Happiness across Europe

Affable

OK will find stats at some point or maybe y'all can help me. But they are to the effect that Irish people are amongst the most happy and satisfied in Europe, along with nations such as the Dutch and Scandinavians. British teens, according to Unicef, are the most pressured and miserable in Europe, bad drug abuse, bad alcohol abuse, detachment from family, find peers unkind and unhelpful etc etc. Other cultures apparently find us arrogant. So what is wrong with England? I often wonder why I felt some alienation from my own country and that people were devalued. I often wonder why we seem to rest on laurels of the past and are so inward looking and anti-European in general.

Anyway, what is your view, maybe you can offer me some perspective, what does Ireland have right that we don't?

truebluedub

Affable wrote: »

OK will find stats at some point or maybe y'all can help me. But they are to the effect that Irish people are amongst the most happy and satisfied in Europe, along with nations such as the Dutch and Scandinavians. British teens, according to Unicef, are the most pressured and miserable in Europe, bad drug abuse, bad alcohol abuse, detachment from family, find peers unkind and unhelpful etc etc. Other cultures apparently find us arrogant. So what is wrong with England? I often wonder why I felt some alienation from my own country and that people were devalued. I often wonder why we seem to rest on laurels of the past and are so inward looking and anti-European in general.

Anyway, what is your view, maybe you can offer me some perspective, what does Ireland have right that we don't?

I don't believe it as I don't think the statistics give a realistic picture of happiness or quality of life.

I think this may have the stats you are looking for:
www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.PDF

Affable

truebluedub wrote: »

I don't believe it as I don't think the statistics give a realistic picture of happiness or quality of life.

I think this may have the stats you are looking for:
www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.PDF

Well it was stats based on peoples subjective concept of satisfaction and happiness, not economic or social stats. As was the Unicef one. I think England does havee issues it needs to think about and could do to look into Europe more instead of having this bunker mentality.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Affable

Very odd to have a country like Columbia high up, I believe they have some of the worst drug and crime problems in the world.
Interesting that only Ireland and Scandinavia in Europe are as happy as Australasia and North America.

Affable

Also, I guess it's worth remembering that cultures like USA and Australia are more brought up to talk positively about themselves, doesn't mean they are as happy as they say.