The Jante Law (Danish and Norwegian: Janteloven; Swedish: Jantelagen; Finnish: Janten laki; Faroese: Jantulógin) refers to a pattern of group behaviour towards individuals within Scandinavian communities, which negatively portrays and criticizes success and achievement as unworthy and inappropriate.
It has been observed as a form of behaviour for centuries, but was identified as a series of rules, the Jante Law, by the Norwegian/Danish author Aksel Sandemose in his novel A fugitive crosses his tracks (En flyktning krysser sitt spor, 1933, English translation published in the USA in 1936), where he portrays the small Danish town Jante (modelled upon his native town Nykøbing Mors as it was at the beginning of the 20th century, but typical of all very small towns), where nobody is anonymous.
Generally used colloquially as a sociological term to negatively describe an attitude towards individuality and success claimed to be common in Scandinavia, it refers to a supposed snide, jealous and narrow small-town mentality which refuses to acknowledge individual effort and places all emphasis on the collective, while punishing those who stand out as achievers.
The term may be used by those individuals who feel they are not allowed to take credit for their achievements, or to point out their assumption or a firm conviction that another person is being overly critical.
There are ten different rules in the law as defined by Sandemose, but they are all variations on a single theme and are usually referred to as a homogeneous unit: Don't think you're anyone special or that you're better than us.
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 any one of us cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach us anything.
A further rule recognised in the novel is:
11. Don't think that there is anything we don't know about you.
In the book, those Janters who transgress this unwritten 'law' are regarded with suspicion and some hostility, as it goes against communal desire in the town, which is to preserve social stability and uniformity.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
An early version of equality among mankind:
Nature hath made mankind so equal in the faculties of body and mind as that, though there be found one kind sometimes manifestly stronger in body or of quicker mind than another, yet when all is reckoned together the difference between mankind and mankind is not so considerable as that one mankind can thereupon claim to himself any benefit to which another may not pretend as well as he/she. For as to the strength of body, the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, either by secret machination or by confederacy with others that are in the same danger with himself/herself.
And as to the faculties of the mind, setting aside the arts grounded upon words, and especially that skill of proceeding upon general and infallible rules, called science, which very few have and but in few things, as being not a native faculty born with us, nor attained, as prudence, while we look after somewhat else, I find yet a greater equality amongst mankind than that of strength. For cautiousness is but experience, which equal time equally bestows on all mankind in those things they equally apply themselves unto
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all mankind are created equal, that they are endowed by their forefathers with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among People, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;
All mankind are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.
Policies that seek to produce an equality of outcome for all citizens in various areas of life are controversial. As individuals have differing skills and talents, a society cannot easily be made 'equal'.
And as to the faculties of the mind, setting aside the arts grounded upon words, and especially that skill of proceeding upon general and infallible rules, called science, which very few have and but in few things, as being not a native faculty born with us, nor attained, as prudence, while we look after somewhat else, I find yet a greater equality amongst mankind than that of strength. For cautiousness is but experience, which equal time equally bestows on all mankind in those things they equally apply themselves unto
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all mankind are created equal, that they are endowed by their forefathers with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among People, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;
All mankind are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.
Policies that seek to produce an equality of outcome for all citizens in various areas of life are controversial. As individuals have differing skills and talents, a society cannot easily be made 'equal'.
To debate priorities one should know:
A need is something that is necessary for organisms to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death. Needs can be objective and physical, such as food and water, or they can be subjective and psychological, such as the need for self-esteem. On a societal level, needs are sometimes controversial, such as the need for a nationalized health care system. Understanding needs and wants is an issue in the fields of politics, social science, and philosophy.
In economics, a want is something that is desired. It is said that people have unlimited wants, but limited resources. Each person has wants. You might want a laptop while your best friend may want a desktop computer. Thus, people cannot have everything they want and must look for the best alternatives which they can afford.
Wants are often distinguished from needs. A need is something that is necessary for survival (such as food and shelter), whereas a want is simply something that a person would like to have. Some economists have rejected this distinction and maintain that all of these are simply wants, with varying levels of importance. By this viewpoint, wants and needs can be understood as examples of the overall concept of demand.
In economics, a want is something that is desired. It is said that people have unlimited wants, but limited resources. Each person has wants. You might want a laptop while your best friend may want a desktop computer. Thus, people cannot have everything they want and must look for the best alternatives which they can afford.
Wants are often distinguished from needs. A need is something that is necessary for survival (such as food and shelter), whereas a want is simply something that a person would like to have. Some economists have rejected this distinction and maintain that all of these are simply wants, with varying levels of importance. By this viewpoint, wants and needs can be understood as examples of the overall concept of demand.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
In preparations of a plan.
People will talk about the needs of a community or organization. Such needs might include demands for a certain government program or entity, for a particular type of business, or for individuals with particular skills.
Their view goes beyond the emphasis on psychology. It might be said that an individual's needs are representative of the costs of being human within a society.
A person who does not have his or her needs fulfilled -- i.e., a "needy" person -- will function poorly in society.
Thus, the plan should be to give the people what they ask for because human development is characterised by the fact that in the process of meeting their needs, humans develop new needs, implying that at least to some extent they make and remake their own nature. For that satisfaction of their needs, which makes the human being a universal natural being capable to turn the whole nature into the subject of his/her needs and his/her activity, and develops his/her needs and abilities (essential human forces) and develops himself/herself (a universal being) who experienced suffering in the process of learning to meet their needs.
In this view, each person has an objective interest in avoiding serious harm that prevents the endeavor to attain his or her vision of what's good, no matter what that is exactly. This attempt requires the ability to participate in the societal setting in which an individual lives. More specifically, each of the needs to have both physical health and personal autonomy. The latter refers to the capacity to make informed choices about what should be done and how to implement that. This requires mental health, cognitive skills, and chances to participate in the society's activities and a system of collective decision-making.
How to satisfy such needs in the view represented by a political economy in the context of social assistance provided by the welfare state and with medical ethics to meet the civics of human need?
The point is to present a spectrum of broad categories of "intermediate needs" that define how the need for physical health and personal autonomy are fulfilled, such as:
Adequate nutritional food and water
Adequate protective housing
A safe environment for working
A safe physical environment
Appropriate health care
Security in childhood,
Significant primary relationships with others
Physical security
Economic security
Safe birth control and child-bearing
Appropriate basic and trans-cultural education.
How are the details of their needs to a full satisfaction determined?
That calls for a presentation of a rational identification of needs using the most up-to-date scientific knowledge; the use of the actual experienced individuals in their everyday lives and a functional democratic decision-making.
One of the problems with a psychological theory of needs is that conceptions of "need" may vary radically between different cultures or different parts of the same society. One person's view of need may easily be seen as paternalistic by another.
Their view goes beyond the emphasis on psychology. It might be said that an individual's needs are representative of the costs of being human within a society.
A person who does not have his or her needs fulfilled -- i.e., a "needy" person -- will function poorly in society.
Thus, the plan should be to give the people what they ask for because human development is characterised by the fact that in the process of meeting their needs, humans develop new needs, implying that at least to some extent they make and remake their own nature. For that satisfaction of their needs, which makes the human being a universal natural being capable to turn the whole nature into the subject of his/her needs and his/her activity, and develops his/her needs and abilities (essential human forces) and develops himself/herself (a universal being) who experienced suffering in the process of learning to meet their needs.
In this view, each person has an objective interest in avoiding serious harm that prevents the endeavor to attain his or her vision of what's good, no matter what that is exactly. This attempt requires the ability to participate in the societal setting in which an individual lives. More specifically, each of the needs to have both physical health and personal autonomy. The latter refers to the capacity to make informed choices about what should be done and how to implement that. This requires mental health, cognitive skills, and chances to participate in the society's activities and a system of collective decision-making.
How to satisfy such needs in the view represented by a political economy in the context of social assistance provided by the welfare state and with medical ethics to meet the civics of human need?
The point is to present a spectrum of broad categories of "intermediate needs" that define how the need for physical health and personal autonomy are fulfilled, such as:
Adequate nutritional food and water
Adequate protective housing
A safe environment for working
A safe physical environment
Appropriate health care
Security in childhood,
Significant primary relationships with others
Physical security
Economic security
Safe birth control and child-bearing
Appropriate basic and trans-cultural education.
How are the details of their needs to a full satisfaction determined?
That calls for a presentation of a rational identification of needs using the most up-to-date scientific knowledge; the use of the actual experienced individuals in their everyday lives and a functional democratic decision-making.
One of the problems with a psychological theory of needs is that conceptions of "need" may vary radically between different cultures or different parts of the same society. One person's view of need may easily be seen as paternalistic by another.
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