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How is it that a relatively small country (population 28 million), with a Gross National Product (GNP) one-fourth that of the United States ($12,000 vs. $47,000 in 2011 figures) could, as measured by Gallup's global survey, surpass the U.S. in the happiness of its citizens?
Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Australia were the top ranked, with Venezuela and Finland tying for fifth place. The U.S. placed twelfth. Chad was in last place in the survey.
Gallup found that:
Majorities of residents in 19 countries -- mostly in Europe and the Americas -- rated their lives well enough to be classified this way. Denmark, along with Sweden (69%) and Canada (69%), led the list, which is largely dominated by more developed and wealthier nations, as expected given the links between wellbeing and GDP. The U.S. falls somewhat near the middle of the pack, with 59% of Americans thriving.Writing as an American who has lived in Venezuela for the last five years, I'm not at all surprised by the seeming anomaly that Venezuelans are very happy people. Having left Hawaii, where it took me over $3,500 a month to meet my mortgage, utilities, healthcare and other basic expenses by working an average of 50 to 60 hours a week in the always grueling and often bellicose profession of trial lawyering, I came to Venezuela to teach English, where I have been living modestly well on less than $500 dollars a month ever since.
I can attest that happiness is not to be found simply in the pursuit of dollars. I am much happier here, freed of the constant awareness of the increasingly brutal police state which the U.S. has become.
