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Measuring happiness

by on March 22nd, 2014
einsteintongue

Photo: Google.

This is another “list” story, so move right along if you find those silly or boring. According to a recent article in the Ottawa Citizen:

Canada is said to be the second-happiest country in the world, according to a recent life satisfaction study. The winner: the equally cold, Denmark.

In fact, the study shows that between 2003-2011, nine out of 10 Canadians (or 93.2 per cent) reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their lives. But how do other nations measure on the overall happy-o-meter?

I’d give you a list with the alleged answer, except I’m really not sure which data set the article is referencing. When I look at more recent happiness surveys, most do not put Canada in second place. For example, this OCED Better Life Index measures what it calls life satisfaction by country. Their 2013 data put Canada in 8th place, behind Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Finland. The U.S. comes in 14th, behind Israel. A different site includes world maps with color codes for happiness and life satisfaction.

I guess one reason the subject comes up at all right now is on the tailcoat of something called International Day of Happiness. That fell on March 20, the first day of spring. (Coincidence? I think not!)

Yes, there’s a world of international days out there that many have never heard of, at least according to the UN.

That may sound like proof the organization has too much time on its hands leading to so much busy-work. But consider this from the UN blurb on Happiness Day:

General Assembly the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that the world “needs a new economic paradigm that recognizes the parity between the three pillars of sustainable development. Social, economic and environmental well-being are indivisible. Together they define gross global happiness.”  The meeting was convened at an initiative of Bhutan, a country which recognized the supremacy of national happiness over national income since the early 1970s and famously adopted the goal of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product.

I don’t know if North American culture can wrap its head around Gross National Happiness as a goal or something that can be measured. But I’m all for creating new and better economic paradigms.

Meanwhile, welcome spring! There’s a cause to celebrate!

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1 Comment on “Measuring happiness”

  1. Michael Greer says:
    March 25, 2014 at 6:54 am

    As a New Yorker, I have always referred to Canada as the place where they do everything right. I’m sure there are probably some Canadians who don’t agree; who think taxes are too high, or that the government should be moving in a different direction, or what have you. There are malcontents everywhere. Those in Canada should be sent to New York for re-socialization therapy. A few years working, or trying to be in business, or taking part in politics here will have them crawling back to the Land of the Happy.

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