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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].
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @10:31PM (2 children)
Sure those fucking republicans they are totally in the wrong.
https://i.redd.it/lh6yotgavqm01.jpg [i.redd.it]
Oh wait the sad places are where the democrats have created basically shithole warzones of unemployment to make sure there is access to cheap labor and a pool of it desperate to work. Not much has changed in that party since it was founded.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 20 2018, @12:39AM (1 child)
Not much has changed in [the Democrat party] since it was founded
You've manage to completely miss FDR getting elected in 1932 and reelected 3 times.
The Repugs had to pass a constitutional amendment to assure that he wouldn't be reelected yet again.
FDR's New Deal pulled this country back from the abyss.
...and, once again, it's the Repugs who have continually whittled away at that success and brought us back to an unstable state.
N.B. I won't go as far as to defend Dumbocrats of the last 4 decades, who are just as much in the pocket of the Oligarchs as are the GOPers.
If they were truly The Party of The People, as they'd like you to believe, they'd push through a constitutional amendment making all election campaigns publicly-funded.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday March 20 2018, @03:37PM
Well, no, not really. FDR died like a month into his fourth term, so I don't think they were too worried about him winning a fifth time.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"