- Joined
- Jun 10, 2005
- Messages
- 26,845
- Reaction score
- 12,629
- Location
- Highlands Ranch, CO
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Independent
The U.S. is number 14. Not bad at all.
It isnt something I'd base policy off of, but it still raises an interesting point: if we are the best, then why do we not reflect that?Happiness is subjective.
These types of the are stupid as a means of policy change.
and anyway, the happiest, most fabulous place has to be Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
is it impossible for a topic about world ratings to not turn to "duuur, ameica saved ur butts in WW2"
Is that what he meant? I thought it had more to do with their economies being so dependent on ours, the high number of products, innovations, etc. used there originating from here, etc.
The U.S. is number 14. Not bad at all.
could've been, but that dependence goes both ways, so it's not really that valid.
My comments go to addressing the rhetoric that comes from American exceptionalism. Even around here, there is constantly talk of America being the best, the brightest, and dominant when it very clearly is not. When reality and rhetoric conflict, it's only natural to turn to the source of the rhetoric and ask them to justify their talk. More often than not, the justification comes as a slew of reasons why "it doesnt really matter" or "the listing is skewed"That's the thing, isn't it? People get completely freaked whenever the U.S. is not #1, even though 14 out of almost 200 would in most cases be a cause for celebration. I mean, look at France, for goodness sake... it's number 44. Poor Japan is listed as number 81, behind so many third-world nations. Hell, even the UK ranked behind us, at #17. These are all prosperous, industrial, Western countries that the U.S. ranks above. I'm suspicious of the ranking itself (really? Brazil and Panama tied at 12?), but before we panic about the U.S. being so much behind everyone else, maybe we should look at where we actually are... and who "everyone else" actually is.
My comments go to addressing the rhetoric that comes from American exceptionalism. Even around here, there is constantly talk of America being the best, the brightest, and dominant when it very clearly is not. When reality and rhetoric conflict, it's only natural to turn to the source of the rhetoric and ask them to justify their talk. More often than not, the justification comes as a slew of reasons why "it doesnt really matter" or "the listing is skewed"
America and American is touted as being the best but we see that that is not always the case
It isnt something I'd base policy off of, but it still raises an interesting point: if we are the best, then why do we not reflect that?
1 through 12 are happy because of #14.
Not really. Proportional to population, Europe is way more dependent on the U.S. than the U.S. is on Europe.
I mean, where's the British "McDonald's"? The French "Wal-Mart"? The German "Microsoft"? The Spanish "Hollywood"? I'm sure there's some relatable stuff, but it just doesn't come as close.
But there's more to happiness than riches. The Gallup study showed that while income undoubtedly influenced happiness, it did so for a particular kind of well-being--the kind one feels when reflecting on his or her own successes and prospects for the future. Day-to-day happiness is more likely to be associated with how well one's psychological and social needs are being met, and that's harder to achieve with a paycheck.
Take Costa Rica. The sixth-happiest country in the world, and the happiest country in the Americas, it beat out richer countries like the United States. That's because social networks in Costa Rica are tight, allowing individuals to feel happy with their lot, regardless of financial success.
"Costa Rica ranks really high on social and psychological prosperity," says Harter. "It's probably things systemic to the society that make people over time develop better relationships, and put more value on relationships. Daily positive feelings rank really high there.
Israel is tied with Australia, Canada, and Switzerland at number 8.
Pretty good company
A diamond in the roughwe let you in 'cause we felt sorry for such a little country :2razz:
I wonder what the medias in these countries are like. I wonder if they have alternating medias that portray as much as they can about their country in a negative light and divide its own citizens against each other.
A diamond in the rough
Table: The World's Happiest Countries - Forbes.com
Most of us have been spoon fed the glories of capitalism and the free market since we were old enough to eat at a table. But a few years ago, I saw a study much like this one, and thought, "What if we're not getting it? What if the aquisition of wealth isn't really the way to happiness?"
In other words, if our system is so great, why are we only #14, and not not #1? Why are people in Denmark, Finland, Norway, etc. so much happier than we are?
I'm no socialist/communist. But on the other hand, I can't help but wonder if our lives might be better if more of us had a security net that protected us from having to constantly worry about something terrible happening (like getting a life-threatening illness that would push us over the edge of financially succeeding).
What if work was just work, and we could spend more hours in our day enjoying life, and fewer hours feeling like we have to claw our way to the top of the rat race?
Just food for thought...what if earning money ISN'T the be all/end all of our existence? What if we could go to work, earn a paycheck, do our best work, and know that we'd be taken care of in comfort after retirement, without constantly scrimping and saving?
Some of you are very well-off. I appreciate your hard work.
However, as a single mom, I am nearly constantly worried about how I am going to pay for all of my children's college expenses, how much money I will need to retire after doing that, and the possibility that something could happen to me that would make it impossible to work, and would leave my kids hanging off of the edge of the cliff.
I do fine professionally, I make good money and I have a great job with an excellent company. And yet, having said that, I still have to put myself in the "struggling" category. Every single month is a struggle to make ends meet and make sure my kids have the things that they need. A lot of that is because I receive very little help from my ex in taking care of the kids. I don't blame anyone for that situation except myself, and yet...it's hard.
And I'm in the top 10% of wage earners here.
I wonder...if it's that hard for me, what's it like for the other 90%? And, have these people in these other countries figured out something that we haven't about what life is really about?
Table: The World's Happiest Countries - Forbes.com
Most of us have been spoon fed the glories of capitalism and the free market since we were old enough to eat at a table. But a few years ago, I saw a study much like this one, and thought, "What if we're not getting it? What if the aquisition of wealth isn't really the way to happiness?"
In other words, if our system is so great, why are we only #14, and not not #1? Why are people in Denmark, Finland, Norway, etc. so much happier than we are?
I'm no socialist/communist. But on the other hand, I can't help but wonder if our lives might be better if more of us had a security net that protected us from having to constantly worry about something terrible happening (like getting a life-threatening illness that would push us over the edge of financially succeeding).
What if work was just work, and we could spend more hours in our day enjoying life, and fewer hours feeling like we have to claw our way to the top of the rat race?
Just food for thought...what if earning money ISN'T the be all/end all of our existence? What if we could go to work, earn a paycheck, do our best work, and know that we'd be taken care of in comfort after retirement, without constantly scrimping and saving?
Some of you are very well-off. I appreciate your hard work.
However, as a single mom, I am nearly constantly worried about how I am going to pay for all of my children's college expenses, how much money I will need to retire after doing that, and the possibility that something could happen to me that would make it impossible to work, and would leave my kids hanging off of the edge of the cliff.
I do fine professionally, I make good money and I have a great job with an excellent company. And yet, having said that, I still have to put myself in the "struggling" category. Every single month is a struggle to make ends meet and make sure my kids have the things that they need. A lot of that is because I receive very little help from my ex in taking care of the kids. I don't blame anyone for that situation except myself, and yet...it's hard.
And I'm in the top 10% of wage earners here.
I wonder...if it's that hard for me, what's it like for the other 90%? And, have these people in these other countries figured out something that we haven't about what life is really about?
Denmark, Finland and Norway have a very small population, while the USA are a continent. I'm sure there are areas in the USA where "happiness" is as high as in Finland or Denmark.