Forbes: The World's Happiest Places

I feel that I live in one of the best places to live in the entire United States of America. I have both the Ocean and beaches as well as beautiful mountains less than an hour drive away. Additionally, We have no state income tax or sales tax!

But how do we all define happiness ?

Having lived and worked abroad in Europe I found this to be a very interesting article I had read in Forbes online:

Where in the world do people feel most contented with their lives? A new report released by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based group of 30 countries with democratic governments that provides economic and social statistics and data, used a Gallup World Poll conducted in 140 countries around the world. The poll asked respondents whether they had experienced six different forms of positive or negative feelings within the last day. The poll was scored numerically on a scale of 1-100. The average score was 62.4.

The United States had scored an above average 74 on the contentment scale but unfortunately had not made the top ten, also lagging with a $47,335. GDP per capita income and a dismal unemployment rate of over 9%.

Listed below are the top 10 countries :


Happiest Countries - Satisfaction with present life

1. Denmark GDP@$68,362.UR @2.0%

2. Finland GDP@$55,344.UR @6.4%

3. Netherlands GDP@$55,453.UR @4.5%

4.Sweden GDP@$54,908.UR @6.4%

5.Ireland GDP@$63,788.UR @6.2%

6. Canada GDP@$46,799.UR @6.1%

7. Switzerland GDP@$65,563. UR @3.0%

8. New Zealand GDP@$30,556.UR @4.0%

9. Norway GDP@$98,822. UR @2.6%

10. Belgium GDP@$49,888.UR @6.5%

GDP = Gross GDP per capita
UR = Unemployment Rate

This data was collaborated from the following sources:

*Source: Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development

**Source: International Monetary Fund

***Source: Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook

Full Article:
www.forbes.com...

Slide Show:
www.forbes.com...

It must be bunk! All those countries have socialism. Is the tea party lying to us?

Originally posted by hotpinkurinalmint
It must be bunk! All those countries have socialism. Is the tea party lying to us?

In denmark "The employers' right to hire and fire their employees whenever they find it necessary is recognized" according to en.wikipedia.org...

That doesn't sound like socialism to me.

"Denmark has had the world's highest tax level in 2005 and 2006, at 50.7% and 49.1% respectively"
That does though.

According to USA today: www.usatoday.com...
"They have a big welfare state, which provides free public health care, education, child care and job training on top of generous unemployment benefits. "

"the Danes enjoy steady economic growth, the lowest jobless rate on the continent, a budget surplus and shrinking government debt. And they work 37 hours a week."

So yeah they're socialist, but the tea party is lying to you socialism leads to happiness.

However the big difference between America and the rest of the world isn't happiness, it's innovation. Liberals may believe that our medical system is #ed up, but when you compare American medical innovation to that of the rest of the world, it's not even close.

The Lord Beck told me Socialists are angry and sad pandas..this list is clearly wrong. Facts must have a liberal agenda!

-shakes fist at socialist facts-

Originally posted by scwizard
However the big difference between America and the rest of the world isn't happiness, it's innovation. Liberals may believe that our medical system is #ed up, but when you compare American medical innovation to that of the rest of the world, it's not even close.

Here I agree

Its not about creating the happiest civilization on earth...happiness is important, but I believe innovation comes slightly ahead of importance.

I think we are at a point where all needs are met socially...perhaps some future law about unfettered internet access or some such, but for now...good enough, let capitalism fuel the rest within a somewhat regulated anti-trust/anti-monopolization environment

Good ol' Denmark has done it again. People may call Denmark Socialist but they are a strong mix between Liberalism and Socialism and look how it has turned out. They are wealthy, healthy, succesfull, happy, and have a balanced budget. I think they are onto something.

I don't quibble with the conclusions regarding happiness in various countries, but I would point out that per capita GDP in dollar terms alone is not the best measure of how wealthy individuals in different countries may be. First, such comparisons are best adjusted for purchasing power parity so that extremes of the currency market don't distort the true value of GDP from one country to the other. Second, once purchasing power parity is adjusted for currency valuation, then there is the matter of how taxes on consumption further distort the matter. That is particular true in many of these European countries with high per capital GDP since they also have VAT whereas the US does not.

Canada in at number 6 eh?

Awesome.

I have to agree this is a wonderfull place to live.

~Keeper

Originally posted by hotpinkurinalmint
It must be bunk! All those countries have socialism. Is the tea party lying to us?

So they all got to nirvana 'after' going though hell? sounds like an Azteca-Mayan 2012 conspiracy where one goes through 9 levels of hell with the chihuahua underworld companion dog guiding you to heaven.

Originally posted by scwizard

Originally posted by hotpinkurinalmint
It must be bunk! All those countries have socialism. Is the tea party lying to us?

"Denmark has had the world's highest tax level in 2005 and 2006, at 50.7% and 49.1% respectively"
That does though.

According to USA today: www.usatoday.com...
"They have a big welfare state, which provides free public health care, education, child care and job training on top of generous unemployment benefits. "

"the Danes enjoy steady economic growth, the lowest jobless rate on the continent, a budget surplus and shrinking government debt. And they work 37 hours a week."

So yeah they're socialist, but the tea party is lying to you socialism leads to happiness.

.

Yada Yada and they also have two pairs of pants, live in a closet and spend a lot of time out and about in the community not walled up in a room hooked to media....
sounds ideal except their elite overlords also live like jet setting kings and queens off the taxes that closet the citizenary.

Look it's all Feudalism.... Capitalism is just a weak laissez-faire form, socialism is a refined form. Nothing has really changed in the world so what's the problem? Within 30 years all the educated whiners will be dead and all the illiterate youth will be clueless except for their electronic feeds, and everyone will be happy no problem.

I see lists of countries like this all the time that everyone seems to want to use as part of their proof of how bad America is to the rest of the world, but I find the same scenario that most of the top countries are small in population, so how do we compare a country of 5 mil to a country of 310 mil and get any real data that can be compared in anyway, also how much of their success is due to their societies’ customs and traditions more than politics or a successful government?

Take Denmark, you spread 5 million people across a good chunk of land without immigration issues and find work for a 2.4 million (105th in the world in size) work force I do not find it a very hard feat , but the latest unemployment rate is now 4.3% and CIA facts book suggests it will “rise sharply in 2010”. So we have a whole country that only needs to provide the infrastructure of about that a good size American city but spread out a little bit more with a hell of a lot more potential with seaports and industries as a country than just a city. I believe that it has been discussed many times that socialized government actually works well for small population countries as in this case with 50% of their population contributing as part of the work force, but once you surpass around 60 million the money needed continues in a sharp increase as you find a smaller percentage of the population is the workforce and the overall cost to maintain the socialized support is not linear to smaller population countries.

So what are we saying here? That Denmark is happier than Seattle? Maybe not…hehe

reply to post by Bunny-chan


The per capita GDP of Gross Domestic Product is a measure of productivity and not wealth.

Obviously if the figures were in USD then the currency valuations and conversions were taken into account for consistency and comparison.

If we were describing wealth, then one would naturally have to take into consideration debt levels. Which also are considerably lower per capita than here in the US.

V.A.T. is nothing more than a sales tax which is also imposed by most of the countries listed here as well as here in the United States.
It is commonly called a Sales Tax.

The difference being, these citizens after paying these taxes have their health care and college education paid for, hence leading to a better educated and employable overall population which is why they also have low unemployment in the long run.


Which directly correlates with the happiness level.

reply to post by Xtrozero


If one were to read the article, The survey was performed world wide with no intent of "Making the US look Bad". The numbers simply speak for themselves and they are what they are.

Canada WAS 6th on this list and is a large country with a large infrastructure to support as well.

Granted we have a considerably higher population but on the other hand A larger population also has translates to larger tax revenues.

But inability to support the population size has more to do with our priorities as well as what we are spending our tax revenue on.

Additionally, we also have major corporations such as EXXON whom take in Billions in revenue but pay little or no taxes whatsoever by channeling their revenue through offshore subsidiaries.

Originally posted by nh_ee
If one were to read the article, The survey was performed world wide with no intent of "Making the US look Bad". The numbers simply speak for themselves and they are what they are.

I'm not suggesting this was the OPs intentions; I just wanted to point out that they are mixing many different dynamics here and labeling them as equal in nature under the context they are all countries.

Canada WAS 6th on this list and is a large country with a large infrastructure to support as well.

Well once again America has a population 10X that of Canada and the vast majority Canada's population is in a few dense areas. Thier numbers are going up too with current 8.5% out of work.

Granted we have a considerably higher population but on the other hand A larger population also has translates to larger tax revenues.

Does it? I suggest it is not linear and a country with 10X the population cost more to maintain than 10X the cost of the smaller country.

Additionally, we also have major corporations such as EXXON whom take in Billions in revenue but pay little or no taxes whatsoever by channeling their revenue through offshore subsidiaries.

I’m not sure if this is any different than much of the rest of the world. I'm also not totally sure what they are basing the happiness on either for Norway should be #1 and not #9 by the numbers.








[edit on 8-4-2010 by Xtrozero]

reply to post by scwizard


Oh brother you have GOT to be kidding right? Americans are some of the most unhealthy people in the world. There are literally millions of people that die of cancer, drug side effects and botched medical care every year.

The war on cancer? ABSOLUTELY FAILURE
Cholesterol causes heart disease? ABSOLUTELY NONSENSE

But guess what..........cholesterol medication and cancer treatment are the two biggest money makers in US medicine.

If you want some of the best trauma care and emergency medicine in the world we have it. But when it comes to managing chronic disease.......we fail miserably. US medicine has been completely hijacked by corporate America and big pharma. The FDA, AMA, NCI, NIH are four of the most corrupt organizations on earth. Look at how many current and former FDA higher ups are throwbacks to the pharmaceutical industry. My god man.......you are completely naive and ignorant abotu American and western medicine in general.

reply to post by Zosynspiracy


We fail because we have too much to offer. When people have so many choices they tend to not always pick the best one. We have the choice to eat healthy everyday or we can eat a 20oz steak with all the fixins everyday, or even worst 10 Hamburgers fries etc everyday.

As you travel the world you do not see this abundance in any other country. The choices good or bad are just not there and so people eat what is available and for many of these "happy" countries it is what they can get at a small local market. Costs are high too, so they can not afford that 20oz steak every night and so eat little meat.

Take one of these people into a Costco and watch their mouths gap open. Take them to your house and watch them marvel at the land you have and the size of the house. I lived in Japan and guess what they make lots more money than we do and most likley have a lower unemployment, but their quality of life sucks to ours.

It is typical for the workers to travel many hours to and from their work; they also can easily have three generations of families all living in a 1500 foot or smaller place. (and I'm talking middle to upper middle class here) Meals are small as to what they can afford and so on in just about every area. Even simple things like I have central air 24/7 year round and over there my house was freezing in the winter and cooking in the summer with inadequate everything... With my travels around the world I have seen this more of a norm than not.

worlds happiest places? Oh i know this one it's called "America" Ask all the immigrants dying to get a green card...They'll tell you a thing or two

Well I live in Finland and I am not happy, well I am not miserable either. And as I look around I don't see lot of happy people around me, happy persons would not seek alternatives as they would be content with what they have. Yet I see drunkards and addicts all around me. I am not referring to alcholists and drug-addicts, but people that are addicted to various substances, ideologies and other whatever one is addicted to.

I don't see many real human beings, individuals but rather persons that seek to satisfy their selfish needs behind their masks of benelovence.

I think that Forbes measures happiness by one's capabality to fulfill one needs, whatever thay may be. But does a happy person have any needs? Would a happy person seek escape of reality or a way to alter that reality?

-v

I cant imagine that high taxes or "free" whatever would make me happy given that for 99.9% of the time I am very happy. Blissful even.

What makes me unhappy is oligarchs plotting to take my property and limit my liberty to participate in events, own things, use things, say things, do things.

Enact all of those "wonderful" Denmark happiness generating policies and I know one guy who will be blowing up buses.

Whenever some "study" like this makes a claim like this remember it certainly isn't 100% of the population and there is likely a good many people crushed to the ground with a boot on their throat.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com


[edit on 14-4-2010 by thisguyrighthere]

Originally posted by v01i0
But does a happy person have any needs? Would a happy person seek escape of reality or a way to alter that reality?

-v

You must be joking right? It's called altering reality...When that fails then the happy person just gives up and remains unhappy

it's pretty simple...unless you my friend are a robot