For the second year in a row, Finland has been deemed the happiest country in the world.
This is according to the “World Happiness Report,” which is produced for the United Nations. Rounding out the top five are Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands.
Here in America, we find less to smile about. The Washington Post reported last month: “For the third year in a row, the U.S. has dropped in the ranking and now sits at No. 19, one spot lower than last year.”
What’s our problem? From the Post article: “Researchers posit the country’s declining happiness is likely due to an ‘epidemic of addictions,’ which includes everything from substance abuse and gambling to social media usage and risky sexual behaviors.” Obesity apparently plays a role, as does a high rate of teenage depression.
The happiness report always intrigues me, though I do take it with a grain of salt. I’m a fan of “Nordic noir” on both the page and the screen. These books and films are filled with murders—often gruesome. But, according to Wikipedia, the homicide rate in Finland is 1.42 per 100,000 residents, and Denmark, .98. I’ve read quite a few murder mysteries set in Iceland, which has a .30 homicide rate. Compare those figures to the U.S., where an average of 5.35 people per 100,000 are murdered annually.
I would think living in a relatively safe country would make me happier. (I know residing in a state with a low homicide rate contributes to my sense of well-being.) But I do wonder at the imagination of the Nordic crime writers. Is there such a thing as too much happiness, and does it lead to an urge to cross over to the dark side, metaphorically speaking?
If so, I’ll take it. While doom and gloom and mayhem will probably always be my escape from reality, I want more sunshine in my actual life.
My personal take on American unhappiness is that we’re overly individualistic. We have that “winner take all” mentality. We believe in meritocracy— the idea that we succeed because we are smarter, more skillful, than others. This ignores the factors, like poverty, that hold many Americans back from the start.
We go ballistic at any suggestion of “socialistic” ideas. Take universal health care. I think Americans support it in theory, but all opponents have to do is brand it as “socialist” and the easily swayed among us decide it’s a bad idea.
Ironically, it is community and a government safety net that contribute to the happiness of the Finns and the Danes. The Guardian newspaper asked Finns about their high happiness ranking. One said, “We Finns are happy because of high taxes. Of course I’d like to keep more of my income, but it makes it easier for people to live stress free. Because of our healthcare, getting sick won’t necessarily mean bankruptcy…Daycare is free for many, and only a fraction of the real cost to families with high incomes.”
Meik Wiking is the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. Yes, really. In “The Little Book of Lykke” (Danish for “happiness”), he explains that, in the World Happiness Report, the gap between the haves an have-nots “can be explained by six factors: togetherness or sense of community, money, health, freedom, trust, and kindness.”
I work for a school district, and this year several colleagues have experienced major health problems. It is heartening that we come together as a community to help our coworkers, but it’s stressful to realize how much American health care costs even when you have good insurance. I can easily believe that not having to worry about using your life savings to save your life would put Americans in the top ten of the happiness rankings.
And how about taking away the burden of having to pay for post-secondary education as well? Parents who want their children to go to college, but who are concerned about financing their own retirements and may also be caring for elderly parents, may not be able to find much joy in their day-to-day lives.
All that said, sometimes I think it’s all about the bicycles. In the first season of the Danish television series, “Borgen,” lead character Brigette Nyborg, leader of the Moderate Party, rides her bike to Parliament. Halla, the protagonist of the Icelandic film “Woman at War,” may be an ecoterrorist, but she looks content with life as she pedals home.
According to Denmark’s official website, “Cycling accounts for a quarter of all personal transport in Denmark for distances of less than five kilometres" (about three miles).
If I rode my bicycle to work, I’d enjoy the fresh air. I’d feel I was adding a little fun to a busy, possibly nerve-wracking day. Maybe I’d work off some of that anticipatory stress as I pedaled. Perhaps most importantly, I’d feel like a denizen of one of the world’s happiest countries.
And as we Americans like to say, “Fake it ’til you make it.”
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