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For the past decade, social scientists and pollsters have given elaborate questionnaires to hundreds of thousands of people around the globe. Two of the largest studies that rank the happiness of countries around the world are the World Map of Happiness from the University of Leiscester and the World Database of Happiness from Ruut Veenhoven of Erasmus University Rotterdam. All the happiness surveys ask people basically the same question: How happy are you?
"The answer you get is not only how they feel right now, but also how they feel about their entire life," explained Dan Buettner, who has studied happiness and longevity around the world through his Blue Zones project Buettner said that if you mine all the databases of universities and research centers, you'll find that the happiest place on earth is ? Denmark. Cold, dreary, unspectacular Denmark.
Could the Danes really be the happiest people in the world? When ABC News anchor Bill Weir traveled there to find out, he asked random Danes to rate themselves in terms of happiness, on a scale of one to 10. Many people rated themselves at least an eight, and there were several nines and 10s. Finally, one grouchy Dane came along who said she didn't believe Danes were so happy. But then she quickly conceded that she herself felt rather content with her life, and said Danes in general had very little to complain about.
Danes do have one potential complaint: high taxes. The happiest people in the world pay some of the highest taxes in the world -- between 50 percent and 70 percent of their incomes. In exchange, the government covers all health care and education, and spends more on children and the elderly than any country in the world per capita. With just 5.5 million people, the system is efficient, and people feel "tryghed" -- the Danish word for "tucked in" -- like a snug child.
Those high taxes have another effect. Since a banker can end up taking home as much money as an artist, people don't chose careers based on income or status. "They have this thing called 'Jante-lov,' which essentially says, 'You're no better then anybody else,'" said Buettner. "A garbage man can live in a middle-class neighborhood and hold his head high."
Denmark: The Happiest Place on Earth - ABC News
Only if you are suicidal, enjoy slavery or parasitism.
.
and enjoying general misery and shortage of everything.
As always you guys are confusing communism and marxism with European socialism.
"Happiness" is not a measurable quantity. Any "study" that purports to measure it is therefore pure horseshit on its face.
Lefturds like to use voo-doo such as "happiness" studies because they know that all real economic data demonstrates beyond all doubt that socialism is a massive failure.
and enjoying general misery and shortage of everything.
As always you guys are confusing communism and marxism with European socialism.
True, there is a difference . The Old Soviet Union murdered 9 million dissidents while the European Socialism only wiped out 6,000,000.
.
"Happiness" is not a measurable quantity. Any "study" that purports to measure it is therefore pure horseshit on its face.
Lefturds like to use voo-doo such as "happiness" studies because they know that all real economic data demonstrates beyond all doubt that socialism is a massive failure.
the main point is Denmark is NOT socialist. There are no socialist countries in Europe left. but our leftards do not know that
As always you guys are confusing communism and marxism with European socialism.
True, there is a difference . The Old Soviet Union murdered 9 million dissidents while the European Socialism only wiped out 6,000,000.
.
soviet union murdered close to 60 million dissidents...
"Happiness" is not a measurable quantity. Any "study" that purports to measure it is therefore pure horseshit on its face.
Lefturds like to use voo-doo such as "happiness" studies because they know that all real economic data demonstrates beyond all doubt that socialism is a massive failure.
the main point is Denmark is NOT socialist. There are no socialist countries in Europe left. but our leftards do not know that
Denmark ranks higher than the United States on the Heritage Index of Economic Freedom.
True, there is a difference . The Old Soviet Union murdered 9 million dissidents while the European Socialism only wiped out 6,000,000.
.
soviet union murdered close to 60 million dissidents...
Stalin deliberately starved 20 million Kulaks in the Ukraine in the 1920s, and that was only the beginning of his crimes.
What the hell are you even talking about? Do you people even think before typing?
so it is a revelation for you that the big business, Wall street and all other big pockets THRIVE the most during the dimocrap administrations?
well, time to open the eyes and learn that corprate socialism or fascism is the dreamland of the leftists and dimocraps - which started it way back in the 40s and 50s
Wow, What a policy shift on your part, next time some free market true believer spouts off about the US needing more tax cuts, sweetheart deals and handouts to the rich maybe you can tell him he's full of shit? Not going to hold my breath.
"Happiness" is not a measurable quantity. Any "study" that purports to measure it is therefore pure horseshit on its face.
Lefturds like to use voo-doo such as "happiness" studies because they know that all real economic data demonstrates beyond all doubt that socialism is a massive failure.
the main point is Denmark is NOT socialist. There are no socialist countries in Europe left. but our leftards do not know that
"Happiness" is not a measurable quantity. Any "study" that purports to measure it is therefore pure horseshit on its face.
Lefturds like to use voo-doo such as "happiness" studies because they know that all real economic data demonstrates beyond all doubt that socialism is a massive failure.
the main point is Denmark is NOT socialist. There are no socialist countries in Europe left. but our leftards do not know that
The still have some of the highest tax rates in the world, also have gay marriage, also socialized healthcare, and also no death penalty.
OP- Spoken like a perfect chump of the greedy rich GOP...uNFORTUNATELY, LOUDMOUTH BRAINWASHED DINGBATS DON'T KNOW WHAT SOCIALISM IS, -THINK IT'S COMMUNISM- NOW JUST WELL REGULATED CAPITALISM WITH A GOOD SAFETY NET FOR WORKERS and the nonrich...horrors- we need more corrupt cronyism, bubbles and BUSTS...
Obama is perhaps the greatest hypocrite to fill the office.
He says these things - but he is by faaaaaaaaar the greatest friend to Wall Street than any President before him. In no other instance in modern history has the wealthy elite done so well. In no time in the history of Wall Street have they broke earnings records THREE times in such a short time.
The Wealthy are doing fantastic, corporations are literally rolling in profits like never before. The rest of us suck ass. And he stands there and says this shit.
And people applause.
And this is why this country is failing.
he's also been the most corrupted and into cronyism BIG TIME with our money
a total disgrace of a President who has no problem lying to the people to institute his Socialist visions
OScamCare is the perfect example...Yet 30 something percent still approve of him...scary
actually obamacare is a classic example of a fascist law, which is a socialist variation, but it still has to be pointed out - the ripping off the middle class to benefit the big corporations with a nazi-style government control over the peasants - so nobody escapes and pays the feudals for NOTHING.
Only far left Obama Drones believe that the government is their God.
Obama is perhaps the greatest hypocrite to fill the office.
He says these things - but he is by faaaaaaaaar the greatest friend to Wall Street than any President before him. In no other instance in modern history has the wealthy elite done so well. In no time in the history of Wall Street have they broke earnings records THREE times in such a short time.
The Wealthy are doing fantastic, corporations are literally rolling in profits like never before. The rest of us suck ass. And he stands there and says this shit.
And people applause.
And this is why this country is failing.
Only far left Obama Drones believe that the government is their God.
Obama is pointing out some limitations of market fundamentalism, specifically the notion that supply side policies always maximize economic growth. (By Supply Side I mean lower taxes/deregulation for wealthy; austerity/lower wages for workers). FYI: the Right believes that the over-application of Keynesian polices leads to inflation. The Left believes that the over-application of Supply Side economics destroys demand. Both of these things hurt the economy. You might want to familiarize yourself with the up/down sides of both theories so you are not so dependent on Limbaugh Talking Points.
What about a little history, so you have more perspective. . . ?
During the postwar years the taxes on the 1% were north of 70% (and north of 90% during the Eisenhower presidency). But here's the catch. Our economic growth in the 50s-60s was higher than the Reagan boom years (80s-90s). One reason for this was the High Wage system that gave us the best paid middle class in world history. The resultant purchasing power ("demand") gave the owners of Capital an incentive to invest and add jobs ("Demand Driven Growth"). This proved to be a very powerful economic engine, one that was obliterated in 1980. Don't take my word about the economic growth during the latter postwar years. Turn off Sean Hannity and do some research. Take a look at the actual growth numbers during the 50s-60s along with the regulatory and tax policies from that era. My point: Supply Side economists have yet to provide a good explanation for why our most sustained economic growth happened during an era with higher tax rates and demand centered policies.
Also, let's talk about the kind of growth during the high tide of Supply Side economics.
During the Reagan boom years, the gains of economic growth went overwhelmingly to the top income bracket, whereas the middle class went deeply into debt (that is, families required higher debt after the Reagan/Thatcher model dismantled the high wage system of the postwar years. Reagan/Thatcher said that by lowering wages (and thereby increasing the return on investment) we'd see economic growth with broadly shared gains ("trickle down"). But, right after they said this, our large corporations quietly shifted production to Communist China and Taiwanese sweatshops, which is currently the center of global manufacturing).
By doing this, the Reagan Revolution initiated the cleavage between Main Street and Wall Street. That is to say, large corporations realized unprecedented gains in and through the dispossession of expensive American workers. Stock values rose as production was shifted to cheaper labor markets in China, a move which simultaneously fucked the worker and Main street. This is why we started to see the jobless recovery under Bush, that is, the economy flourished for the Suppliers because American labor was crushed.
Here is the problem. Good news for Wall Street, e.g., flexible labor markets that allow corporations to shed expensive American labor costs, is bad news for the middle class (who lose jobs to Asian sweatshops). Reagan (Supply Side economics) promised the exact opposite. He said that if we allowed profits to go up for the suppliers, it would trickle down to the rest of us. Who knew that the profits would come at the expense of the middle class whose jobs would trickle to Communist China (with its planned economy and hatred of freedom. Who knew that Walmart, our largest employer and massive donor to the GOP, would form such a deep partnership with Communist China. Why is it that you don't know this stuff? Please turn off Talk Radio and FOX News and study what happens behind the bullshit you've been fed.)
Lastly, it is the wealthy private sector who believes government is god. This is why they spend trillions of dollars a year funding elections and lobbying Washington. Indeed, the Private Sector begs the nanny government for patent protection, which costs the taxpayer a ton of money. You understand the patent system right? You understand how this constitutes a MASSIVE intervention in the market on behalf of the suppliers/producers? With Patents the government is basically building a monopoly fence around the investments (products) of the private sector. Adam Smith never envisioned this because it is anathema to competition, despite the near religiously held belief that it incentivizes research. Regardless, if you don't want a powerful central government, than stop getting Big Brother to protect your oil fields in Iraq. And stop getting it to stabilize the globe so you can have access to all the world's cheapest labor and raw materials. And stop getting it to protect your investments. And stop depending on it for the world's most advanced industrial infrastructure.
Your tired bullshit about socialism and big government seems kind of silly when you realize who actually gets the lion's share of government benefits/protections.
I own tattered copies of "Capitalism and Freedom" and "The Road to Serfdom" because I understand that there is another side of the coin, a very persuasive one. Please try to broaden your information sources.
From the article:
Obama's Words:
there is a certain crowd in Washington who, for the last few decades, have said, lets respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. The market will take care of everything, they tell us. If we just cut more regulations and cut more taxesespecially for the wealthyour economy will grow stronger. Sure, they say, there will be winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everybody else. And, they argue, even if prosperity doesnt trickle down, well, thats the price of liberty.
Now, its a simple theory. And we have to admit, its one that speaks to our rugged individualism and our healthy skepticism of too much government. Thats in Americas DNA. And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. (Laughter.) But heres the problem: It doesnt work. It has never worked. (Applause.) It didnt work when it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. Its not what led to the incredible postwar booms of the 50s and 60s. And it didnt work when we tried it during the last decade. (Applause.) I mean, understand, its not as if we havent tried this theory."
Far left revisionism at it's best.
Obama obviously flunked history if he thinks laizzes faire was tried during the Great Depression. That's the one thing that wasn't tried.
