Gurinrando Exodus Omega: Is the Grass Greener in Greenland?

When you think of the languages spoken in North America, the three main languages that probably come to mind include English, Spanish, and French. Of the languages spoken in North America, one that is probably often forgotten is Danish, the language spoken in Denmark and one of the two main languages spoken in Greenland. Yes, in case you were not aware, there is actually a Danish territory in North America: Greenland.

And in case you haven't noticed, life on Earth these days is starting to feel like some pre-apocalyptic anime series imported from Japan. Global financial meltdown, earthquakes, hurricanes, high-tech weaponry -- we don't have massive anthropomorphic robots yet, but there's still time. Yes, this planet has always had strange sorts of crises to deal with from war to famine to natural disasters, but this time it feels different. It's starting to feel like the perfect storm.

In the event of an approaching calamity, some people begin looking for escape routes to avoid the coming disaster. And when you think about it, a storyline about apocalyptic global breakdown where a select group of desperate individuals (maybe a group of young people) travel up to Greenland to set up a commune and escape the worldwide chaos actually sounds like a plausible Japanese anime series. Throw in a nuclear explosion, a cyborg takeover, or an alien invasion, and we would have a pretty good anime story concept. It would be an interesting plot line; maybe I should write a letter to Weekly Shonen Jump. One could call such an anime series "Gurinrando Exodus Omega".

Of course, no place on planet Earth is immune to the buffet of disasters facing the planet, but recently I have been thinking of Greenland. Greenland is out of the way and not crowded. With an arctic location and low population density, issues like societal unrest and mass riots may not be as big of threats in Greenland. I confess, I am a big fan of Scandinavia, and Greenland intrigues me because it unites North America with Scandinavia; isn't it weird to think that part of the Kingdom of Denmark is right next to Canada? Being part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is a large piece of territory. In fact, Greenland is the world's largest island that is not a continent. But despite its size, Greenland has one of the smallest populations for a country or dependency with a mere 56,000 citizens. A total population of 56,000 citizens? That's like the total number of students at a public university!

The economy of Greenland is based on fish, shrimp, and whaling industries. While Denmark has transferred much power to the local Greenlandic government, according to the CIA's World Factbook Greenland remains critically dependent on a "substantial subsidy from the Danish government, which supplies nearly 60% of government revenues". In the spirit of the Nordic welfare state, Greenland has a large public sector with universal health care. Like the Nordic model in Scandinavia, health care in Greenland has substantial challenges that will have to be addressed including demographic changes and limited economic resources. Nevertheless, given the remote and harsh nature of Greenland's climate and a low population, some shortfalls in public services are understandable.

Okay, so perhaps Greenland is not the most perfect place to live on the planet with Greenland's being in a harsh, arctic climate and annual temperatures ranging from 16 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit, but personally I think living in Greenland with a sense of functional stability would be much better than living with anarchy, disorder, and martial law anywhere else on the planet. Yes, Greenland may be cold -- very, very cold -- but people still live there, right?

Though life in Greenland may be very cold and rough without many of the amenities we enjoy in the US, I think the prospect of living in Greenland serves as a good benchmark in comparison to the prospect of financial meltdown and societal unrest here in the US. If my mind could be compared to a house, it is as if in one of the rooms or buried in the basement somewhere there is the thought asking, "What would happen if I were to move to Greenland? Would I make it? Would I survive? Would I find a job? Would I be ostracized? Do they have the Internet there?"

I have never visited Greenland, I've read about it, but I cannot say that I really know what it would be like living in Greenland. Being one who has never lived outside the US, I am not sure exactly what it would be like living in the arctic -- but the idea of how one would react to the prospect of living in the arctic serves as a useful standard (though it may be inaccurate) from which one could judge his own living situation.

This "Greenland factor" raises the question of which would be better, living in a temperate-weather society with a Sword of Damocles hanging over its head of riots, widespread lawlessness, anarchy, and food shortages amidst an imminent financial meltdown caused by runaway inflation and the collapse of the US dollar, or living in an arctic landscape, harsh living conditions, cold weather, low population density, and the prospect of functionality? In which society would I rather live, work, and raise a family?

As economic & living conditions deteriorate at home in comparison to Greenland, one's Greenland factor goes up as moving to Greenland sounds more appealing. As economic & living conditions improve at home in comparison to Greenland, one's Greenland factor goes down as staying at home becomes more appealing. Of course, in considering idyllic scenarios, it may be easy to picture oneself living in a nice, warm cabin in Greenland, sipping hot chocolate, and having a good time playing board games with a significant other -- but the reality may be radically different. You may find yourself unemployed; you may get lonely; you may miss friends and family; perhaps the local store is out of hot chocolate. The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence, but sometimes it is. In the end, one has to weigh his or her own cost-benefit analysis in comparing living situations and locations; you can't always run from your problems. Nevertheless, sometimes a change of scenery can help.

In a way, I am speaking of Greenland, and yet not speaking of Greenland. You might say that Greenland is like an arctic Timbuktu or Kalamazoo. One could easily attempt to mold a comparable "Alaska factor", but Alaska is just not the same as Greenland. The two are not analogous for the pertinent question above regarding the cost-benefit analysis. Part of the greatness of a "Greenland factor" is that I don't really know what life would be like in Greenland; I just know that it would (probably) be away from possible societal unrest, riots, food shortages, and financial meltdown. This isn't even getting into issues like natural disasters and domestic/international terrorism. Of course, perhaps living in Greenland would have its own problems, but those problems most likely would not include mass riots, social upheaval, and rampant violence amidst an urban/suburban atmosphere on crowded, overpopulated land.

My point is this: Though one's own personal Greenland factor level may be low, the closer societal unrest, financial collapse, and the breakdown of law & order appear to be on the horizon, the more the idea of moving to an arctic land far away seems palatable...perhaps even desirable: This is the beauty of taking into account a Greenland factor.

As for living in Greenland, yes, the cold weather would be a burden and yes, the language barrier would be difficult to overcome, but many of our ancestors from Europe and other locations across the globe made similar concessions in the interest of peace and liberty. And so, what really would it take to drive you to want to move from the US to Greenland? To find the answer to that question, you would have to consult your own Greenland factor.

Is the grass greener in Greenland? That probably depends on what side of the global financial meltdown you're standing...but I'm not too sure that Greenland has that much grass anyhow. Perhaps we should take a look at Svalbard or Iceland next, and we know that Iceland has some problems of its own right now. Nevertheless, there has got to be some place on Earth where people can move to in order to avoid global financial Armageddon, right?