North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
China, according to them, is the happiest nation on earth. But that may just be sucking up to their powerful, and generous, neighbor to the northwest. If China is in fact happier than North Korea, maybe North Korea needs to open some KFC's and Haagen-Daz shops.
In case you're interested, the United States ranks 203rd.
The whole list is here -- in Korean -- but the highlights of the list are here, from the Beijinger.com:
North Korea has released its rating of countries based on happiness, awarding China perfect marks. Where does North Korea place itself and others?
North Korea magnanimously gave away the number one spot and ranked itself second with 98 points out of 100.
Rounding out the top five are Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela.
Getting a dismal 3 happiness points and holding onto last place is the United States, referred to as “the American Empire.”
Probably the only people in the world who still believe in the "American empire" are the North Koreans. Barack Obama has already disabused everyone else of that notion.
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Comments:
Mar '11
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
Ya gotta love Dear Leader’s PR apparatus. A few years ago, it announced that Kim Jong-il played his first round of golf and got 11 holes in one. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall at that committee meeting. Two holes in one? Not enough! Nineteen? Too much. Who’d believe it? After hours of debate and many votes, they settled on 11. Tiger Woods, eat your heart out!
Edited on June 8, 2011 at 4:15pmMay '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
I didn't know the New York Times had a Pyongyang bureau.
Jul '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
The generations of propaganda have worked. North Koreans will see this and say, "Those poor devils don't have grass and tree bark to eat like we do in hard times."
Edited on June 8, 2011 at 4:50pmMay '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
Where does that leave Disneyland?
Jun '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
I don't know. I'm waiting for Sean Penn and Jesse Ventura to tell me it's all right before I move there.
Mar '11
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
This study overlooked a key factor - If we Americans cashed in all of our outstanding Skee-Ball tickets we'd have waaay more happiness points.
May '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
"He reportedly aced five holes and finished 38 under par on the golf course. The 'Dear Leader' routinely shoots three or four holes-in-one per round, the government-controlled media reported."
Apr '11
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
Pretty clever. If North Korea had been number one, their citizens could have been skeptical. By craftily taking the number two slot, it makes the list much more credible. I'm sure there will be a lot of Americans moving to NK or Cuba to live the good life, after reading this.
May '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
Mark Wilson
"He reportedly aced five holes and finished 38 under par on the golf course. The 'Dear Leader' routinely shoots three or four holes-in-one per round, the government-controlled media reported." · Jun 8 at 8:43am
I thought you were talking about the President there for a second.
May '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
Yeah, but he took an 8 on the Windmill hole.
May '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
Small is beautiful Rob, which is why the average height of the North Korea male is some Four Inches shorter than that of the South Korean male.
Oh and the concentration camps for political offenders, their children, and even their grandchildren. Never let it be said in Pyongyang that sins of the fathers are ever overlooked.
Sep '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
Even better, the original article Rob linked is in their masters' language: Chinese. And the Chinese reporter isn't buying it, either. According to Google Translate, the second sentence of the article is:
真是无耻，造谣的政权到了极点，为了从中国得到可怜的施舍，也只好位居第二，不然肯定是全宇宙最幸福的国家。
= "Really shameless disinformation regime to the extreme, in order to get the poor alms from China, but also had the second highest, or certainly the happiest country in the universe."
Edited on June 8, 2011 at 6:08pmMar '11
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
EJHill
Yeah, but he took an 8 on the Windmill hole. · Jun 8 at 8:52am
And he looked so tall doing it!
Sep '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
A few years ago, an American tourist visited North Korea and wrote an account of his visit with pictures, called Journey into Kimland. It's long but worth reading if you want to know what visiting the "second happiest country" is like.
Jun '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
Since North Koreans aren't actually allowed out of their country, does anyone know how they know which countryies are happiest? Maybe the Great Leader just knows. Anyone who can score 38 under must be some kind of omniscient deity.
Here's a test for happiness they might want to look at. If a country builds walls to keep other people out (or, in the case of the US, should be building a wall), then it's probably a very happy place. If, on the other hand, a country builds a wall to keep its people in, not so happy: the bigger the wall, the more unhappy the people.
Nov '10
Re: North Korea Votes Itself the Second Happiest Nation on Earth
I can read Korean decently well, but can't read Chinese beyond a few scattered words. I can tell, however, that the two lower ranked countries they singled out are South Korea at 152 and the US at 203.
Update:#3 is Cuba, #4 is Iran, and #5 is Venezuela
Edited on June 9, 2011 at 2:44pm