Finland’s story shows equality is the best route to happiness

From the Guardian: Finland’s story shows equality is the best route to happiness

Excerpt:

The above demonstrates one key fact. To be happy as a nation, it does not need just muney, muney, muney - and a parade of billionaires showing off by spending their untaxed dollars funding benevolent causes.

Finland is just one example of many in the Europen Union (EU), though - no doubt - Finland is more successful than other countries. The EU is a real hodgepodge of countries every bit as diverse as the US.

So, what's the difference? The EU has had from the get-go a defined program of Social Democracy where the emphasis has been - not the acquisition of muney, muney, muney - but the reduction of income-disparity by the means of government spending where it does the most good.

And how did most of Europe achieve that? Well, unlike the US, it did not spend 53% of its Discretionary Budget on a department-of-defense. The comparative spending as a percent of GDP from here :


The US defense spending could be brought back to 2% of GDP, and the money ($372B) spent better elsewhere (like free Tertiary Education for our children at state-schools) ...

 

UN World Happiness Report 2017 (pdf)

Excerpt: "Social Foundations of World Happiness" (page 9)

 

UN World Happiness Report 2017 (pdf)

Excerpt: "Social Foundations of World Happiness" (page 9)

Explanation of "Cantril's ladder" here ...

 

America is not about hapiness, never was.

 

To be fair, international analysis into happiness is ropey stuff of very little value. Always better to look at one country over a relatively small time period (which still allows testing of the validity of stuff like the Easterlin Paradox)

 

Good for Finland, but that doesn't mean the Finnish way is the best way.

Finland is tiny, a population smaller than NY City, and it is homogeneous being 5% "minority".

And just to keep things in perspective since you fudged the data, the USA spends over 63% of its total budget on social programs. That total swamps the EU spending. Your argument fails.

 

Yes, it's been all about "winning". And you can't have winners without losers.

Time to change all that ...

 

The Guardian, though. Any chance you could provide a 'balancing' piece on the same subject?

 

Neither was Finland. No country ever sets out to create happiness.

"fairness", but not "happiness".

 

In America? All the best.

 

The Guardian is notoriously biased. Anything from them is going to be tainted.

 

This is the part that the FinFans don't get. They think that such a model just magically works, regardless of whom it's imposed upon. They never factor in the universal willingness of the populace to support such a model .. nor that that universality is a function of a unified culture.

 

Only biased in comparison with right wing rag owned by billionaire.

 

Maybe their story shows low immigration is the route to happiness.

Finland is pretty much like a colder, poorer, more working class version of Sweden. Albeit one that doesn't attract (or let in) as many foreign migrants.

It's remarkable the nation's happiness index happens to be so high with their high suicide rate (due to the cold dismal climate and short hours of daylight for half the year). That should really be saying something.

 

No, it's horribly biased to anyone who stands a centimetre to the right of the far left. I'm a leftie, and I can smell it while holding my nose.

 

You think the Guaradian is hard left? HAHAHA!

Sorry, still laughing.

 

Happiness Index aren't particularly revealing. I'm love to suggest otherwise and crow about more social democratic policies. However, its simply a methodology that is more entertainment than rigorous.

 

I suspect much of it has to do with availability of open space (surrounding where people live) combined with the ratio of consumer purchasing power relative to cost-of-living.

There also aren't a whole lot of poor people in Finland. Much of the population may be more of the working class type with more modest incomes, but you don't have an impoverished underclass there (and all the social problems that come along with that).

Finland also has one of the highest per capita ratio of guns in all Europe.
Maybe that's their secret to happiness.

 

Very few countries have a documented underclass. Of course that is objective analysis based on mobility analysis. Naff all to do with the happiness literature (which is clearly problematic for international analysis)

 

I guess it hasn't been 'documented' in the UK.

Like a lot of other things...

 

It has actually. It typically is easier to find in Anglo-Saxon Economies.

If you have a point make it. Try to make sure it is economics orientated, rather than click bait for right wing hate.

 

If you're going to claim there's not an underclass now in many parts of, what was 20 years ago at least, the prosperous Northwestern region of Europe.

Would you prefer to ignore this for your international comparative happiness studies?

 

I'm happy of course for you to refer to underclass evidence. Try to ensure its published!

 

Why then did you make the asininely ridiculous comment "Very few countries have a documented underclass" ?

 

Because that is the truth. Why don't you refer to evidence if you think otherwise?