Because I just finished The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, the World Happiness Report is of interest.
The US is ranked #23 on the Happiness Index. Only two spots up from Mexico, and 8 spots below Canada. I’ve been to Canada, it ain’t so great.
This graph of the happiness gap between young and old helps explain it.
Older is defined as over 60 years old. Youth are defined as under 30 years old, and they are dragging down the average. The Covid shut down really hit them hard, and social media damaged their emotional health. The news that trickles down to them through social media is all doom and gloom, and their culture comes from TikTok.
Happiness used to be simpler. Mr. Ford on Frisky Dingo, gets right to the point.
Who can argue with that?
Retired people in America are generally pretty satisfied. The survey doesn’t go deep into the methodology, but it isn’t likely that they asked many people old enough to be disabled or lose much of their autonomy
The top spots in the Happiness Index are Nordic countries. These countries were culturally homogeneous with liberal views toward assisted suicide. That may not by why they score so highly, but it would be interesting to know.
The actual World Happiness Report is interesting if you want a deep dive. North America is the only region where happiness rises substantially with age.
East or South of Western Europe is no place to be when you grow older.
Since 2010, Japan hasn’t changed it’s score on the Happiness Index at all. The US and Canada have dropped significantly. The US and Canada have dropped 5 times more than the drop in score of Hong Kong, which was taken over by China in that time interval.
Trudeau, in Canada, seems to have an affinity for authoritarianism. In the US, all of our governmental agencies seem to be corrupt or incompetent. Let’s home both situations improve.