- Pacific
The World's Happiest Countries
Most of the nations atop our list are democratic, business-friendly, and boast strong social safety nets.
Think about it for a minute: What does happiness mean to you?
For most, being happy starts with having enough money to do what you want and buy what you want. A nice home, food, clothes, car, leisure. All within reason.
See the full list of The World's 10 Happiest Countries
The Top 5 Happiest countries in the World
6. Sweden
7. Canada
8. Switzerland
9. Holland
10. America
But happiness is much more than money. It's being healthy, free from pain, being able to take care of yourself. It's having good times with friends and family.
Furthermore, happiness means being able to speak what's on your mind without fear, to worship the God of your choosing, and to feel safe and secure in your own home.
Happiness means having opportunity--to get an education, to be an entrepreneur. What's more satisfying than having a big idea and turning it into a thriving business, knowing all the way that the harder you work, the more reward you can expect?
With this in mind, five years ago researchers at the Legatum Institute, a London-based nonpartisan think tank, set out to rank the happiest countries in the world. But because "happy" carries too much of a touchy-feely connotation, they call it "prosperity."
Legatum recently completed its 2010 Prosperity Index, which ranks 110 countries, covering 90% of the world's population.
To build its index Legatum gathers upward of a dozen international surveys done by the likes of the Gallup polling group, the Heritage Foundation and the World Economic Forum. Each country is ranked on 89 variables sorted into eight subsections: economy, entrepreneurship, governance, education, health, safety, personal freedom and social capital.
The core conceit: Prosperity is complex; achieving it relies on a confluence of factors that build on each other in a virtuous circle.
Ultimately how happy you are depends on how happy you've been. If you're already rich, like Scandinavia, then more freedom, security and health would add the most to happiness. For the likes of China and India (ranked 88th), it's more a case of "show me the money." What they want most of all? The opportunity to prove to themselves that money doesn't buy happiness.
Nearly 90% of Americans are satisfied with their health, and government per capita spending on health care is the highest in the world. The U.S. is also a nation of entrepreneurs, with annual income from royalties topping $90 billion a year, the highest in the world. Almost 90% of Americans feel that with hard work they can get ahead in life. [Ed. note: I would not rank America this high. There is too much crime and Big Brother is far too powerful. There is also endless conflict between the races and the political parties. It is not a good country to live in.]
Personal freedoms are very high in the Netherlands, with 88% satisfied that they are free to choose what to do with their lives. The Dutch also put a lot of trust in their fellow citizens and in their government.
Negligible corruption with lots of checks and balances and excellent educational opportunities give the Swiss faith in their government. Financial institutions are also strong and trusted, with nonperforming loans extremely low at just 0.5%. Switzerland, however, is not seen as a having a great climate for entrepreneurship.
Personal freedom is plentiful, and immigrants are welcomed. Corruption is very low, and social capital is high, with Canadians eager to help others and donate to charity. Three-fourths believe their city is a good place to start a new business.
Ranked second for entrepreneurship and opportunity, Sweden is a good place to start a business. R&D spending is high; startup costs are low. Yet broad redistribution of wealth means that not as many Swedes think hard work will pay off. Civil liberties are protected.
With very high levels of social cohesion and a first-place ranking in education, New Zealanders trust and help each other. The country ranks first in civil liberties. Ninety-four percent found the beauty of their physical environment satisfying (the other 6% must be blind).
No. 4: Australia
Excellent education, strong personal freedoms, a tight-knit society. Australia's economy is strong, led by raw materials exports, but it's also a good place to start a business, with plentiful Internet connectivity and low startup costs. Aussies trust their government.
No. 3: Finland
Excellent education, universal health care, plentiful personal freedoms, trusted government, peaceful. Lots of R&D and low business startup costs give the Finns economic strength. But as is to be expected in a country with the highest redistribution of wealth, only 75% of Finns believe working hard will help them get ahead.
The world's lowest business startup costs, excellent education, unrestricted civil freedoms. Danes have overwhelming faith in their government and in each other, and report the highest standard of living in the world.
No. 1: Norway
The world's highest per-capita GDP at $53,000 a year. Spending on health care is second-highest after the U.S. An unparalleled 74% of Norwegians say other people can be trusted, 94% are happy with the beauty of their environment, and a very high 93% believe hard work will help them get ahead in life. Having a lot of oil and gas reserves helps. http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-37522775 - See the full list of The World's 10 Happiest Countries
[Ed. note: Eight of the top 10 happiest countries to live in are Anglo-Saxon countries that are prosperous, Christian and have some freedom. America and Finland cannot be considered Anglo-Saxon nations. The Finns are of Turkish ancestry and America has too many other races.]
"To Achieve World
Government it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism,
their loyalty to family traditions and national identification" Brock Chisholm - Director of the World Health Organization
"A society whose citizens refuse to see and investigate the facts, who refuse to
believe that their government and their media will routinely lie to them and fabricate a
reality contrary to verifiable facts, is a society that chooses and deserves the Police
State Dictatorship it's going to
get." Ian Williams Goddard
The fact is that "political correctness" is all about creating uniformity. Individualism is one of the biggest obstacles in the way of the New World Order. They want a public that is predictable and conditioned to do as it's told without asking questions.
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." Thomas Jefferson