Kim Bellard
News Express: America is not a very happy place these days.
No, I'm not talking about the current political divide (probably more accurately described as a divide), at least not directly. I'm referring to the latest results from the World Happiness Report, which found that the United States has slipped to 24Th Location is in the world, the lowest ever. We're 11 years oldTh In 2011, the first report.
Nordic countries once again scored the highest goal, accounting for half of the top ten counties, and Finland repeated the eighth consecutive year as the happiest country. The nearest neighbor of the United States, Mexico (10Th) and Canada (18Th) is a happier place, tariff or not.
“The belief in kindness of others is closer to happiness than previously thought,” the researchers declared. They specifically cite the belief that others will return lost wallets as a powerful predictor of a country's happiness, while pointing out that such returns are twice as likely as people think they are.
John F. Helliwell, an economist at the University of British Columbia, the founding editor of the World Happiness Report, said:
Wallet data is so compelling because they confirm that people are happier to live where people think they care about each other. The experiments of wallet drops verifies the reality of these views, even if they are too pessimistic everywhere.
It turns out that the United States is only ranked 52ND Believe that a stranger will return a lost wallet, even only 25Th Police meeting. We are more optimistic (17Th) Our neighbors will.
Sharing meals with others is also closely related to happiness. “The extent to which you share your meals can predict your social support, the prosocial behaviors you demonstrate, and the trust you trust others” Jan-Emmanuel de Neve, professor at Oxford University and author of the report, told The New York Times.
Unfortunately, the number of people eating solo in the United States has increased by 53% over the past two decades. According to the Ajinomoto Group, it rose 80% among American adults under the age of 25.
In general, young Americans are helped. Gallup CNN. “Young people today report less support for friends and family, less freedom to make life choices, and less optimistic about their living standards.”
18% (18%) of young adults in the United States reported that no one was the highest in all age groups in the United States, and the same young person had lower contact than older respondents in the United States. “Although not sure, this provides interesting preliminary evidence that relatively low links among young people may lead to lower health in young Americans,” the report speculated.
In fact, if the United States was measured only by the happiness of our young people, we wouldn't even rank among the top 60 countries. “It's frustrating to see this, it's perfectly linked to the fact that the well-being of American youth is on the cliff, which has driven the rankings to a large extent,” said Professor De Neeve.
The researchers also pointed out that inequality is an important factor. “In these northern Scandinavian countries, the high tide raised all the ships, so the level of economic inequality was much less, which also reflects happiness,” Professor Deniff said. “In Finland, most people will rate it [their happiness] There are a lot of 10s out there, but there are a lot of 10s out there, too. ”
No wonder. According to City College:
Wealth inequality is higher In the United States, it has risen in almost any other developed country than most of the past 60 years. Racial wealth inequality has been passed down from generation to generation, reflecting the long-term impact of racist policies rather than personal intentions or deficits.
So no, we are not all together, especially the lowest 50% is only 2.4% of the family’s wealth, which is one of the lowest points we’ve ever seen. Americans also say that we are deeply divided politically and values (and of course, that's not relevant).
Professor Jan-Emmanuel de Neve summarized their report:
This year’s report has pushed us beyond traditional determinants such as health and wealth. It turns out that sharing meals and trusting others have stronger predictors of well-being than expected. In this age of social isolation and political polarization, we need to find ways to bring people to the table again – doing so is crucial to our personal and collective well-being.
“Our increasingly isolated social isolation also means we are not testing our ideas about the world with others,” Dr. De Neve explained to The. New York. “And the more you sit on the table with other people who may have different opinions, the more you start to host your own opinions. So for many people, there is a lack of social interaction and social isolation, so – amplified by Echo Chambers – makes people more radical. ”
If you've read Robert Putman's classic Bowling alone (2000) – If not, stop reading, go buy a copy and read – then none of this will surprise. Professor Putnam describes how America transformed from a society that was so diverse to a more isolated society that tended to be more isolated, and damaged much of our social capital. We can be sure to use that social capital now.
Of course, in today's America, there are many dissatisfactions. Most Americans think the country is not on the right path. We do not trust our various institutions. We use social media, but we are very worried about its impact – more important than the rest of the world. 8% of us have no close friends.
Look, I can understand the overall happiness in Finland, Denmark, and even New Zealand, but Slovenia or the UAE? Seriously. We need to put down our phones, stop arguing about politics, go out and have dinner with friends, and for goodwill, if you find a wallet, be sure to return it to the owner.Kim is the former emarketing Exec of the main blues program, late editor and regret tinture.ionow regular THCB contributor
