There You Go!
Judith Levy ·
Jul. 31 at 10:51am
There's been much discussion here of late about happiness and the disconnect between contentment and imminent doom, the latter with particular reference to Claire's and my neighborhood. Well, it turns out that either things really are swell in Israel or we are truly masters of denial. Gallup conducted a study of the happiness levels of 155 countries that surveyed thousands of respondents over four years. The results are in: Israel tied Canada, Switzerland and Australia as the eighth happiest country on earth.
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: There You Go!
I think it depends on how reality matches up to your expectations. You can be happy if you don't expect much, and get what you expect. Or, as in Scandinavia, you expect a big safety net, and you actually get it.
May '10
Re: There You Go!
Epictetus would agree with you.
If I asked my Swedish friends why they're so happy, they would probably say it's the beer. The handful that I know are a very easy-going sort.
May '10
Re: There You Go!
I've never bought these lists, especially the ones that put the Scandis at the top. I'm half Norwegian, have been to the country a few times, and have oodles of Norwegian kin. I think they gloomily assent to report how happy they are out of stern Nordic duty.
Jun '10
Re: There You Go!
Anybody who thinks Canadians are happy has never watched the Toronto Maple Leafs play. Besides, Canadians aren't happy, they just have nationalized medicine so their visits to the psychiatrist don't cost them any out of pocket money. What this means is that they can rationalize away their discontent while beating on each other in late night and early morning hockey games. Hell! Would you be happy living in a country that promised nine months winter and three months bad skating? There are probably only three males in the entire country with complete sets of teeth, the rest have bridges, dentures, and scars.
May '10
Re: There You Go!
As an Australian resident in Australia, I am not surprised that we usually get ranked highly in these types of surveys. Perhaps it is the 5.1% unemployment, low inflation, and lack of a snowy Winter that wins out? Of course our electoral race (currently in progress) is half way through its 5 week stretch; so we can get back to the more important football finals by the end of August. How you guys stand the constant campaigning every 2 years is beyond me.