June 15, 2008
And The Happiest Place On Earth Is...
Morley Safer On Why The Danes Are Considered The Happiest People On Earth
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The Pursuit Of Happiness
Little Denmark, with its five-and-a-half million people, is the happiest country in the world, says a study done by an English University. Morley Safer reports why the Danes are so happy and explores why the U.S. is way down the list.
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Denmark
Learn about the people, economy and history.
Happiness is that quirky, elusive emotion that the Declaration of Independence maintains we have every right to pursue. And we do pursue it: we are suckers for an endless stream of self-help books that promise a carefree existence for a mere $24.95; and television hucksters of every kind claim they have the key to Nirvana. So the happiness business, at least, is one big smiley face.
As for the rest of us, as correspondent Morley Safer first reported last winter, the main scientific survey of international happiness carried out by Leicester University in England ranks the U.S. a distant 23rd, well behind Canada and Costa Rica. But you'll be pleased to know we beat Iraq and Pakistan.
And the winner, once again, is Denmark.
Over the past 30 years, in survey after survey, this nation of five and a half million people, the land that produced Hans Christian Andersen, the people who consume herring by the ton, consistently beat the rest of the world in the happiness stakes. It's hard to figure: the weather is only so-so, they are heavy drinkers and smokers, their neighbors, the Norwegians, are richer, and their other neighbors, the Swedes, are healthier.
So it's ironic or something that the unhappiest man in history, or at least literary history, was that Prince of Denmark, Hamlet.
Of course Hamlet had every right to be depressed. After all, his uncle murdered his father and seduced and married his mother and was an all around perfect scoundrel. But Hamlet aside, what makes a Dane so happy and why isn't he wallowing in misery and self-doubt like so many of the rest of us?
That's a question that also intrigued Professor Kaare Christensen at the University of Southern Denmark.
"If you ask people on the street where they think the happiest country in the world, they'll say, you know, like, tropical islands and nice places, like Italy or Spain. Places with nice weather and good food. But in Europe, they're actually the most unhappy people," Dr. Christensen explains.
So Christensen and a team of researchers tried to discover just why Denmark finds itself on top of the happiness heap.
"We made fun of it by suggesting it could be because blondes have more fun. But then we could prove that the Swedes have more blondes than the Danes, and they were not as happy. So we tested different hypotheses," Christensen says.
After careful study, Christensen thinks he isolated the key to Danish anti-depression. "What we basically figured out that although the Danes were very happy with their life, when we looked at their expectations they were pretty modest," he says.
By having low expectations, one is rarely disappointed.
Christensen's study was called "Why Danes Are Smug," and essentially his answer was it's because they’re so glum and get happy when things turn out not quite as badly as they expected. "And I was thinking about, What if it was opposite? That Denmark made the worst, number 20, and another country was number one. I'm pretty sure the Danish television would have said, 'Well, number 20's not too bad. You know it's still in the top 25, that's not so bad,'" he says.
History may also play a role in the country's culture of low expectations. If you go to the government's own Web site, it proudly proclaims “the present configuration of the country is the result of 400 years of forced relinquishments of land, surrenders and lost battles."
Could it be that the true secret of happiness is a swift kick in the pants, or a large dose of humiliation?
Produced By Deirdre Naphin
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 148 CommentsSubject: SALUTE to Denmark
Worth reading and thinking about.......
SALUTE to Denmark
Susan MacAllen is a contributing editor for (FamilySecurityMatters.org)
Salute the Danish Flag - it''s a Symbol of Western Freedom By Susan MacAllen
It''s been 4 years since I''ve given you more than 10 15 seconds. I swore I would not watch 60 Mins again until you did an article on who fabricated Rather''s Bush records and how they duped CBS into accepting it. A first class news organization would do that. To think I used to trust CBS news.
With unhappiness arguably becoming epidemic in the U.S., as exemplified by several recent instances of unparalleled school violence, the difference between the American education system and the Danish education system must not be overlooked.
Please review this report on the Danish education system and ask your ''experts'' to comment on the differences between it and the United States.
"..... Denmark''s large, publicly supported, sector of independent schools is unique. Its long-established tradition of government-financed vouchers, supported by every political party, illustrates the country''s public commitment to school choice. It demonstrates that dependence upon government funding does not necessarily compromise the autonomy of independent schools, even over the long term. Rather, public funding of private choice has produced a diversity of educational alternatives in Denmark that is unparalleled in the Western world."
http://oldfraser.lexi.net/publications/critical_issues/1999/school_choice/section_05.html
It''s not the traditional American Dream that''s problematic. It''s how the monopolized U.S. public education system affects its children and their families with schools that thrive on institutionalized dysfunction for financial motivation.
The Danes have it right.
use the expression "psychological fitness." Google
that--or even go to a site with a recent article
on spiritual fitness, www.babybloomermagazine.com
and continue your own pursuit of what it means to
be happy. In the meantime, thank you 60 Minutes for
yet another happy note in your archives. I think the
press on negative news is far too heavy in relation
to that which is light and inspiring. We need more
shows like CBS Sunday Morning, for instance, one of my
all time favorites.
use the expression "psychological fitness." Google
that--or even go to a site with a recent article
on spiritual fitness, www.babybloomermagazine.com
and continue your own pursuit of what it means to
be happy. In the meantime, thank you 60 Minutes for
yet another happy note in your archives. I think the
press on negative news is far too heavy in relation
to that which is light and inspiring. We need more
shows like CBS Sunday Morning!!!
use the expression "psychological fitness." Google
that--or even go to a site with a recent article
on spiritual fitness, www.babybloomermagazine.com
and continue your own pursuit of what it means to
be happy. In the meantime, thank you 60 Minutes for
yet another happy note in your archives. I think the
press on negative news is far too heavy in relation
to that which is light and inspiring. We need more
shows like CBS Sunday Morning!!!
use the expression "psychological fitness." Google
that--or even go to a site with a recent article
on spiritual fitness, www.babybloomermagazine.com
and continue your own pursuit of what it means to
be happy. In the meantime, thank you 60 Minutes for
yet another happy note in your archives. I think the
press on negative news is far too heavy in relation
to that which is light and inspiring. We need more
shows like CBS Sunday Morning!!!
use the expression "psychological fitness." Google
that--or even go to a site with a recent article
on spiritual fitness, www.babybloomermagazine.com
and continue your own pursuit of what it means to
be happy. In the meantime, thank you 60 Minutes for
yet another happy note in your archives. I think the
press on negative news is far too heavy in relation
to that which is light and inspiring. We need more
shows like CBS Sunday Morning!!!
Nice hypothesis, but Denmark actually has a greater percentage of its population born in another country than the US. And many come from Palestine and Iraq, not Mexico, not Sweden...
Perhaps it is the tolerance and lack of negativity about living with people of different skin colors, languages, and religions that makes Danes happier....
I personally don''t want to live in Denmark (I''m not a socialist), but I do wish America shared a little of their tolerance of others....
use the expression "psychological fitness." Google
that--or even go to a site with a recent article
on spiritual fitness, www.babybloomermagazine.com
and continue your own pursuit of what it means to
be happy. In the meantime, thank you 60 Minutes for
yet another happy note in your archives. I think the
press on negative news is far too heavy in relation
to that which is light and inspiring. We need more
shows like CBS Sunday Morning!!!
While the Danes have free education and free health care they are dependent on medical research from the US. The only medical breakthrough they have had is the *** change. You mentioned that their income tax starts at 50% but you forgot to mention that it quickly raises to 70% and tax on cars is about 180%. They have this great tax burden without a huge military budget.
The suicide rate is high because they have greater depression partially due to weaker family ties. The Danes focus on our problems such as racism here in the US. Yet at the same time they blame all their woes on their raising immigrant population (remember the riots). I love the Danes but I would never want to join them. Americans ARE happier and have greater opportunity. If you don''t believe me move there and you will.
fees, not to mention the hidden social security tax surplus of receipts over expenditures which annually go into general revenues and are spent on anything but social security payments. Secondly, the young
Dane who said we would be happier if we wanted less did not consider that our wants are for things he had and takes for granted, viz., universal health care, free education, convalescent and elderly care and six week vacations. Of course our college students are stressed out -- how do you think this young fellow would feel if he had $150,000 in debt in addition to the diploma he will receive upon graduation? The United States is indeed a more stressful country in which to live than Denmark and many other nations, unfortunately. The huge distances don''t help also with regular family visits, which contributes to loneliness...
Malden, Mo. 63863
RE: Your story on Denmark.
Your story stated that the Danes had free health care, free education, free elder care, ect. but had to pay approx. 50% tax. If you tally our federal tax, state tax. sales tax, social security tax. the cost of our broken health care system, cost of educating our children, cost of housing our elders, ect. ect., we are paying much more than 50% of our income now--without the benefits in many cases. We could learn a lot from the Danes.
use the expression "psychological fitness." Google
that--or even go to a site with a recent article
on spiritual fitness, www.babybloomermagazine.com
and continue your own pursuit of what it means to
be happy. In the meantime, thank you 60 Minutes for
yet another happy note in your archives. I think the
press on negative news is far too heavy in relation
to that which is light and inspiring. We need more
shows like CBS Sunday Morning!!!
One word for all you said: Kuhscheiss! And you are full of it.
You might try mental fitness, because you are really lacking sweety pie.
While the Danes have free education and free health care they are dependent on medical research from the US. The only medical breakthrough they have had is the *** change. A Dane who can afford it will go to America for the best health care.
You mentioned that their income tax starts at 50% but you forgot to mention that it quickly raises to 70% and tax on cars is about 180%. They have this great tax burden without a huge military budget.
The suicide rate is high because they have greater depression partially due to weaker family ties. The Danes focus on our problems such as racism here in the US. Yet at the same time they blame all their woes on their raising immigrant population (remember the riots).
I love the Danes but I would never want to join them. Americans ARE happier and have greater opportunity. If you don''t believe me move there and you will.
Burp. Huh?
You might think they get the hint, but I''ve seen them tummy scratchers come right back and answer with yet another cut and paste repeat.
H O P E is on the way.
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