So here’s a thought that crossed my mind, which I would very much like your viewpoints on.
I’ll be using som JBP termonolgy to shorten the statement, please ask if you want me to elaborate.
The thought goes: If one of the pitfalls of happiness in life is to pursue a career at a level that requires you to sacrifice other aspects of your life, such as friends, family and outside-work-hobbies, then could the high taxes in Denmark, be a deciding factor as to why our country is often named “happiest country in the world”?
The warrant (is that the correct termonologi, for an underlying fact in argument?) is that if a large portion of the economic reward for pursuing high-end careers is removed (by tax), then people will be less likely to pursue those jobs.
Is your postulation here that people in Denmark consider paying high taxes rewarding? As that would be unique to me, as no I know wants to pay more taxes than they already are — and those who do want higher taxes, want others to have higher taxes, never themselves.
The postulation is, that people in Denmark have more well-rounded lives, because they generally do not pursue high-hour jobs (so the infamous 80 hour weeks), because the high taxation makes the economical reward significantly smaller.
I know that this is probably a very small factor if true in any way at all.
I’ll have to look for statistics and maybe academic papers when I have time.