Well. Well. A lot of liberal leaning countries there. Except maybe for Australia. And every one of them, including Australia. has national health insurance. Will we look at this and learn. Probably not. We barely notice that the top ten lowest income states, right here in the USA, have been run by Republicans for ages.
And BTW, despite the red herring Chicago…if you live in a Red state, on average, you have a 35% chance of being a homicide victim, as compared to the average Blue state.
No worries though. Ignore the worldwide observational evidence. Full speed ahead with the Republican agenda.
Don’t confuse me with facts.
I can’t believe it’s 35 %. Take a look at this murder rate by state or these causes of death by state. Even if homicide gets misreported as septicemia (because, you know, the lead) it doesn’t approach 35 %.
Most likely gmccpa meant to type that the rate was 35% higher.
You mean all those horrible, unfree, overtaxed, collapsing European welfare states are happier than the good old U.S. of A? Can’t be. Definitely fake news.
I wonder about a possible inverse correlate: Church attendance.
Yeah, but they’re only happy because they don’t spend 10% of their GDP on their military, using it instead for social services and free telephones. Let’s hope Trump doesn’t see this. Happy people are like a red flag to Republicans. Happy people are a casus belli waiting to happen.
Socialism works. This list proves it.
On the flip side, and not to pour cold water on everyone’s observations here (although i do agree with almost everything that’s been said), i should point out that while these countries are mostly liberal to the point of being labeled economically socialist, these nations also have MUCH stricter immigration laws that we have here in the US. Folks in these countries know what they have. They like what they have, and they’re determined to protect what they have. As much as i’d like a share of what they’ve got for myself, i can’t say as i blame them one bit for having strict criteria for who they accept as an immigrant. I’ve resolved if i ever hope to gain a residency visa where i’d really like to live, i’ll probably have to resort to being a political refugee from the US. This current regime is making that more likely by the hour, so there is still some hope.
I think what gmccpa means here is that the risk of homicide is on average 35 percent higher in red states than in blue states …
Who can this be possible. There are Democratic Socialist countries on the happiest list. TPM must have confused the Saddest Countries list with the Happiest Countries list. I know this because the Republicans have told me that Socialism is the recipe for sadness and we all know that Republicans do not lie.
Not so "tsp!"
Specifically, “nearly 15% of Americans were foreign-born in 1910, while in 1999, only about 10% were foreign-born.” By 1970, immigrants accounted for 4.7 percent of the US population and rising to 6.2 percent in 1980, with an estimated 12.5 percent in 2009.
Norway has a larger immigrant population at: According to Statistics Norway, Norway’s immigrant population makes up 16.3% of the country’s total population.[1] This includes immigrants and children born in Norway to two immigrant parents. The five largest immigrant groups in Norway are in turn Polish, Lithuanian, Swedish, Somali, and Pakistani.[1]
Sorry Leeks. I speak from personal experience. I’ve actually tried to emigrate, and i know lots of immigrants here in the US. Vastly different protocols to get into the US v any of the nations on the list of who’s happiest. I don’t doubt your numbers, but simply applying for a visa doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed. In fact, it’s a lot harder in the S. Pacific and northern Europe. My experience was a real eye opener.
This should give every CEO in the US pause for thought.
Not even close to being true. 7 of the top 10 happiest countries are in the Schengen Area. Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden are in Schengen. They are part of 26 countries which have abolished all mutual border controls except in emergencies. 4 of the top 10 are in the European Union where people can live and work anywhere with zero restrictions, either temporarily or permanently. Canada, New Zealand and Australia are members of the Commonwealth, with automatic rights to immigrate to the UK, and relaxed immigration rules with each other. In fact all 10 happiest countries have greater freedom of movement and immigration rights than any country outside of the Schengen Area, the EU and the Commonwealth. It would appear immigration and migration freedom may be key to being happy.
Looking at the list, warm weather is apparently not as highly prized as I thought. Damn, I thought I needed a beach and some sunny weather. No wonder I’m always angry these days.
Or is it Trump?
the happiest countries are probably not plagued with greed and coveting even more and more stuff in order to stay on top in the competition for conspicuous consumption. And, they have actual social safety nets to keep them in food and shelter if they suffer misfortunes.
Salutary theory
So, so, very socialist.