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U.S. hits new low in World Happiness Report

(www.axios.com)
219 points surprisetalk | 2 comments | 25 Sep 25 20:52 UTC | HN request time: 0.486s | source
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pavlov ◴[25 Sep 25 21:58 UTC] No.45379708[source]▶
Some years ago I moved back to Finland (#1) after several years in the US (now at #24).

While the quality of life really is objectively better with children, the secret to these rankings is probably the calibration inherent in the question. Finnish people just don’t have high expectations. Every positive development is a welcome surprise.

Americans are primed to want it all and seem to constantly compare themselves against unachievable standards on social media. “The American Dream” is more illusionary than ever. Everybody is a temporarily inconvenienced billionaire. This can be positive when it produces a drive that builds things, but it seems to mostly produce unhappiness right now because it’s so out of balance.

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jpgvm ◴[25 Sep 25 22:52 UTC] No.45380297[source]▶
All happiness is relative to expectation.

I have lived in Thailand for the last ~8yrs. It's unfortunate not to see it on the list as I think generally speaking Thais are much happier than either US (where I travel a lot for work) or Australians (my home country).

A big chunk of that is the expectations, they don't need many material things to enjoy life and place a much higher emphasis on community and social standing (which isn't primarily derived from material wealth). Your occupation in Thailand has a very large impact on your social standing - more than the income you derive from it. i.e doctors are extremely well respected, however public doctors more so than private ones despite the latter being more wealthy.

Sense of community is something that builds you up rather than the Western trope of comparing yourself to your neighbour that breaks you down.

That very simple difference seems to have an outsized impact on how happy folk are here.

There are exceptions and Bangkok is much more Western but if you live out in the country like me then Thailand is a very happy place.

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1. paxys ◴[25 Sep 25 22:56 UTC] No.45380354[source]▶
While what you said may be true, it's also likely that (I assume) being an expat you are generally living in large urban areas and interacting with the top N% of the country in terms of wealth and opportunity. Go a bit deeper and the reality may be very different.
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2. jpgvm ◴[27 Sep 25 08:49 UTC] No.45394179[source]▶
FWIW I live in a small semi-rural community in Krabi province, but it's an easy assumption to make. :) Also I did live in Bangkok for several years so I guess it's only a few years off temporally.

If anything I feel the people are happier here than in Bangkok which was by far wealthier and full of (traditional) economic opportunity. Here it's a combination of tourism in the nearby beach areas and lots of agricultural business (rubber, pineapples, etc).

As long as money isn't a problem it's not something making you unhappy. Having more than you need isn't going to directly make you happy, it can certainly help indirectly though.

Instead the things that make people happy are mostly family and community in my experience.

With that in mind there is a lot of reasons for people to be happy here - beautiful scenery, clean air, close community (I know pretty much everyone in my neighbourhood) and very active Chinese shines, Muslim mosques and Thai buddhist temples. Family life here is good, it's safe, there are good schools etc.

I used to think other things were more important but since moving here I have come to appreciate that these things are what matter and why people stay.