What's the secret to happiness in Buenos Aires?

[mini]

Posted by jp
India is very religious, do you think religion/faith plays a role? Kind of "we are miserable here, but we will be happy there", and just curious I´ve read some time along that the scandinavian countries had the highest suicide rates, then how can they be among the happiest?

I´m sorry I didn´t follow up the thread but the member who posted that, where did you get that information from? Shitty weather as some of you say, bring sthg. called stational depression, since they don´t see the sun like say for 9 months, and some internal body mechanism needs some dosis of good weather/sun, so I don´t get it. And if not just look at Brazilians and the joy they transmit, dancing singing, it´s like why bother, life is fine as it is.
As to Buenos Aires, I think as a porteña that people in this country give more importance to family and friends than money, in other countries you are what you have (materially speaking), here the equation is simplier, maybe because the great majority knows that we won´t drive a BMW, so enjoy what you have, and don´t lose your precious time to get what you don´t and who knows even if you work your ass out you´ll ever have .
Think about all the exmultinational unemployed executives/workers.
Add to this that argentines can never guess the pipeline ahead, maybe you wake up and us/peso exchange rate is 10/1 or 1/1, corralitos, corralones, coup d`etats, import/export fees changing overnight, so even if you work night and day...who knows?.

At the same time, many of those who "made it" (laboralmente hablando) have not done it through etical means, or climbing up the corporate ladder so they are often "disregarded" or looked with disdain by society since many rightfully start to wonder how they got there (yes, some did it lawfully but many many are there thanks to bribes, lobbying, political positions, connections, but not all of them through hard work)

It´s more kind of a "seize the day" philosophy (spend your leisure time with friends and family and don´t let your job interfere with your private sphere) vs "matate trabajando" and retire early.

If some of you have watched Carlos Sorin´s films, maybe you can get a glimpse of what we understand by living happily or just living. Historias Mínimas, bonbon el perro, etc...can give a clue.

Regards
Barbara

I'm don't really understand this post above... But if you are asking where the information that Denmark was the happiest country in the world came from then I'll answer that as I started that topic.

You can find this information in many sources. A simple Google search will bring up many many articles from main stream publication such as Business Week, IHT, NYT, & others. So I certainly won't list them here.

But basically these article are reporting on two studies; one done in 2006 by the University of Leicester and the other done in 2008 by the University of Michigan. You can Google for both of these studies and they will come up as well.

Regarding suicide; The happiness country is not related to suicide. Suicide is a heath (as you mention Seasonal Effective Disorder, depression, end of life) as well as the culturally related sigma (or not in this case) of suicide. I read an article which postulated that because the populations are happy, there are few systems in place to deal with depression, unlike Argentina which seems to be well equiped to deal with mental issues.

And don't forget assisted suicide. For example, Switzerland, allows for end of life termination. So, although ranks high on the happiness chart (top 10)it is also high on the suicide chart (top 20). So again, this is related to health and not happiness. Northern European countries have less stigma of suicide than the southern European ones and that reflects in the suicide rate of the countries. Highly Catholic countries like Italy & Spain has less suicide than Belgium or Lithuania.

So, now how do you figure Africa & India are the happiest? Zimbabwe seems to rank last. I think abject poverty, violence, war, famine, insecurity, illness & corruption makes people very unhappy. [FONT=&quot]
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[mini]

Anyone know if pot legal in Copenhagen?

No, it is not. In Christiania it's tolerated, but in the rest of the country, not so much. I don't think the Danes are big pot smokers, if that is your point.

 

[Stanexpat]

I would view all of these survey results with skepticism.

According to the link below Bangladesh is the happiest country in the world and the U.S. is close to the bottom of the barrel at 46th.

http://www.inspirationalstories.com/cgi-bin/printer.pl?302

In the next link the happiest country was Nigeria.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3157570.stm

The next link is the one folks here are using showing Denmark, but in this one the U.S. ranks a respectable 16th out of 80.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080630130129.htm

I guess the moral is that readers should pick the one that best fits their point of view.

 

[mini]

I would view all of these survey results with skepticism.

According to the link below Bangladesh is the happiest country in the world and the U.S. is close to the bottom of the barrel at 46th.
http://www.inspirationalstories.com/cgi-bin/printer.pl?302

In the next link the happiest country was Nigeria.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3157570.stm

The next link is the one folks here are using showing Denmark, but in this one the U.S. ranks a respectable 16th out of 80.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080630130129.htm

I guess the moral is that readers should pick the one that best fits their point of view.

Well, not really. You should pick an article/study the people who put together the article/study have some credibility and is current.

The first link you have it to an article written by: "by: Author Unknown, Source Unknown"

The second one is from 2003 while the third one references a study by the University of Michigan.

My originally point linking to the video was not to say who the happiest country in the world was. It was for you to listen to the people interviewed say WHY they felt their country was ranked at the top of the list.

 

[Stanexpat]

Well, not really. You should pick an article/study the people who put together the article/study have some credibility and is current.

The first link you have it to an article written by: "by: Author Unknown, Source Unknown"

The second one is from 2003 while the third one references a study by the University of Michigan.

My originally point linking to the video was not to say who the happiest country in the world was. It was for you to listen to the people interviewed say WHY they felt their country was ranked at the top of the list.

Well Ok, maybe all my sources weren't current i.e. Nigeria was from 2003, but I doubt these should change much from year to year. My point is that these results are all over the place regardless. It might be entertaining to review them but I wouldn't put much faith in their meaning much beyond that.

 

[mini]

Well Ok, maybe all my sources weren't current i.e. Nigeria was from 2003, but I doubt these should change much from year to year. My point is that these results are all over the place regardless. It might be entertaining to review them but I wouldn't put much faith in their meaning much beyond that.

Yeah. I guess you missed the last line I wrote.

 

[Stanexpat]

Yeah. I guess you missed the last line I wrote.

Well good, I guess we are more or less in agreement. Thanks for generating some interesting discussion.

 

[Stanexpat]

Denmark is not a happy place for those who wish to work hard & make money.

They tax people into a wierd kind of socialism and control which some are happy with.

The link below supports your point and shows the average tax burden in Denmark is very high, about double the U.S.

http://www.forbes.com/global/2006/0522/032a.html

 

[jp]

So, now how do you figure Africa & India are the happiest? Zimbabwe seems to rank last. I think abject poverty, violence, war, famine, insecurity, illness & corruption makes people very unhappy.

The study was based on fieldwork of teenagers across the world, respectable sample sizes in each country, sound methodology etc. Was specific to youth, but nice to see results supported in other studies (nigeria & bangladesh)

Basically all the points you list as causes of unhappiness are totally valid. But its difficult to understand what poverty, or insecurity, or illness and corruption mean to people who according to our western eyes "live in hell". I lived out in south india for a while. People were remarkably optimistic and overall seemed very happy to me. Religion played a huge part in their lives incidentally. Not making judgements either way, just observations. Family and religion were important in a way I wasn't used to. I couldn't get my head round the way of life there. Fundamental things like women I met later dying during childbirth were too much for me. Too many things I couldn't accept as status quo.

Happiness can be as simple as low expectations, optimism and an absence of TV telling you how bad things are on an hourly basis.
Happiness is just a perspective on life.

 

[Quickroute]

Anyone know if pot legal in Copenhagen?

Not legal but there is an old army base called Cristiania which is an island in the center of the city that was taken over by hippies in the seventies. They set up a commune and it's still there today. Hash is sold pretty openly but they have their own law and anyone found selling 'hard' drugs gets a serious beating. It has some of the best bars and restaurants in Denmark. The police only enter as a last resort and usually in groups of a hundred in full riot gear.
Very interesting place and worth a visit. Sampling the local wares optional