Happiness index
- Thread starter danmand
- Start date
So much for any theory that ethnicity, wealth, or low taxes are what makes happiness happen. The top scorer's a unique ethnic outlier, three are ex-colonial immigrant nations with large indigenous and unrelated minorities, one of the European ones has been a mixed nationality polyglot since forever, another can barely keep itself above water and only just managed to keep from being French or Spanish or Belgian, and the three (or so) Scandinavian countries (these days) have allied, coalesced, united and split up again too many times to count since the Ice Age and Vikings, and they're everywhere now anyway. Their people are relatively prosperous but hardly rich, and their taxes are all high.
But in all ten, the folks are all big on trade, talk, taking care of each other, not going to war, and are and way less scared of being called 'socialist' than, you know …
But in all ten, the folks are all big on trade, talk, taking care of each other, not going to war, and are and way less scared of being called 'socialist' than, you know …
canada-man
Well-known member
Most of these results are tied to a few things like education, health care, access to services, etc. In some of those countries the taxes are high but almost everything is paid for so there's no worry. Contrast that with the US where money flows but if you get sick you're screwed because the costs are very high.
Then there's other things like crime/guns. I don't worry about a shooting/robbery since that's not the environment. Contrast that to the US or South American countries or Africa where crime rates are higher.
Stable government with less threat of being invaded or attacked (regardless of all the stupid photo-ops), fresh water in abundance, no major floods/hurricanes/tornadoes, no dictator in charge, no religious/civil war, etc.
Then there's other things like crime/guns. I don't worry about a shooting/robbery since that's not the environment. Contrast that to the US or South American countries or Africa where crime rates are higher.
Stable government with less threat of being invaded or attacked (regardless of all the stupid photo-ops), fresh water in abundance, no major floods/hurricanes/tornadoes, no dictator in charge, no religious/civil war, etc.
Very little crime and there is apparently a waiting list to go to jail. Their jails are almost like hotels. https://www.google.ca/search?q=pris...Gd4M:&imgrc=fTtL0WfBbQI9KM:&spf=1521303890056
And it's not much colder than here. Apparently they have beautiful summers. And they use geothermal energy from the volcanoes which saves people money and there is less pollution. They heat the sidewalks in the winter! https://www.icelandontheweb.com/articles-on-iceland/nature/geology/geothermal-heat
The problem with this index is that they hold it self-evident what makes us happy -- economic strength, citizen engagement, technology, diversity, education & family, emotions (whatever the fuck that means), environment, access to food/water/shelter, government, law, health, and religion/ethics -- but I'm not sure if every one of these categories have been proven to provide happiness.
Some are obvious. Access too food, water and shelter are a must. Greater incomes provide greater freedoms. An engaged citizenry isn't disillusioned. The healthier we tend to be, the happier we are.
But has tech made us happier? Hard to say.
What about diversity? The index places a large emphasis on migration and immigration (countries with open borders get more points). Should this be the case?
Some are obvious. Access too food, water and shelter are a must. Greater incomes provide greater freedoms. An engaged citizenry isn't disillusioned. The healthier we tend to be, the happier we are.
But has tech made us happier? Hard to say.
What about diversity? The index places a large emphasis on migration and immigration (countries with open borders get more points). Should this be the case?
