Shouldn’t we, as a nation, find out which country has the most happy citizens, provided we think they are free and have access to a better health plan* on population average than americans,* and strive to be more like them?
In today’s world, which would be that country in your opinion (any reliable, comprehensive, accurate polls out there on happiness?), and would it be feasible to pull something like this off?
*Life, freedom, and the pursuit etc.
The world’s happiest country is Denmark. I have no idea how worthy the study or the article is, but it’s oft-quoted. (USA ranks 23.)
It’s Denmark, according to 60 Minutes. They go on to explain why.
Well, they can say that, but I consider myself very lucky I wasn’t born in Denmark.
I don’t speak a word of Danish.
It all boils down to the (painful) truth that money doesn’t buy happiness, money is actually pretty worthless
Hehe, but isn’t English an extremely common 2nd language in Denmark? Everyone I’ve ever met from Denmark had remarkable English.
To me, “the pursuit of happiness” is about giving individuals the freedom to decide what makes them happy, and the freedom to go do it. It’s not about social engineering, where we decide as a group what makes people happy and make everyone do that “for their own good.”
You don’t have enough money!
[Weird Al Yankovic]
They say money can’t buy happiness, so I guess I’ll have to rent it !
[/Weird Al Yankovic]
You’re assuming that happiness is a moral imperative we should strive for. I’ve heard from several sources that the Amish are happier than most other U.S. citizens. Does that mean we should all strive to be like the Amish?
Marc
The Amish may be happy being Amish. I, on the other hand, would be miserable being Amish. Granted, this may only be a result of my non-Amish upbringing, but I feel it is an essential point nonetheless.
Even assuming that happiness can be measured and compared accurately except at the extremes ( which I doubt ), as I understand it, if you want to leave, they let you leave. As I recall, even the stricter sects won’t do more than shun those that leave; they aren’t like the cults that live in fortified compounds with guards so dissenters can’t leave. That means that they are self selected for people that desire that lifestyle, and it’s to be expected that they’d be happier than someone like you or me living like that would be.
I speak Danish, and I love Denmark, but I don’t want to live there. [/total nonsequitur]
Stupid ancestors! Why’d they leave Denmark?! I could be having fun right now!
OK, only some of my ancestors were from Denmark
Bhutan uses a metric called Gross National Happiness. I think this is a completely awesome concept.
How happy would the majority of Americans be if they cycled everywhere, paid higher taxes and lived next to windfarms? I know I’d be very happy iin Denmark, but going by what people here have indicated, Americans in general seem to value personal liberty (and cars!) more than social security. So I don’t think you can look to the Scandiwegian model to increase happiness, without a lot of re-education first. And that isn’t happening.
IMO, America is not the *best *place for the pursuit of happiness - society is too stratified, and the country’s too big and unwieldy overall. But it is better than most.
The linked study that puts Denmark as the #1 most happy attributes this to low expectations. In other words, they are thrilled when things go right and not dismayed when they don’t because they never expected them to. Citizens of countries like the U.S. are pushed to do better and better and don’t like to be 2nd to anyone else.
Some of the whys are disturbing. Lack of racial diversity. Lowered expectations. Dependence on the US for military defense. It’s unclear whether they could afford their welfare society if they had to pay for their own defense. Arms and armies are incredibly expensive.
The lack of racial diversity is a very interesting one, I think. MrDibble makes the point that the US is very large and unwieldy, which it is, and is a factor in a lot of the inequities that work against happiness for everyone. It’s also a very diverse country racially and ethnically, which is a source of richness and a source of tension. It may hamper “happiness” in some ways, due to this societal tension, but it’s also a defining characteristic of our American culture, and one that should be appreciated despite it’s downside. The fact that this diversity exists means that different people are going to need different things to make them happy, which is partly what I was alluding to in my earlier post. The Constitution guarantees the right to pursue happiness…it doesn’t guarantee the right to be happy. It’s not an expression of the idea that people ought to be ensured the best possible situation for them, but rather that they should be ensured the freedom to create that situation for themselves. In the US, it would be too easy for my happiness to conflict with someone else’s, because the population varies so widely. This would make it difficult to figure out what it is that “makes people happy,” and try to achieve that.
I agree with the gist of what you’re saying, but in the interest of the board’s mission, I feel compelled to point out that that is in the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.