Why Norwegian dignity is an example to us all

THE truest measure of a person is how they react under pressure. When times are tough and the chips are down, their inner soul and character is revealed in its purest form.

The same Litmus test could be made of society. Take Norway and how the nation reacted after the bombing in Oslo and the massacre of 85 people, mainly teenagers, on the island of Utoya. 

Here was a country which reacted to these awful tragedies with maturity and stoicism. It was a magnificent demonstration of dignified unity and grace. Their reaction was not tinged with anger but instead with bewilderment and a need to understand why.

Above all, both the Norwegian people and the media remained amazingly calm and cool-headed. 

Norway's media demonstrated a great sense of responsibility, focussing on the facts of the twin tragedies and not wildly speculating. It was in sharp contrast to some media claiming early on that this was an Al Qaida attack, when it became clear that these were the actions of a mad loner in Anders Breivik.

In America after the 9/11 attacks, George Bush and the nation reacted with predictable venom and fury. The United States went into immediate shutdown, and in the aftermath Homeland Security introduced the most draconian of security measures, particularly at airports which remain today.

By contrast, Norway was more measured in its response, not wishing to jeopardise its core values of freedom, tolerance and democracy. There was no finger pointing or excessive security, while the pronouncements from the Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was sombre and considered. There was no knee-jerk reaction and this, in turn, built social trust.

I read a quote from one Oslo-based psychologist who described how at first there was a strange sense of quiet in Norway after the attacks, which he likened to the initial wider world reaction of 9/11 when the world had lost its cushion of safety. After all, these sorts of atrocities don’t take place in peaceful nations such as Norway, do they?

In Norway, reason was allowed to prevail, a considered calmness and serenity existed. One wonders how Britain would have reacted had Anders Breivik or any gun-totting individual had gone one the rampage in this country? It doesn’t bear thinking about.

But then we’ve had the riots this week. 

The death of one individual in North London over a week ago in the presence of police sparked open season for the vermin in our society to go on the rampage. It was the mealy-mouthed excuse they needed to unleash their anarchic traits, demonstrating the very worst of behaviour with their brutal and savage-like attacks on individuals and property.

Much has been written about the reasons behind the riots. In essence it’s cultural and a huge subject and the age of social media has changed the whole complexity of the issue – for good and bad.

This would not have happened a generation ago – a generation when there was respect for your neighbour, property and for authority. No, this is not a rose-tinted view because of course there were miscreants then, just as there were paedophiles on the streets 25 years ago – we just didn’t know about them then.

However a generation ago there was better parenting, stronger schooling and a society which existed without lily-livered Liberals who insisted that the rights of the person were greater than the rights of society as a whole. We knew what was right and wrong. We were good neighbours. Before then, there was the spirit of the Blitz among our grandparents. But now?

Games without frontiers? We now have an unhinged society existing without frontiers and unfortunately there is an occasion where there can be no putting the genie back in the bottle. Society has to fundamentally change, and we have to alter our values.

Norway is how Britain was a generation ago. Don’t get me wrong, the Scandinavian country has a tradition of violent right-wing politics and some would claim an increasing trend towards Islamophobia, but the lid has been kept tight and it is hard to believe that the UK riots would have happened in Norway on the scale here.

Somehow, the Norwegian model is one we should strive for – a dignified nation whose values are important to them and are not lost in times of trouble.