sitting on a backwards train
I read Danish news a lot, and I continually get quite surprised about the left-right political spectrum in Denmark. I plan to write more about this in the future, but I just want to share a short tidbit from this week.
National operator DSB announced on Monday that rail tickets will cost up to 13 percent more in Denmark next year, with most locations in the country likely to see higher fares.
After this announcement, it was the Danish People’s Party, a far right, nationalist, anti-immigrant political party came out to rail against this.
“It seems completely crazy,” transport spokesperson Nick Zimmermann of the Danish People’s Party said. “If prices keep going up, I can 100 percent understand more people using their car.”
In the US, right wing politics has this odd intersection with anti-transit, anti-city, pro-car positions. Something about traditional values and despising poor people. But here, in Denmark, even the most vile political parties is coming out to say the opposite.
A broken clock is right twice a day.
With love,
Aidan in Copenhagen
Unrelated, but there is a quite strong train graffiti scene in Copenhagen. Almost every other day I get on a train that looks like this.
File this one under “1,000 things Aidan didn’t expect in moving abroad.”
Odd isn’t it? Almost as if ‘traditional values’ are the ones that come from the Everyman (and woman) rather than the 1% at the top of the ladder.
I’ve watched every season of Borgen. Good TV and fascinating political theater. I look forward to reading more from our American on the street.