Of 143 nations, U.S. ranks 117th in happiness
I get the feeling we in the U.S. are doing something wrong. It turns out that fast-paced, high-consumption living, done mostly from the suburbs or behind the wheel, is not a prescription for personal happiness.
(CNN) — Forget Disneyland! Costa Rica is the happiest place in the world, according to an independent research group in Britain with the goal of building a new economy, “centered on people and the environment.”
Costa Rica is known for its lush rain forests and pristine beaches.In a report released Saturday, the group ranks nations using the “Happy Planet Index,” which seeks countries with the most content people.
“Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world and have the second-highest average life expectancy of the new world (second to Canada),” the organization said in a statement.
This year’s survey, which looked at 143 countries, featured Latin American nations in nine of the Top 10 spots.
The runner-up was the Dominican Republic, followed by Jamaica, Guatemala and Vietnam.
Most developed nations lagged in the study.
While Britain ranked 74th, the United States snagged the 114th spot, because of its hefty consumption and massive ecological footprint.
The United States was greener and happier 20 years ago than it is today, the report said.
Other populous nations, such as China and India, had a lower index brought on by their vigorous pursuit of growth-based models, the survey suggested.
“As the world faces the triple crunch of deep financial crisis, accelerating climate change and the looming peak in oil production, we desperately need a new compass to guide us,” said Nic Marks, founder of the foundation’s center for well-being.
Marks urged nations to make a collective global change before “our high-consuming lifestyles plunge us into the chaos of irreversible climate change.”
The report, which was first conducted in 2006, covers 99 percent of the world population, the statement said.
How interesting. But any bike rider knows the difference in his or her personal experience after getting off a bike or getting out of a car. The car might get you there quicker, but it sure leaves a hollow pit in your stomach in a way the bike ride never does.
–Erik Ryberg
July 6th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I’m gonna have to see the methodology they used before I buy the results of this “study.” Right off the bat it doesn’t pass the smell test by listing Guatemala in the top 5. Isn’t Guatemala the second largest source country (right behind Mexico) of illegal immigrants in the US? They’re so happy and content with their own country that they’re willing to risk incarceration and/or death to sneak into and live in the miserable ol’ US?
This line – “the United States snagged the 114th spot, because of its hefty consumption and massive ecological footprint” – gives a real good indication that the criteria had far less to do with how happy the people *in* the study are then with how happy the people *doing* the study are with the “greenness” of said people.
July 6th, 2009 at 11:29 am
I have to admit I went to the Website of the organization that did the study and they were a lot more interested in carbon footprints than happiness. When I tried to find the list to see where Denmark ranked, the site crashed my browser. So I gave up.
Still. We don’t seem like a nation of happy people. We seem like a nation of hurried, frightened, and ambitious people.
–EBR
July 6th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Aside from this particular group’s questionable motives and “happy planet index” criteria, any supposed disparity makes much more sense if you think of it as cause and effect reversed from what they’re trying to have us believe – i.e. that those who are generally more content in life to start with aren’t very driven to change anything; and those who are unhappy and dissatisfied are highly motivated to get out there and keep plugging away to fill that gap. Even so, dissatisfaction at some level with your lot in life is pretty much a universal emotion across the prosperity spectrum – it’s why the human race fought our way to the top of the food chain in the first place. Although it may be the driving force behind war and personal conflict, it’s also the base motivation behind every positive advance the human race has ever made. I’m not ready to dismiss it altogether and go live in the land of the lotus-eaters just yet.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Or the mass killings we read about, or the ability to get away with it leaving you frustrated?
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/07/06/20090706abrk-strollercrash.html
“We are thankful that the driver swerved,” White said. “If she didn’t, she would have hit the stroller and we would have had a double fatality.”
“White said Aboozia was crossing the road from a residential street, Copper Key, between McQueen and Cooper roads. She crossed at an intersection that had no traffic signal, the lieutenant said.
Alcohol and speed do not appear to be factors and Rogers will most likely not be cited, said police.”
an unmarked crosswalk?
July 6th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Coming to an Ex–Car Dealer Near You: Pickups from India
By Nandini Lakshman / Mumbai Tuesday, Jun. 23, 2009
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1906517,00.html
The irony in the the title is one thing, but the closing para may make you laugh out loud about USA. Or grimace.
Tata’s Nano is headed to U.S.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090611/BUSINESS01/906110384/1014/BUSINESS01/Tata+s+Nano+is+headed+to+U.S
Sure to give you a headache:
Is China Really an ‘East Asian success story’?
http://www.cis.org.au/Policy/winter09/lee_winter09.html
a semi-technical analysis of industrial fascism in service of USA.
July 6th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Denmark just has to be way up there on the Happiness index. See http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/07/charging-phones-with-bicycles.html
Scroll down. It’s not the bicycle cell-phone charger I am referring to.
EBR
August 5th, 2009 at 6:46 am
I’m a “Mexicophile”. Love the country and the people and always feel when I’m there that I’m in a place where a lot more people share and care about each other and are generally happier with life. The money and crap we accumulate in the US just serve to alienate us from one another. In Mexico people are forced to cooperate with each other by economic circumstance and cultural adaptation. It serves them well.
We see very slanted news about Mexico (violence, drug cartels, etc.), but I don’t know that Mexico at all. I can only laugh when my friends get upset that I’m a single mom travelling with my 3 kids by car into the interior, when Tucson has a way higher crime rate than most Mexican cities. I always feel like someone’s watching my back when I’m there and only seldom feel that way here.
August 5th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
The World Database of Happiness
http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/index.html
“Ruut Veenhoven, a sociologist in the Netherlands and the director of the World Database of Happiness, argues that wealth is actually a very reliable predictor of happiness. If you take a snapshot of people in different countries, he argues, the data shows that people in Denmark, Switzerland and Austria report being happier than people in the Philippines, India and Iran, and the people in those nations report being happier than those in Armenia, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.”
I remember hearing a story about someone studying Happiness and they actually put Denmark as #1 on their list. In the US, Asheville, NC, came out on top of the list. I don’t know who did that study tho…