It’s quite well documented that the austerity politics of Kokoomus (the current PM party) didn’t come from Russia, but the Confederation of Finnish Industries, which is the big employers union in the country, run by these “some of the best people on the planet” that you keep talking about. These same people are to blame for that graph I posted earlier that you didn’t even address.
I’m quite familiar with the numbers and how they are calculated. It’s headline news every year here. I suspect that it contributes to our scores as well. “Well I live in the happiest country in the world and everybody told me as a kid that it’s like winning the lottery to be born in Finland [a phrase from the 70’s uttered by boomers every now and then], so I guess things are pretty good for me.”.
From that website you linked:
Our happiness ranking is based on a single life evaluation question called the Cantril Ladder:
Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?
This question is both democratic and universal. Rather than constructing an index from multiple metrics, the Cantril Ladder empowers people to make their own judgements about what matters most, regardless of their culture and background.
The question does not mention concepts like happiness, wellbeing, or satisfaction, so it can be easily translated and understood in many different languages.
It’s completely subjective. There’s no way for it to not be completely subjective. The local culture dominates what expectations people set for what’s at the top of the ladder and what’s at the bottom. A frog in a well will say “Eh, I guess I’m doing pretty good” and that’s as accurate a result as can be obtained. I don’t say that the numbers themselves are up for debate. The studies aren’t bad, it’s just that their importance is inflated way past proportion. At best it’s a cultural curiosity.
Edit: Oh yeah and I laughed when I saw the “Perceptions of corruption” part. We have plenty of corruption here. it’s just less overt and instead takes the form of old boy networks, small circles and informal favors.
It’s quite well documented that the austerity politics of Kokoomus (the current PM party) didn’t come from Russia, but the Confederation of Finnish Industries, which is the big employers union in the country, run by these “some of the best people on the planet” that you keep talking about. These same people are to blame for that graph I posted earlier that you didn’t even address.
I’m quite familiar with the numbers and how they are calculated. It’s headline news every year here. I suspect that it contributes to our scores as well. “Well I live in the happiest country in the world and everybody told me as a kid that it’s like winning the lottery to be born in Finland [a phrase from the 70’s uttered by boomers every now and then], so I guess things are pretty good for me.”.
From that website you linked:
It’s completely subjective. There’s no way for it to not be completely subjective. The local culture dominates what expectations people set for what’s at the top of the ladder and what’s at the bottom. A frog in a well will say “Eh, I guess I’m doing pretty good” and that’s as accurate a result as can be obtained. I don’t say that the numbers themselves are up for debate. The studies aren’t bad, it’s just that their importance is inflated way past proportion. At best it’s a cultural curiosity.
Edit: Oh yeah and I laughed when I saw the “Perceptions of corruption” part. We have plenty of corruption here. it’s just less overt and instead takes the form of old boy networks, small circles and informal favors.