The happiest countries are mostly small, mono-cultural and affluent. Which may serve to emphasize in larger, more diverse nations the importance of social cohesion brought on by mass education and communications introduced in the 19th or 20th centuries and remaining dominant into the first decade of the 21st.
The concern this raises is whether the targeted, individualized marketing tactics employed to enhance sales of products, services, ideologies (and the candidates who back them) may now be undermining that sense of shared purpose crucial to high performing companies and societies. The question is whether there is sufficient will to change this trajectory without destroying the gains that have been built around that digital economy but before the deleterious social influences cause longer lasting sub-optimal outcomes. JL
Grace Dobush reports in Fortune:
Finland remains the happiest country on Earth for the second year in the row, while the U.S. drops to its worst ranking ever. In the U.S., where prosperity is on the rise, researchers blame declines in social capital and support. Changes in how Americans spend their leisure time are also to blame, pointing at the rise of digital media and the decline of face-to-face interactions. The report calls the US a “mass-addiction society.” The prevalence of addictions - including gambling, social media use, video gaming and shopping - "suggests individuals may be lured into self-destructive behaviors by businesses boosting sales of their goods and services.”
The United States is the unhappiest it’s ever been.
The 2019 World Happiness Report says that Finland remains the happiest country on Earth for the second year in the row, while the U.S. drops to No. 19, its worst ranking ever (it was No. 18 in 2018 and No. 14 in 2017).
The global report on 156 countries released Wednesday placed five Nordic countries in the top 10, with the Netherlands (5), Switzerland (6), New Zealand (7), Canada (9), and Austria (10) filling out the other top spots.
At No.15., even the Brexit-divided United Kingdom ranked higher than the U.S.
Researchers with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network have been creating the annual happiness report since 2012, based on global data from Gallup. Countries’ happiness scores are determined by six main variables on a three-year average:
Finland — home of the recent basic income experiment — has shown steady upward progress over the past few years, the researchers found.
- GDP per capita
- Healthy life expectancy at birth
- Social support from friends and family
- Freedom to make life choices
- Generosity in the form of donations to charity
- Perceptions of government corruption
In the U.S., where prosperity is on the rise, researchers pin the blame on declines in social capital and social support and increases in obesity and substance abuse. Author Jean M. Twenge believes fundamental changes in how Americans spend their leisure time are also to blame, pointing a finger at the rise of digital media and the decline of face-to-face interactions.Report co-author Jeffrey Sachs calls the United States a “mass-addiction society.” The prevalence of addictions — including gambling, social media use, video gaming, shopping, consuming unhealthy foods, exercising, and engaging in extreme sports or risky sexual behaviors — in American society seems to be on the rise, perhaps dramatically, he writes.
“The free-market theory taught in our universities holds that consumers know what’s best for them, with businesses efficiently and appropriately catering to those desires,” Sachs wrote. “The prevalence of addiction suggests a very different picture: that individuals may be lured into self-destructive behaviors, notably by businesses keen on boosting sales of their goods and services.”
2019 World Happiness Rankings
These are the top 20 and bottom 10 countries ranked by happiness, with a selection of countries in between:
1. Finland (7.769)
2. Denmark (7.600)
3. Norway (7.554)
4. Iceland (7.494)
5. Netherlands (7.488)
6. Switzerland (7.480)
7. Sweden (7.343)
8. New Zealand (7.307)
9. Canada (7.278)
10. Austria (7.246)
11. Australia (7.228)
12. Costa Rica (7.167)
13. Israel (7.139)
14. Luxembourg (7.090)
15. United Kingdom (7.054)
16. Ireland (7.021)
17. Germany (6.985)
18. Belgium (6.923)
19. United States (6.892)
20. Czech Republic (6.852)
…
32. Brazil (6.300)
58. Japan (5.886)
68. Russia (5.648)
93. China (5.191)
108. Venezuela (4.707)
117. Iran (4.548)
126. Iraq (4.437)
140. India (4.015)
…
147. Haiti (3.597)
148. Botswana (3.488)
149. Syria (3.462)
150. Malawi (3.410)
151. Yemen (3.380)
152. Rwanda (3.334)
153. Tanzania (3.231)
154. Afghanistan (3.203)
155. Central African Republic (3.083)
156. South Sudan (2.853)
Biggest increases in happiness
From 2005-2008 to 2016-2018, these countries’ happiness levels were most improved. The number is the increase in points over those years:
1. Benin (1.390)
2. Nicaragua (1.264)
3. Bulgaria (1.167)
4. Latvia (1.159)
5. Togo (1.077)
Biggest drops in happiness
At the other end of the scale, these countries saw the biggest decreases in happiness levels over the same time period:
128. Yemen (-1.097)
129. India (-1.137)
130. Botswana (-1.606)
131. Syria (-1.861)
132. Venezuela (-1.944)
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