SCANDINAVIAN POVERTY? (Background Information)
I was curious if there was poverty in Scandinavia, because it has now been exactly 31 years since I visited there, and I don’t recall seeing any evidence. My grandfather Overt Skilbred came to the United States from Norway in his early twenties and his wife was a second-generation Norwegian-American from Iowa. My mother’s father, Martin Christensen was a second-generation Danish-American from Minnesota and his wife Christine was a second-generation Norwegian-American, also from Minnesota, although they met in North Dakota, where they raised their family of 15 children. I traveled through Denmark, Sweden and Norway in September and October of 1977, having just spent the prior four years working on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline project. I was impressed with the peoples and lands of my origin, and met several Finnish citizens in Germany and Sweden who greatly impressed me with their intelligence and character. I also met an Icelandic citizen in Oslo who was very cosmopolitan and urbane. It appears that the Scandinavian economies are strong and supportive of their citizens. We in the United States could learn a lot by studying the Scandinavian cultures and attempting to emulate their systems of governance.
SCANDINAVIAN AND AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT: The Island of Hispaniola
I realize that the Scandinavian cultures are ancient civilizations which have made wise use of their time in strengthening and developing themselves into economic and social powerhouses. As young and developing nations, the North Americans would do well to model themselves after the Scandinavians. Indeed, the whole world could profit through closer partnerships with Scandinavia, especially when considering social and economic development and human rights. For example, what if Scandinavia and North America were to partner with the island of Hispaniola in the development of the two nations who currently share that island? The Dominican Republic and Haiti have been hit hard by successive hurricanes of economic, social and political origin. This could serve as a test-case in regional and world development. Those nations who are still struggling with social and economic issues would be watching this experiment with great interest and desire that partnerships of this nature could be implemented in their nations. When the costs of the project are spread out among the nations of Scandinavia and North America and the longer-term economic benefits to trade and tourism are added into the equation, I believe that the advantages not only outweigh the risks, but could serve as a template for future development projects.
Mark Overt Skilbred-Christensen
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