore hold my friends on the left to a higher standard. All of our greatest social victories have come from peaceful movements. According to Gandhi if you want real change you must first, “Be the change you wish to see in the world“. If that isn’t enough, remember these powerful words from Martin Luther King:

 “Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love… Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding“.

These days, there is little effort made on the left to win friendship and understanding of conservatives. These days you hear, “Sit down, you already had your turn, I’m talking now“. So much ego, so much self-grasping.

This anger-laced tirade, posted by Tess Rafferty, is a perfect example of the kind of response from the left that is mobilizing more and more people to jump off the social justice bandwagon:

I’m not sure what Rafferty was hoping to accomplish here. Aside from making a few disgruntled liberals feel good, this hit piece against Trump supporters is a far cry from the love and understanding Martin Luther King and Gandhi were calling for. Perhaps this explains why a whole new, younger generation of boys and girls are pushing back against progressivism (don’t forget, 53% of women vote for Trump). Whatever happened to, “When they go low, we go high“? When did the left forget that, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that” -Martin Luther King.

As I stated in the beginning, I am not one of these guys that believe privilege is a myth. But these shaming and bullying tactics won’t work on the vast majority of those who are still in denial about privilege. Instead, this anger from the left makes white men more fearful and defensive. To give an example of the type of shaming I am referring to, just look at this video put out by Buzzfeed concerning “manspreading”. And check out this video where a woman actually suggests that office air conditioning is sexist. If that wasn’t enough, here is an amusing Youtube blogger aptly named, ‘Pop Culture Detective’, who finds microaggressions in the most seemingly benign tv shows, such as the Big Bang Theory.

Notice a recurring theme? Young people are getting much more easily ‘triggered‘ these days. It’s no wonder why anxiety is the leading mental health issue on college campuses in 2017.

Within the last few years, movements such as Red Pill, MRM, MGTOW, Blue Lives Matter, and the alt-right, have all been created as a response to extremist ideologies on the left. And when I use the word extremist, I am not referring to much-needed 1st and 2nd wave feminism movements. I am talking about 3rd-wave feminism, Antifa, and Social Justice Warriors, to name a few. Many people, both liberals and conservatives alike, view these emerging voices as agents of hatred, raging against patriarchy and anyone who doesn’t conform to their ideology. Consequently, these movements have turned a lot of people off of progressivism entirely.

Many women, such as this blogger Beth Gribbons, have become disenchanted with the social justice movement. Here is a telling excerpt from her blog:

“I caught the terrible disease of ‘Third-Wave Feminist Liberal’ and I became a Social Justice Warrior and could no longer breathe. I had to get out. When I did, it was a huge fight. They slowly began to tear me apart and plan ways they could attack me and things they could accuse me of. Everyone seemed to be in this mob-mentality trance. As if they had caught some wicked disease…or joined a cult“.

As you can see, these are not just old bigoted white men turning against the left. These are young teenagers, bloggers, and Youtubers, who have been force-fed daily reminders of privilege since they were infants. These are academic scholars, such as Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris. Now some female academics are starting to jump on board too, such as Janice Fiamengo, Barbara Kay, and Christina Sommers [Click the links]. One self-proclaimed feminist, Cassie Jaye, set out to disprove the men’s rights movement through her documentary The Red Pill, only to realize that MRM is not at all what she expected. Yet when Cassie spoke about her findings, she was attacked unapologetically by Australian media, and her film was banned, just because some people found her views offensive.

Still not convinced? Perhaps you believe old white men are just too privileged to realize how good they have it. Well, here is a short documentary by a feminist lesbian named Norah Vincent, who went undercover disguised as a man for 18 months in order to learn what it was like to live as a man. In the end, she concluded that, “men are suffering, they have different problems than women have, but they don’t have it better. They need our sympathy, they need our love, and they need each other more than anything else”.

“They need each other more than anything else”. Let that sink in for a moment. We must ask ourselves why there is a sudden increase in support groups that cater towards men. Could the rise of the alt-right be a consequence of a vacuum felt by men who feel alienated by a society they view is constantly attacking them from all sides? Think about it.

Much in the way Trump’s anti-muslim rhetoric works to recruit more terrorists, when you single out a group of people and point to them as the enemy, they eventually unify and take a stand against those who hate them. So by hating on Trump supporters, or by raging against institutionalized patriarchy, you are actually backing these groups into a corner and making them stronger. It’s no surprise such hostile waters foster the rise of more sinister groups, such as Nazi white supremacists.

Psychiatry Professor Jordan Peterson issued a stern warning about a white-nationalist backlash, in response to decades of institutionalized progressivism. Watch here, as Peterson is surrounded by an angry mob of triggered millennial activists who feel offended by his opinions. Notice when Peterson talks, the student interprets his analysis as a threat, rather than seeing it as an objective reality.

Perhaps instead of demanding that institutions block views that offend certain people, we should allow all voices to be heard. Watch what happens when one opposing force gives their opponent a platform to speak:

Folks, it’s videos like these that restore my faith in humanity.

Now, back to Denmark. How is it that this little socialist country managed to accomplish a high level of equality across the board without the need for excessive government imposed PC regulations? My guess is, for one, the children of Denmark don’t get coddled the way that American children do. They are much more self-confident and resilient to stress than their American counterparts. It all starts in the daycare. Don’t believe me? Check out this documentary called “Kids Gone Wild: Denmark’s Forest Kindergarten”.

Daycare in Denmark is rough. They don’t raise their kids to be weak. They are taught from a very young age to think for themselves and be independent. While American parents are yelling at their kids to stop jumping on the furniture, Danish daycare providers are lining up the chairs and teaching the kids how to safely jump off the table. This helps Danish children build a strong internal frame of reference. I’ll admit, I was very nervous when I first saw my 2-year-old daughter doing this. But two years later, she is completely fearless.

By the time a Dane reaches 18, they are expected to move out and live on their own. If they can’t do this, then they must start paying rent. Albeit, the Danish government makes it easy to do this with free education and a monthly stipend. Once they are finished with their primary studies, the Danes usually take one year off to travel the world and gain some practical real-life experience before deciding on a college. After university, the Danes are ready to enter the workforce as full-functioning, well-adjusted adults.

In the workplace, the Danes practice a philosophy known as “frihed under ansvar”, which directly translated means, “freedom with responsibility”. This philosophy dictates that a boss should not stand over an employee’s shoulders micromanaging them every second of the day. Instead, each employee is encouraged to use their talent and creativity to find their own way within the organization, while taking full responsibility for their actions.

Independence is very important to a Dane. In fact, if you see a Danish mother struggling with her baby carriage on the bus, don’t dare help unless she asks first, otherwise she might be insulted. Furthermore, older folks often refuse to sit in the senior citizen seats because they don’t want to appear like they need special treatment.

In addition, women in Denmark are taught from the time they are born that they are 100% no different than men. It is engrained in their soul and into the culture. Danish women don’t get easily intimidated, nor do they feel the need to appeal to an authority at the slightest hint of injustice. They are taught instead to handle discrimination issues confidently, by directly confronting the problem, rather than running to HR for every little microaggression.

Danish women don’t strive to be equal. They ARE equal! And they know it. Furthermore, Danish men are more passive and effeminate. The macho alpha stereotype jock is not very common over here. In fact, Danish men share many of the domestic responsibilities with the women. They do dishes, laundry and take care of the children, and even share one year of paid maternity/paternity leave.

Perhaps if this mindset existed in America, there would be no need for extremism on either side. America has always been a country of extremes. Keep in mind, if there is an extreme ideological left, there will undoubtedly be an extreme right, and vice versa. Fortunately, the Danes have found a way to teach their children to be strong, self-confident, and most of all TRUST one another. So when I say there is no PC, safe-space culture in Denmark, it is because there really isn’t a need for one. Maybe this proves that Democratic Socialism actually works, and those on the right need not live in fear of America moving in the same direction.

Having said that, I am happy to finally live in a country where I can enjoy diverse friendships across multiple demographics without constantly being reminded that by default, I am a privileged, misogynistic, xenophobic, racist, homophobe. In other words, Denmark is a country where people have trust for one another, and no one needs to live in fear of being on the receiving end of someone else’s insecurity or misplaced anger.

Ironically, Denmark has become my safe space.