Where are all the Happy People?

[homedawg]

Denmark
Ranking: 1





Puerto Rico
Ranking: 2





Colombia
Ranking: 3





Iceland
Ranking: 4





Northern Ireland
Ranking: 5



__________________________________________________ _________________

WASHINGTON (July 1) - Denmark, with its democracy, social equality and peaceful atmosphere, is the happiest country in the world, researchers said on Monday.

Zimbabwe, torn by political and social strife, is the least happy, while the world's richest nation, the United States, ranks 16th.

Overall, the world is getting happier, according to the U.S. government-funded World Values Survey, done regularly by a global network of social scientists.

It found increased happiness from 1981 to 2007 in 45 of 52 countries analyzed.

"I strongly suspect that there is a strong correlation between peace and happiness," said Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, who directed the study.

And, said Ingelhart, there is a strong correlation between happiness and democracy.

"Denmark is the happiest country in the world in our ratings," Inglehart said in an audio statement released by the National Science Foundation, which paid for the analysis.

"Denmark is prosperous -- not the richest country in the world but it is prosperous."

Puerto Rico and Colombia also rank highly, along with Northern Ireland, Iceland, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada and Sweden.

"Though by no means the happiest country in the world, from a global perspective the United States looks pretty good," Inglehart said. "The country is not only prosperous; it ranks relatively high in gender equality, tolerance of ethnic and social diversity and has high levels of political freedom."

The survey, first done in 1981, has kept to two simple questions:

"Taking all things together, would you say you are very happy, rather happy, not very happy, not at all happy?" And, "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?"

Writing in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, Ingelhart's team said they have surveyed 350,000 people.

"Ultimately, the most important determinant of happiness is the extent to which people have free choice in how to live their lives," Inglehart said.

[homedawg]

[dananderson32]

wherever the women are plentiful and beautiful

[redhog55]

I think Junkman is happy------------or is that gay? I think he'd be happier in Zimbabwe though.

I'm surprised the peope of Georgia are not happy!! The Bulldogs should be pretty good this year.

9 out of the top ten happiest countries were either high or drunk when surveyed!! Hell yes, I'd be happy too. The people of Iceland don't know any differently.

Anyway, I'm extremely happy, even though I lost my parlay tonight.

[joepa66]

Originally Posted by dananderson32

wherever the women are plentiful and beautiful

I'm happy too...and will be for about 5 of the 7 days while I'm on vacation...the other two days will be spent driving and also lamenting the end of vacation and the return to work!

[homedawg]

It's legal to smoke pot in Denmark.
Puerto Rico is moving to legalize pot.
Colombia supplies all the pot.
I am not sure why Iceland is so happy.
There are pubs everywhere in Ireland, and the irish never stop drinking!

Learning from the top Happy Countries, for the U.S. to be a happier country:

1-We need to be able to grow our own weed & smoke it legally!
2-We need more bars, and need to drink more beer!