ABSTRACT
The Nordic countries are world famous for their presumed egalitarian ideologies and practices. If there is a Nordic identity charged with positive qualities, it must arguably be connected to some idea of democracy, welfare and egalitarianism. The frictions inherent in the new Netherlands are tangible, and it sometimes appears as if the liberalism so deeply embedded in the country is a societal model rather than an ethical attitude. A general problem associated with socialization in societies of our kind, hot societies' as Lvi-Strauss called them, is that knowledge is rendered obsolete. Besides, teaching secondary schoolchildren a programming language was a result of a misguided view of relevant knowledge. Cultural sameness has been a precondition both for Dutch tolerance and for Scandinavian egalitarianism. A Norwegian school system which sees it as its objective to protect and conserve, must maintain even strengthen the popular myths about Norwegianness.
