When enough is enough.
Dansk:
Du skal ikke tro, du er noget.
Du skal ikke tro, du er lige så meget som os.
Du skal ikke tro, du er klogere end os.
Du skal ikke bilde dig ind, at du er bedre end os.
Du skal ikke tro, du ved mere end os.
Du skal ikke tro, du er mere end os.
Du skal ikke tro, at du duer til noget.
Du skal ikke le ad os.
Du skal ikke tro, at nogen bryder sig om dig.
Du skal ikke tro, du kan lære os noget.
English:
You shall not think you are anything.
You shall not think you are as good as us.
You shall not think you are smarter than us.
You shall not imagine yourself better than us.
You shall not think you know more than us.
You shall not think you are more important than us.
You shall not think you are good at anything.
You shall not laugh at us.
You shall not think anyone cares about you.
You shall not think you can teach us anything.
Janteloven is a very interesting topic here in Denmark, because some people believe in it and some don't. Its not often talked about, it more like a culture structure we have to some degree. I do see a bigger & bigger split when it comes to Janteloven and who believes / practice it.
But its still quite ingrained in us as a culture and its a great way to combat overconsumption.
"Translated" in a other way, its like. Don't keep up with the Johnsons, because they are not better or smarter than you anyway, so why try and impress them? Or why try to impress anybody else since they ain't better or smarter than you anyway? Or just simple be humble in everything you do.
What we most hear about when we talk about The Jantelov is:
Don't think you are anything.
Don't think you are better than anyone.
Don't think you are smarter than anyone.
I would say, those are the 3 most common ones when we talk about The Jantelov.
I didn't even know there were this many "rules" haha xD
One of the things which is switching is "Don't think you are good at anything", well if you do well at your job you are allowed to consider yourself good at it, not better than anyone else, but why can't you see yourself at good at your job? Maybe people are pushing against this subconsciously.
Also, Don't laugh at us? Well, dont do stupid shit then.
Its actucally from a Norwegian book called "En flygtning krydser sit spor/A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks" which is sat in a fictive town called "Jante", the book is from 1933, so old by now.
But its still in our culture, maybe the same in Norway? I honestly don't know :D
Back to the Johnsons and overconsumption.
We don't have to get the newest, best or blingest in order to fit in or be happy.
I think the key is, if we have stuff and it works, no need to upgrade or buy anything new instead either save that money, invest or go on a small trip somewhere and if something breaks and you have to fix it, well buy reliablity and good products, like products from Germany, they tend to have a good lifecycle and just have enough.
I honestly got inspired by this youtube video which talks about the same topic, go check it out, its pretty good :D
