We Talk Friday
(WTF)
This is a semi-regular series that I will run on Fridays to hold discussions on a current topic from the week gone. The aim is to keep them light and conversational, though some might be heavier - regardless of the content topic itself though, just have some fun engaging and discussing with whoever happens to put in the effort in the comments section below.
For the eighth year in a row, Finland has again topped the list as the "happiest country in the world" - with Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Norway, Israel, Luxembourg and Mexico rounding out the top ten. I am not sure what the takeaway is from this list is - but while the Nordics are happy with degrading social services, while Costa Rica has crime problems, Mexico has constant drug cartel killings and averages about 100 murders a day, and well Israel... Being at war has been good for their spirits it seems!
There is nothing like a bit of death to lighten the mood.
But really, these lists are absolute nonsense, and if Finland is the happiest group of people on earth, the rest of the world is in worse shape than I thought - and I think it is in pretty bad shape. However, I will admit, Finland probably isn't the worse place to live, compared to some of the options out there. Afghanistan came last.
I guess the Taliban need to beat some more smiles out of their people.
As nonsensical as these lists are, what they do provide for some people perhaps is a reflection point to consider what actually makes a happy country. Well technically, a country is just imaginary line on a map - but what makes the people within those lines happier?
What are the top three things you need?
Go ahead...
So, what were they? Wealth, lower taxes, better roads and schools, freedom of speech, pro-life/ pro-choice, less immigrants, more police, lower crime? And while the list can go on for a long time, my point is that these are the kinds of things that people make their voting decisions on (well, not in Afghanistan - as they have a totalitarian theocracy) and decide who leads the country.
But, while some of these things might be part of a larger picture of influence for a decent life, how come people aren't expressly voting for the things that most directly influence their top three needs? It seems to me that people want their cake and eat it too - where they want things that don't add to their wellbeing, but they desire - and they want their wellbeing, even though their focus on the desirables might go against their wellbeing.
Is happiness so hard?
Because we put conditions on our happiness, and those conditions can be very hard to meet. I will be happy when I have a good job I love, a house, luxury car, beautiful wife and kids, a boat, a holiday home... and I have to be healthy as well!
We are human - there is no such thing as unconditional circumstances in our life. Even "the unconditional love of a parent for a child" likely has some level of condition on it somewhere. I mean, there are some pretty terrible children out in the world. And worse adults who are always someone's child.
Do we set too many conditions?
Probably. But does knowing that make a functional difference in your life? Are you now going to go through your hierarchy of desires and discover which ones are just not achievable, and which ones you don't really need anyway, and which ones take too much work for the return?
What is the lowest set of conditions that you require for happiness?
How different do you think your lowest set of conditions is in comparison to the other people in your family, neighbourhood, city, or country? If that list is pretty similar, isn't that where the resources should be going? Isn't it what influences those topics that we should be voting upon?
I guess...
All countries suck.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Past Episodes:
Episode 3: Collapse is Inevitable
Episode 2: Show me the money
Episode 1: Strange bedfellows
