Read this list of the happiest countries in Africa and think:
1) What criteria was used to get this data? Is this a fair judgement of happiness?
2) How do these countries rank in comparison to the rest of the world? Why?
3) What needs to be done to help those people feel more happy? Does money also fix happiness?
4) Relate this article to the information learned in class.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/21/travel/world-happiness-report-africa/index.html
Six key factors were measured to establish a global ranking of the happiest countries; GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption. Only five African countries ranked on the top 100 happiest counties. Many people living in African countries are extremely poor, who struggle with basic necessities in life, and that is why so few of them are ranked as ‘happy countries’. Money can buy happiness, but only to a point. I think that once you can live comfortably, with enough necessities, then you meet the criteria to be able to be fully happy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, people have the generic idea that with more money comes more happiness. You think, “if I won the lottery, I’d quit my job, buy a bigger home, and travel for the rest of my life. I would live in paradise;” however, this is not true. The happiest people on earth are those who have just enough money to live comfortably. People confuse the origin of their happiness. They are briefly content when they buy new clothes, or new jewelry, or a new home. And they believe that they are instantly bliss because of this new thing in their life. The real reason behind their temporary happiness is because for one moment, they are without desire. But soon enough, another desire comes along. And the search continues.
The best examples of those who are miserable while also being rich are celebrities, who have beauty, money, power, romance, and glory. Their lives are complete. They have absolutely everything. However if so, then why are we seeing such high amounts of suicides and overdoses among famous people? Why do those who have the best still need drugs or alcohol to numb their lives? Because people always want more. Life is full of the ‘little things’. These little things make up our happiness. When you’re rich, these little things don’t matter to you as much as they would if you were poor. The necessities in your life become ordinary. You take your car for granted. Going out for a nice dinner or having a family meal which ends your hunger is overlooked. Whereas for someone who cannot afford to eat out, having a nice meal can make them realise the beauty in their life, or being able to pay for a bus instead of having to walk home is enough to delight them. For those with lots of money, there is no food delicious enough to satisfy their craving. No car fast or stylish enough for their desires.
To me, happiness is waking up every single morning, opening your eyes and being thankful for having another chance in life. If solely being alive makes you grateful in that for one more day, you can keep doing what you love, then you are unconditionally happy. Happiness is not determined on the number in your bank account. Happiness cannot be owned, worn, eaten, or travelled to. Happiness is not the worth of your car or your home, but the worth of your own life and those around you.
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/14/money-can-buy-happiness-but-only-to-a-point.html
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/jan/07/can-money-buy-happiness
I believe happiness is different for everyone. I don't think we are really able to say that poorer people are happier because they take less things for granted and are more content. I agree that happiness isn't controlled by the things you own or the money you have, but it also isn't a choice someone makes. That's why I don't think happiness has to do with class, it is definitely more personal than that. The article uses GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, and the generosity and perceptions of corruption, and I don't believe you can sum up someone's happiness with these 6 things, or with anything really, because what I value is not the same as anyone else.
DeleteI somewhat agree with Annabelle. I believe that no matter your situation, you always control your own happiness. Even if you may be in a poor state, you control how you feel. You creat what you have for yourself. I also think, as Annabelle said, happiness is different for everyone.
DeleteI agree with Mahshad. No matter what we all have desires. If you think of the richest of the rich even they still have desires that they will mostly likely be unable to achieve, for example many celebrities want to go to space when going to space for us is next to impossible. We often see people wanting to have the best of everything while all we really need for a happy life is to be comfortable and to have people around us who love us.
DeleteMark this one:
ReplyDeleteThe criteria used in measuring happiness in these African countries was: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, and the generosity and perceptions of corruption. However, I’m not sure if this is the fairest way to measure countries happiness. It may well be the only way in which we can measure happiness as of now, but there are many flaws to this criteria. For example, freedom to make life choices doesn’t always make people happier. Many times it scares people. Many people are afraid of making crucial life decisions that affect themselves and their families. Many people are uncomfortable when given a choice that will depict a major part of their lives, and would rather have someone of a higher authority chose for them. That is one of the major problems I see in using this criteria, there are a few others that make it an imperfect measurement of happiness.
The first country is ranked 38th in the world, and the last country on the list is ranked 113th happiest country in the world. That is a pretty big jump from the first to the last, which means African countries range all over the list from a fairly low number to a fairly high number. However, most African countries are placed on the higher half of the list. Meaning as a continent, most of its countries are generally unhappy. This is because they are also some of the poorest countries, with the highest poverty rates. Because of this high poverty, Africans don’t have time to appreciate the little things In life, and often don’t have time to relax. For them, life isn’t only about enjoying themselves, but survival.
Many people believe that money isn’t related to happiness, and that they would still be happy without their money. But those people have never lived in Africa. Those people don’t know what it’s like to live to survive. This article proves those people wrong. Africa is ranked one of the top unhappiest countries and it’s because they’re all so poor. However, money is only one way to provide happiness. For these countries, things such as a reliable food source, clean water, electricity, community centers and further development of the country are all ways to further improve their happiness. Happiness and quality of life, are very closely tied.
In class, we learnt lots about quality of life, and the fact that our quality of life is different than theirs. Africans wouldn’t feel comfortable living in a house in the middle of a suburbs community, commuting 9-5 in the car every day. Our lifestyle is very different from theirs. And in a way, the things that make us Northern Americans happy doesn’t mean it will make the Africans happy. They have their own dreams and goals and their own picture of a perfect life in their head, and it’s very different from ours. Either way it would still be a better quality of life than what they’re living through now, but it would be a very different picture than what we see as a perfect life. In other words, if we were to switch positions, and the Africans lived in our lifestyle, and we lived in theirs. Neither party would be satisfied with their new lives. And the Africans would probably prefer what they’re living with now, than living like a Northern American, because they are most comfortable in their own lifestyle of poverty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Planet_Index
I agree with Dan. I think that happiness is all based on the quality of life rather than the things they measure it by. Also you cant generalize what makes everyone happy. People take joy in all different things and i dont think how much money you have or life expectancy can measure that. But i do think how safe a country is could impact peoples happiness. I know most people would not be very happy living in a war torn country constantly fighting for their lives.
DeleteI also agree with Dan and Bronwyn in the fact that you cannot generalize what makes someone happy. Many of these impoverished children still smile and laugh and happiness is, n my opinion, 100% based on the quality of life rather than what the GDP measures it as.
DeleteI also agree with Daniel, happiness is different for everyone. I agree that happiness isn't based on quantity, it's more about quality. i've travelled to countries where I have had the opportunity to speak one on one with locals about their lives, and most of the time they are beyond happy despite the poor conditions they may live in. For them life is walking an hour to the market to get food, squishing 7 people into a small hut they call home, using whatever they can find to help get by day to day life. Although we may look down on them and think they are unhappy compared to us, sometimes that is not always the reality of it. What I may value greatly may be completely different compared to someone else.
Deletethink the reason people are unable to accurately define the level of someones happiness is because, happiness is a state of emotion and well being. It is spiritual and not everyone may know it is there, only some people who know and believe mentally that they are happy. I think perhaps the reason the richer countries are unable to identify their happiness is because they are so caught up in the materialistic aspects of the world. They are unable to realise the spiritual aspect of happiness.
DeleteHappiness is a subjective term. It's a subjective feeling because only you can determine if you're level of happiness. The main factor in determining your level of happiness is not income, but quality of life. People take joy in all different things. The amount of joy one feels is determined by their outlook and environment.
ReplyDeletePlease Mark:
ReplyDeleteHappiness in the widest sense is an umbrella term for all that is great. In this meaning, it is often used interchangeably with terms like 'wellbeing' or 'quality of life'. The aspects used to get data on the happiest countries in the world were based on GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and lastly, perceptions of corruption. In my opinion, I don't believe this is a fair judgment of happiness. Like some others have said, everyone values different things and so it's unfair to generalize and make decisions on someone else's emotions when you don't understand their values, beliefs, and morals.
In comparison to the rest of the world, Algeria, Mauritius, ranked reasonably high on the global lists. Eight of the 10 globally are Sub-Saharan Africa, all ranking very close to the bottom of the list. This is because the entire list is made based on the economy of the country.
I feel like in terms of the quality of life, these countries could definitely benefit from more money but I don't think it would necessarily fix their happiness. I think Mr. Lahaie or someone else told us a story a few weeks ago about a study thing where a family from an underdeveloped country was brought to northern Canada and they filmed how the two boys acted and they laughed a lot and everyone was genuinely happy. But after a few months and after adapting to I guess how we live here, with all our technology, when filmed again the boys weren't laughing anymore.
I don't agree with how the article determined country's happiness. Like Annabelle said, who are you to determine if someone else is happy or not. Everyone values different things. And it is misinforming when we generalize the poorest countries to be unhappy based on how much money they have or what they own, or etc. I've been to a few underdeveloped countries or have had people I know go to and I hear their stories of the people there and because they're always looking at what they wish they could have, they're really grateful for what they do have and so they're content because they feel like they could be even worse off. And I really don't believe money equals happiness. Here's a scenario: let's say you just got paid and you want to go out and have fun. You decide to go to a carnival or whatever. You bring along company. But depending on who you take determines how happy that moment will be. You're most likely not going to have fun spending money on things with people you don't like. But if you're out with your loved ones spending money doing the same fun things you did with the people you didn't like so much, I think most people would say they were 10x happier with the people they loved around. So I don't really believe money buys happiness. Happiness is definitely based on your own personal values and shouldn't be defined by money.
Resources:
http://www.oecd.org/site/worldforum06/38704149.pdf
http://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/poor-but-happy
Mark this one:
ReplyDeleteThe criteria used to rank the happiest countries are; GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption. Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. I personally feel as if happiness is different for everyone therefore this is not a correct judgement. These countries who have been ranked the happiest also tend to be developing countries. Its funny how in other aspects aside from money, we realise when enough is enough. When we eat a hefty meal and feel full after we don’t go out and get more food just so we feel extra satisfied. I don’t believe there will ever be a true explanation as to why the more developed countries aren’t as happy other than happiness is simply a state of mine. I believe the reason that the rich countries are so unable to accept happiness when it comes to money is because we always look at the people who have it better, from the doctors, to the lawyers etc, we all want that new sports car. I think that because we look at what we don’t have we fail to realise we have reached our happiness point. I don’t believe money can buy happiness however more money won’t make you miserable. I myself am a genuinely happy person, I do have my moments of weakness; however, everyone does. I believe everyone who wakes up and is living should be a happy person although they are are i believe many take that for granted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness
http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/saving/why-rich-people-really-arent-happier.aspx
think the reason people are unable to accurately define the level of someones happiness is because, happiness is a state of emotion and well being. It is spiritual and not everyone may know it is there, only some people who know and believe mentally that they are happy. I think perhaps the reason the richer countries are unable to identify their happiness is because they are so caught up in the materialistic aspects of the world. They are unable to realise the spiritual aspect of happiness.
Delete