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posted by janrinok on Monday March 19 2018, @09:40AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-clapping-for-us dept.

Common Dreams reports

Nordic countries with strong social welfare structures fared best, as they have in previous years, on the United Nation's annual accounting of global happiness--while the United States finished in 18th place, down four spots from 2017.

Finland was ranked number one on the World Happiness Report, compiled by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The country was joined by other Scandinavian nations--Norway, Denmark, and Iceland--in the top four, followed by Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and Australia.

[...] the United States finished in 18th place, down four spots from 2017.

[...] The drop followed President Donald Trump's first year in office, during which the majority of Americans reported disapproval of the country's top elected official, and hundreds of thousands protested his regressive policies on immigration, women's reproductive rights, and gun control--as well as widespread concerns that the president is blatantly profiting off his position in public office.

The past year also saw reports of America's widening wealth gap, with the average upper middle-class household holding 75 times more wealth than low-income families.

Trump's tax law, pushed through Congress despite the disapproval of 53 percent of Americans, only heightened the perception of many people that the government is intent on transferring wealth to the richest Americans while the majority live paycheck to paycheck.

The World Happiness Report ranks countries according to per capita GDP, social support, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and corruption levels.

Life expectancy in the U.S. dropped for the second year in a row in 2017, with researchers suggesting that the opioid addiction epidemic and inequality are related to the decline.

Reigning political ideologies in the highest-ranking nations contrast sharply with that of the U.S., noted the researchers.

The countries in the top 10 tend to "believe that what makes people happy is solid social support systems, good public services, and even paying a significant amount in taxes for that", said [Jeffrey D. Sachs, editor of the World Happiness Report].


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  • (Score: 1) by nekomata on Monday March 19 2018, @07:35PM (2 children)

    by nekomata (5432) on Monday March 19 2018, @07:35PM (#655076)

    Two things, SIG belongs to the Germans now. And you give the AR15 platform too little credit. It's a rock solid battle proven gun. If other guns improve upon it, we are talking very small gains (for very high costs).

  • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday March 19 2018, @08:06PM (1 child)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday March 19 2018, @08:06PM (#655099)

    The M1 Garand was a good gun at one time too, but it's obsolete. The AR15 platform is being abandoned by the US military now, as they're moving to European guns that are decades more modern. The European militaries of course don't use AR15s, nor does almost anyone else. Even the Pakistanis have more modern rifles than the US now.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @11:16PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @11:16PM (#655181)

      US has a long and sad history of non-working rifles. The M16 used in Vietnam got a reputation for being a piece of shit with all the jamming while the opponents used the ever reliable AK-47.