Fascinating subject. How different Scandanavia is from Italy, where countless sumptuary laws attempted to keep the mercantiles and peasants from encroaching upon the previlege of their betters! Jante law reminds me of the complex Confucian system of oneway duties that bound the Asians to loyalty to the state and community above all else.

When critiquing a cultural system, please recall that "liberte, fraternite, egalite" are recent concepts. Although the modern West assumes these concepts to be universal good, these concepts are not quite readily accepted as such in most parts of this globe. One could even argue that such concepts are contrary to not only the reality of nature, but also to the divine laws.