Of Happiness, Politics, Perspectives and Trust

A few days ago, the latest edition of the World Happiness Report was published. As has historically been the case, the Scandinavian countries — including my own original native Denmark — were near the top of the list, occupying 5 of the top 7 slots.

Costa Rica also figured high on the list, in 6th place.

I don't put a lot of stock in these things because "happiness" tends to mean different things to different people; in different cultures.

Danes are definitely not "happy" by the metrics we generally use to measure such things here in the USA, but they are amazingly deep into what you might call "life contentment," or "life meaningfulness."

One thing I found somewhat noteworthy, as I went through the deeper meaning of the metrics: Denmark — thought by many in the USA to be "a bunch of government oppressed socialists" ranked 10th in the world on "freedom," while the US — thought by most as the stronghold of freedom and liberty — ranked a lowly 115th in the world on "freedom."

In a way, it bears out my direct experience in traveling back and forth between Denmark and the USA, and spending extended periods of time "as a local" in both places.

Our freedom here in the US always has felt legislated and almost enforced, in particular I always find myself very aware of the massive law enforcement presence in the US, whenever I return from spending time in Denmark. I'm only being half facetious when I say that it almost feels like I could be pulled over randomly and asked "Sir, have you appropriately used and been grateful for your freedom, today?"

The other thing this latest report speaks to is the way we mistrust government and see corruption in politics everywhere. People in Denmark don't automatically think of politicians and government as corrupt and not trustworthy... but that goes hand in hand with the fact that the sustem actually WORKS for the people.

Which isn't to say that corruption doesn't exist, but there's far more respect for the role of a politician as a servant of the people than in the US where it is more often a "power and cash grab." Not suggesting always; just more often.

Part of my point in writing this — as someone who has lived in both societies — is that each place is having its own authentic response to its situation, based on its conditions.

Danes are not "overly naive" for trusting their government, because their government works for them, for the most part. Similarly, people in the US are not overly mistrustful of their government, because their government is often inefficient and potentially corrupt. Or, at least a little sketchy.

But ultimately, nobody is actually "wrong," given the respective situations.

As for the happiness part of the equation, it's important to keep in mind that different places have different interpretations of what implies *"being happy," within their respective frames of reference... and that's not something a global survey can necessarily assess accurately; it's all just an approximation.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Friday!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2025.03.28 01:15 PDT
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