Where Are the World’s Happiest Countries?

time.com ^ | April 6 2012 | Sonia van Gilder Cooke

[NoLibZone]

If you’re happy and you know it, you probably live in one of these countries. The U.N. has released a new list ranking countries in terms of happiness, based on Gallup polls taken from 2005-2011.

The top 5 are:

1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. Netherlands

5. Canada

There’s definitely a pattern here.

[OA5599]

Canada is 85% white and 3% black. Their largest minority is Asian.

BTW our foreign born population exceeds the entire population of Canada.

[richardtavor]

who gives a shit about a un poll?

[snowsislander]

It's a stupid study; the methodology is bad (choose 1,000 persons who are 15 or more years of age from each country, with apparently no regard to population size or any consideration given to the existence of widely different cultural groups in a given country), so it's not a surprise that the results are garbage also. There's no analysis at all of cultural bias in the question development, which makes me think that they may well have done a good bit of this even in non-native languages.

GIGO.

[Levante]

“...and they (Dutch) are regarded as the absolute worst and most disgusting expats in town. “

Interesting. I heard the same thing many times about Dutch expats living in Spain when I was stationed in Rota.

It puzzles me because the Dutch folks I know (especially the women) were awesome in everyway. Of course, the only Dutch folks I know were military.

[freedomfiter2]

These countries are all way north, and cold women are more cuddly.

[luvbach1]

Of course I didn't mean things were perfect for anyone in the 1950s, just that people perhaps were happier overall, especially as they looked to their futures; unlike today, when a look to the future is depressing.

[Alberta's Child]

The types of surveys are usually pretty predictable. The "happiest" people in the world live in countries where: (1) they have a high standard of living, and (2) they can always count on someone else to pay their bills.

The U.S. never gets very close to the top of the list because even under Obama we still don't grade out well for Item (2).

I saw a report on a more fascinating research study that wasn't based on a survey, but on psychological tests of the citizens of various countries to determine levels of anxiety, depression, etc. In that study, Denmark and Singapore ranked highest. The researchers were puzzled because from every standpoint they were two countries at opposite ends of the spectrum: Denmark a free and open democratic society (it's actually common for kids to be left outside a grocery store sleeping in a stroller while the parents go shopping inside), and Singapore ruled by a royal family under a system of government that can be brutally repressive by Western standards (if you get caught littering on the street you face a lashing with a bamboo cane).

The researchers determined that the most important factors in determining "societal happiness" is not wealth or freedom, but the predictability and fairness of the social order. The countries whose citizens are most "happy" are those where the citizens truly believe that the deck is not stacked against them, and where leaders and commoners are pretty much subject to the same legal standards. Ingrained, institutional corruption was the single biggest factor that was common in all of the countries that ranked at the bottom of the list in that study. Iraq and Italy were the two most "unhappy" countries in the world, if I remember correctly.

This is how Singapore cultivates such "happy" citizens even under a fairly repressive governing structure. If a commoner gets caught littering, they might get 10 lashes with a cane. If a member of the ruling family gets caught littering, they probably get 20 lashes -- on national television.

[AlexW]

“It puzzles me because the Dutch folks I know (especially the women) were awesome in everyway.”
________________________________________

While I had lady friends from many countries, I never knew a Dutch woman.
On two occasions I was in Amsterdam with women, but they were both Hungarians.
One had a son with NATO and we rented a car to drive down to Belgium.
Dutch women might be very nice, but I have no idea.
All the Dutch that are here in the Philippines are single men, and they are the worst of the worst.

[Alberta's Child]

Having lived in Canada (and I still do business there), I can speculate that the key to Canada's happiness is its size and relatively small population that is heavily concentrated heavily in and around about ten major cities.

Canada isn't really a "country" as most people would understand it, but a loosely-connected confederation of provinces. This makes it one of the ideal places in the world for someone to pack up, move somewhere else, and start all over again if circumstances require it.

I think the combination of these factors drive Canada's happiness.

One important consideration in Canada is that its "ethnic conflict" involves two groups (French and English) that really only coexist in the Federal government. It's not as if all of Canada's cities have French neighborhoods and English neighborhoods where the citizens always interact with each other. "French Canada" is largely concentrated in the province of Quebec, and the dirty little secret is that the French separatist movement has tremendous popularity among English-speaking Canadians who have no use for Quebec. Quebec's secession would be as well-received among other Canadians as the secession of Detroit and New Orleans would be received by hard-working, productive Americans here in the U.S.

[Former Proud Canadian]

Socialist?

I assume you reside in the US. I reside in one of the "socialist" countries you refer to. We don't have a federal "food stamp" program or a school breakfast lunch and dinner program funded by the state. We have 48 weeks of unemployment payments, not 99 or 150 or whatever you are up to now.

We do have "socialized" medical coverage. The Canada Health Act runs a whopping 3 pages, not 2,700. The reason is that, although it is partially funded by the federal government, it is also funded by the provinces and administered by them, separately.

I could go on, but the point is that, in many ways, the US is more socialist than the countries mentioned. Sorry, friend, that is a fact.

Your Constitution and Bill of Rights are great documents, its just too bad that your government ignores them.

As for an ingrained welfare (socialist) mentality, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o64Fz-KW1Dk

[Former Proud Canadian]

"Wonder if people from any of these “happiest” countries were offered instant, automatic U.S. citizenship - think they’d turn it down?"

Are you serious? Maybe 20 years ago, not now.

Do you actually think that government organizations like ATF, DHS, DEA, IRS, FBI, EPA exist in other countries in the form they do in yours? You might think you have more freedom than citizens in other countries. What makes you so sure?

[rfreedom4u]

Why are there no Middle Eastern of African countries on the happy list?

[originalbuckeye]

Agree that there are too many Socialist programs here. But how much of your taxes do you think go to fund your Nationalized healthcare? I worked in the NHS in Britain. I wasn't registered there (but they let me work) and I made peanuts. My tax bite was 50%. People do work harder here but are allowed to have the rewards for that hard work. I would like to scale down the Socialist programs here but Obama has injected them with cocaine and they are now monstrosities. When the Republicans took control of Congress in the 90s, Clinton triangulated and worked with them. The Socialist programs were scaled down and the country was more prosperous. One question: when something goes wrong medically, can Canadians sue the Doctor? Malpractice is way too easy here for the complainants to score big, with a hefty percentage going to the lawyers. I have read that Obamacare reduces the Doctor's income but still allows for big malpractice suits. How many Doctors do you think will retire? How many will go into medicine with no protection from frivolous lawsuits? We are heading for a disaster unless the SCOTUS strikes down the whole law. All 2,700 pages of it.

[Former Proud Canadian]

Agree that there are too many Socialist programs here. But how much of your taxes do you think go to fund your Nationalized healthcare?

Lots, never denied it. Too much, as a matter of fact. Since healthcare is "free" it is overused. Personally, I have had real medical doctors remove small wood slivers and stitches, no waiting by the way. To me, this is a great waste of talent. Health care in Canada needs to be reworked to make it more efficient and cheaper.

One question: when something goes wrong medically, can Canadians sue the Doctor?

Umm, yes. However this is a much less litigious society. If you sue someone and lose, you will probably have to pay their legal bills. Lawyers don't like to take on frivolous cases either.

[llandres]

Yes, that stood out to me as well when I saw the list - socialist and.....rapidly being overtaken by Muslims in most cases. They’re examples of where we’re headed, particularly under the Wan.

And, as I said, this utopian list is from the UN which means the U.S. no good. It’s kinda like the global ranking of health care and longevity that showed America WAY down on the list - it was put out by the World Health Org, another NWO group.

[llandres]

I can relate - my brother in law gets his “news” from MSNBC, Jon Stewart and loves Rachel Maddow. He blasts conservatives and FNC but would never try watching it himself. Unfortunately, he’s brainwashed my sister who should know better (we come from generations of small business owners and farmers). And he retired from Coca Cola, his dad from Procter and Gamble (both were executives and have very nice stock portfolios).

He and she have become millionaires thanks to corporate America, he is very materialistic yet blasts “big business” every chance he gets. A very hypocritical Limousine Liberal. It’s beyond frustrating to even try discussing reality with them. Sad.

[originalbuckeye]

Thanks. Once when living in Britain, I slammed my thumb in a car door. Went to the Emergency room where they used a hot paper clip to puncture the nail and let out the blood. No one was in the waiting room. I suspect, if Obamacare continues, that spoiled Americans will flood the offices and Emergency rooms for any little thing. And will be really angry to have to wait hours because we have been used to a reasonable wait time. Americans have had it good for decades. They have NO IDEA what’s coming. Brits and Canadians are more stoic. Not Americans. With no private money in Research (when you are paying taxes at 50% in the lowest tax bracket you don’t think you should have to put any more money into medicine )there won’t be the breakthroughs in medicine like we have had in past years. And in the end, you don’t really believe that the Government (especially when dominated by Liberals) wants to spend 17% of the American economy on our Healthcare, do you? And ‘elective’ surgery? My husband’s cousin had to wait 2 years to get an appointment with the NHS to have her gall bladder removed.

[Aria]

Your brother in law sounds like a good example of “liberalism is a mental disorder”.

I work in tax accounting dept of a Fortune 500 company with some very smart people and I’m shocked at how many are way liberal. They discuss the previous night’s Maddow and Stewart in the morning. (Haven’t heard anything about Olbermann lately...he he) I suspect if pressed they’d have to admit that wanting to appear cool is part of their motivation because it sure isn’t logic.

[x]

Happiness is a subjective thing, no? And hard to measure. But they are trying to measure it in terms of objective statistics, like GDP. And some very unobjective numbers they've generated themselves to "measure" things like "responsibility towards the environment", "cultural participation" and "spirituality" -- along with answers to the "are you happy" question.

What they're doing is combining wealth with security and some very trendy social values to produce a ranking that may not accurately reflect how happy people actually feel. You could say that in the UN's eyes zoo animals, well-fed and cared for, would be happier than those on the open range, but what's really behind this is the attempt to replace GNP or GDP with a manipulable number based on "politically correct" social policies.

[Verginius Rufus]

They have Finland at #2, but I have read that Finland has an unusually high suicide rate. Maybe the people who killed themselves had become more depressed because everyone else was so happy?

Sweden's not in the top 5. Too many immigrants?