Why are Scandinavians like this?

[thisintegrated]

[thisintegrated]

You'd think, with the average person being a quarter millionaire, Norwegians would have developed a culture of generosity??

And I'm not talking about gross fermented fish bread left underground or something.  I'd expect caviar sushi or something good if I ever visited a Norwegian.  Yet they give nothing.

Edited July 13, 2022 by thisintegrated

[AtheisticNonduality]

50 minutes ago, thisintegrated said:

Yet they give nothing.

      

[Asayake]

My parents were like this when I was a kid. When a friend was over to play at our house and dinner time came they would be told by my mom that they can stay in my room and play while I ate with the family. I think there it's multifaceted and not necessarily about generosity. For example my mother showed generosity in other ways like offering fika(cinnamon buns, ice cream, other treats) and giving my friends sweets or ice cream cake on their birthdays if they were over on a visit. But something about food in particular, lunch and especially dinner seems to be sacred and reserved for family only.

A few possible explanations could be:

- That the parents wants to talk about family matters during dinner and value their privacy. Scandinavian countries value privacy highly, for example people don't talk to strangers much at all, generally. Keeping the dinner time exclusive for the family could be another way to keep some privacy.

- That the parents doesn't want the kids to play during dinner, "don't play with your food" is something Swedish kids get told as kids and kids have a tendency to play with each other when in each others presence.

- That the parents doesn't want to impact their kids friends on what to eat or what is considered normal. This is another way to keep things private, what others eat could be considered a private matter and they want "to each their own" as far as what one should eat. They don't want other families opinionating and judging what their family eats, and to not impose judgement on what others eats as well.

- A way to make it so less wealthy families don't feel like they're obligated to offer food when their kids friends are on a visit if they have a hard time affording it. If nobody offers lunch/dinner like that it doesn't become a norm and there's no expectations you'll have to provide food for others.

That's just some possibilities, I don't think it has to do with generosity for most, it's more about privacy.

[thisintegrated]

17 minutes ago, Asayake said:

My parents were like this when I was a kid. When a friend was over to play at our house and dinner time came they would be told by my mom that they can stay in my room and play while I ate with the family. I think there it's multifaceted and not necessarily about generosity. For example my mother showed generosity in other ways like offering fika(cinnamon buns, ice cream, other treats) and giving my friends sweets or ice cream cake on their birthdays if they were over on a visit. But something about food in particular, lunch and especially dinner seems to be sacred and reserved for family only.

A few possible explanations could be:

- That the parents wants to talk about family matters during dinner and value their privacy. Scandinavian countries value privacy highly, for example people don't talk to strangers much at all, generally. Keeping the dinner time exclusive for the family could be another way to keep some privacy.

- That the parents doesn't want the kids to play during dinner, "don't play with your food" is something Swedish kids get told as kids and kids have a tendency to play with each other when in each others presence.

- That the parents doesn't want to impact their kids friends on what to eat or what is considered normal. This is another way to keep things private, what others eat could be considered a private matter and they want "to each their own" as far as what one should eat. They don't want other families opinionating and judging what their family eats, and to not impose judgement on what others eats as well.

- A way to make it so less wealthy families don't feel like they're obligated to offer food when their kids friends are on a visit if they have a hard time affording it. If nobody offers lunch/dinner like that it doesn't become a norm and there's no expectations you'll have to provide food for others.

That's just some possibilities, I don't think it has to do with generosity for most, it's more about privacy.

I can understand that.  Complicates things when you offer the kid's friend pork or something, or maybe feed them later than they'd normally eat at night.

But what I had in mind was more adult culture.

[Opulence]

Scandinavians(brits, Dutch and French included) are the most vile, machiavellian, narcissistic, shallow, cheap, autistic, ruthless, emotionally abusive, manipulative, superficial, heartless, cunning, opportunistic, ungodly, selfish and convenience based people who love to whine about every little thing in the universe.

 

[Roy]

Sorry, discussion that promotes pointless stereotyping isn't suitable for the forum.

[Carl-Richard]

@Opulence ???