The comment expresses the writer’s opinions.
The newspaper Verdens Gang says that Norway is blessed with a happiness researcher called Mads Larsen (49).
I myself have been researching happiness for sixty-seven years, and would like to share some experiences.
Unfortunate youngsters
Happiness researcher Larsen has found that the elderly are happier and the young unhappier in Norway. Larsen believes that the reason is the high house prices;
– When it is so much more expensive to enter the housing market than it was before, we force young people to become more materialistic, to think more selfishly and to choose professions where they earn well rather than work with what gives them meaning, says Larsen.
He illustrates the problem with a young woman who, when she saw housing prices in Oslo, chose to become a lawyer instead of a nurse.
Poor thing! Imagine having to spend the rest of your life suing fellow human beings just to be able to afford to live!
Hans Geelmuyden
Hans Geelmuyden is a Norwegian public debater, journalist, writer, commentator and former editor-in-chief of Morgenbladet. He is a civil economist from NHH, and has built, managed, owned and sold Geelmuyden Kiese Gruppen.
Individualism or community
But happiness researcher Larsen does not stop there. He believes he knows that “the main ingredient in the Norwegian formula for happiness is working for the community”. Through his research, he has found that quality of life has two main sources: That you work for your own success, or that you work for the community.
– What Norway has been good at is the latter. We are now about to lose that. We see that in the young people we have spoken to, says Larsen.
He is concerned that the high house prices “force young people into a way of thinking characterized by materialism and individualism”.
I myself am most worried about happiness researcher Larsen’s ability to reason.
Independence creates happiness
I am also concerned about house prices in the big cities, and think that more and cheaper buildings must be built so that more people can afford to buy their own homes. But I am not worried about the “materialism and individualism” of young people.
As a father of three and as an employer, I have spoken to hordes of young people over the last forty years. I am greedily impressed by both the so-called “millenials” (born between 1981 and 1996) and Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012). I know them as honest, serious and hardworking.
It is neither materialistic nor selfish to want to earn well. It’s smart to have «fuck you money”. Independence creates happiness.
Read also: Norway the least happy country in the Nordics once again
Young people choose the right
Today’s youth will serve well. They are few. The job market is crying out for people. This is supply and demand. The problem for today’s young people is that they have to pick up the bill after my generation.
Young people neither believe in politicians’ promises nor that the State will deliver. That is why they choose politicians who promise to prioritize, and vote to the right. This does not make them individualists. Only for realists.
Young people believe more in Young Conservative leader Svenneby and FpU leader Velle than in Støre and Vedum.
There must be two – at least!
I don’t know many young people who believe that they are the makers of their own success. We humans are pack animals and are concerned about having to live our lives as lone wolves. But that does not mean that we primarily work for the community. At least not the great community called the State. Why should we?
Instead, we work for the small communities such as the family, the workplace or the local environment. This is how we take responsibility both for ourselves and others.
Newfound freedom
I left Geelmuyden Kiese on 1 April last year. People often ask me if I miss GK. Yes, of course it happens that I miss old colleagues and customers. But the day I walked out the door for the last time, I decided to enjoy my newfound freedom.
I decided that forty years as a line manager with responsibility for results was enough. For forty years, my job was to support and develop hundreds of employees, help customers, and answer tons of emails and phone calls every day.
For me, it made sense to create good communication. Better information leads to better decisions and a better society. Besides, I was well paid.
I fully understand that many young people want to become lawyers, not nurses. You become happy by standing on your own two feet.
