Browsing Tag

danish politics

In the Media

My first time voting in Denmark, Part 3: Red, Green, and Enhedslisten

This column originally ran in the Danish tabloid BT on May 8, 2019. The next installment will run on May 21, 2019.

As a resident of Copenhagen Northwest, I hear a lot about Enhedslisten. In fact, there are some people in my neighbourhood that would like me to hear only about Enhedslisten, since during the last election local hooligans ripped down all of the election signs for all the conservative parties and the Social Democrats, leaving just SF and Enhedslisten posters dangling from telephone poles and fluttering in the wind on the S-train platforms.

But I had never seriously looked into Enhedslisten before, despite my closest Danish friend having voted for them for years.

Weren’t they the former communists who didn’t believe in private property? Why would anyone who owned anything vote for them? And since I don’t own a house and don’t own a car, would I get half of somebody else’s house and half of somebody else’s car if Enhedslisten came into power?

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May 12, 2019 by Kay Xander Mellish
In the Media

My first time voting in Denmark, Part 2: Mette and Me

This column originally ran in the Danish tabloid BT on April 24, 2019. The next installment will run on May 8, 2019.

I spend much of my time travelling around Denmark helping foreigners survive and thrive in Danish society. I tell them never to turn down cake when offered, never to act like they are the smartest person in the room, and never to make enemies – because this is a small country, and you will run into those people again and again.

Perhaps Mette Frederiksen could have benefitted from that speech, because she made a minor enemy of me with her 2005 essay “Alle har et ansvar for at folkeskolen fungerer” (“Everyone has a responsibility for making public schools work”), suggesting that parents who sent their kids to private schools were letting down the community.

As a parent of a child in a small, creative private school, I remember that speech, even though I wasn’t much interested in politics at the time. I didn’t feel I was letting down the community.

I also remember when Mette chose later to send her own children to a small, creative private school. “As a parent, you need to make the decision that is best for your child,” she said at that point.

Yeah, Mette – me too. All the other parents too. You’re not the only one who thinks her kid is special.

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May 10, 2019 by Kay Xander Mellish
In the Media

My first time voting in Denmark, Part 2: Mette and Me

This column originally ran in the Danish tabloid BT on April 24, 2019. The next installment will run on May 8, 2019.

I spend much of my time travelling around Denmark helping foreigners survive and thrive in Danish society. I tell them never to turn down cake when offered, never to act like they are the smartest person in the room, and never to make enemies – because this is a small country, and you will run into those people again and again.

Perhaps Mette Frederiksen could have benefitted from that speech, because she made a minor enemy of me with her 2005 essay “Alle har et ansvar for at folkeskolen fungerer” (“Everyone has a responsibility for making public schools work”), suggesting that parents who sent their kids to private schools were letting down the community.

As a parent of a child in a small, creative private school, I remember that speech, even though I wasn’t much interested in politics at the time. I didn’t feel I was letting down the community.

I also remember when Mette chose later to send her own children to a small, creative private school. “As a parent, you need to make the decision that is best for your child,” she said at that point.

Yeah, Mette – me too. All the other parents too. You’re not the only one who thinks her kid is special.

Continue Reading

April 28, 2019 by Kay Xander Mellish