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Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

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Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#81

Post by freehunter »

elastic_church wrote: post #76
senior_james wrote: post #75

Most of the time, people that have more freedom are less happy. I remember stories I heard about people moving from Soviet Russia to the United States back in the early 80s. They were unhappy and stressed out because in the soviet union, they were assigned a job and the government took care of them. Here in the United States, you had to fend for yourself. Freedom isn't always pleasant and happy, but it's better for t…

Any particular state in mind?

In general most states in the US are very similar to each other in terms of laws. There are some newsworthy exceptions, but in most people's day-to-day lives, basically every state is going to be the same with regards to laws and freedoms.

The biggest difference you'll see is different cultures, but a culture doesn't tend to define itself by the state. Most cultures in the US are centered around geographical region (West Cost, Deep South, Midwest, etc) and even then vary wildly based on the city you're in (Buffalo is very different from NYC, Sacramento is very different from San Fransisco, Portland is very different from Eugene, etc).

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#83

Post by overcast »

senior_james wrote: post #75

Most of the time, people that have more freedom are less happy. I remember stories I heard about people moving from Soviet Russia to the United States back in the early 80s. They were unhappy and stressed out because in the soviet union, they were assigned a job and the government took care of them. Here in the United States, you had to fend for yourself. Freedom isn't always pleasant and happy, but it's better for t…

It's called the Paradox of Choice. More choice/freedom, means people are less happy, because they are constantly trying to maximize purchases/life. Ends up just making you miserable.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#85

Post by aedron »

jernfrost wrote: post #59
cies wrote: post #23

Of course the outcomes of this kind of research are largely dependent on way it is designed. There is a similar study that finds Latin American countries to be among the happiest. Discussed here: http://www.livescience.com/50209-happiest-countries-latin-am...

As someone living in Norway who has been quite interested in the subject and read a lot about it. My understanding is that nordic countries tend to come at the top, not because people are jumping around with joy in the streets. More likely to find that in South America or Africa. Nordic happiness is a mild happiness. It is really about having few people very dissatisfied with life rather than having super happy peopl…

Very true. I bet Scandinavia ranks highest in 'average happiness', but much lower in 'peak happiness', if that makes sense. There is a kind of oppressive atmosphere here where you are expected to subdue yourself, like it is a sin to stick out in a positive way (how dare you make the rest of us feel worse off with your success).

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#86

Post by jack1243star »

harryh wrote: post #41
nabla9 wrote: post #14

That's what you get when you combine oil riches, Nordic model and coastline designed by Slartibartfast.

How does the coastline help? I've never heard this explanation before.

I thought it refers to the scenery, which aids tourism.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#87

Post by aedron »

larsiusprime wrote: post #60
sametmax wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, and this is why natality is an important topic for democracy. It's not just a matter of resources. Everything is easier to manage with less people, meaning more transparency, fairness and equality. The fact that we are not over populated doesn't mean we should not think seriously about decreasing our population size. It's probably a requirement to make the system evolve.

An alternate interpretation is that devolving political control to the smallest possible unit is an available option regardless of a land mass' total population size.

Exactly, yet somehow larger and larger entities are naturally assumed to be the goal. Probably driven by the same capitalist logic the drives business.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#88

Post by cmurf »

sn41 wrote: post #18
mistermann wrote: post #8

1. Norway 146. Yemen 2. Denmark 147. South Sudan 3. Iceland 148. Liberia 4. Switzerland 149. Guinea 5. Finland 150. Togo 6. Netherlands 151. Rwanda 7. Canada 152. Syria 8. New Zealand 153. Tanzania 9. Australia 154. Burundi 10. Sweden Will be interesting to see how spots 7, 8, 9 hold up going forward as many/most middle class people in these 3 countries increasingly find they cannot afford even a very modest home wit…

I am an Indian who have lived for a while in NZ. Please do not chug on this Kool-Aid that NZ is not corrupt. Part of the reason why real estate in Auckland is overpriced is because the government deliberately does not formulate a legislation that forbids non-residents from buying up property. Please petition for this reasonable legislation. Who does the current policy enrich? It is your country. I think you should fi…

A very high tax when the owner is not in the country and also isn't renting the property at fair market value. Basically, you should use the property somehow rather than merely hoarding, storing, and withholding the property from its purpose. If it's not being used, the tax would be a total obscenity. Punitive. e.g. 90% tax on the profit of the home sale. If you're a foreigner parking money in real estate, not using that real estate, and disallowing it to be used? Thank you for your contribution to our society. Pay up.

Proof of living in the residence is necessary for some kinds of loans, so it's not a new concept. And the tax can be settled once every X years (maybe 3), or at home sale.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#89

Post by sandworm101 »

mistermann wrote: post #26
sn41 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am an Indian who have lived for a while in NZ. Please do not chug on this Kool-Aid that NZ is not corrupt. Part of the reason why real estate in Auckland is overpriced is because the government deliberately does not formulate a legislation that forbids non-residents from buying up property. Please petition for this reasonable legislation. Who does the current policy enrich? It is your country. I think you should fi…

Oh, as a Canadian I fully agree, the exact same thing happening to you is happening to us as well. In Vancouver, upper class neighborhoods hollowed out by empty unmaintained multi-million dollar homes, condo towers pitch black at night, high end sports cars with N (new driver) stickers, horrendous traffic as (speculation) it seems people can buy a driver's license without first learning how to drive, etc. Popular opi…

Cc. As a vancouver resident (north shore) I'll confirm all of that. This is a hollow city. Im in my car waiting for an 8am with a client. Buildings are quiet, traffic light.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#90

Post by prodikl »

zdean wrote: post #58

I wonder if the lack of ethnic diversity in the "happier" countries is a contributing factor: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/16...

i doubt it. japan and south korea are pretty homogeneous and they have some of the highest suicide rates in the world
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