Denmark world's happiest country, survey finds

blame bush!

This is the STUPIDEST thing I've ever read. The questions asked were INANE. People lie to themselves all the time. Look how many "happy," marriages end in divorce statistics. Obviously no one is happy in a war torn country but as far as USA being "happy," compared to most other countries, why then is it the fattest, most shopaholic credit card debt, antidepressant taking nation in the world...? I hope no one actually got paid to conduct this survey.

Columbia ranked highly? With all the drug wars, kidnapping, etc? I question the validity of this study.

I agree with the above, the survey doen't mean much. I think this years Democratic nominating process clearly showed a gender bias. It seems that the Country has changed in many ways, this whole politically correct thing has certainly changed what is acceptable and what is not to the detriment of our culture I think. However, from what I have noticed sexism is alive and flourishing, just listen to the young ones conversations, and I mean 6 to 10 year olds.

What sort of questions are these? I find this to be a very pointless survey because happiness is a view on life. As an American citizen, I have some of the best opportunities in the world. Often my biggest problem in life is which resturant to go for lunch! Yet I complain. I look at life half-empty- I don't look for the joy that is in life. However, a person from a third world country, living in a "traditional" way that has been lived for thousands of years, if holding a "half-full" cup mentality (or having a clear grasps of what is REALLY important in life) could be extremely happy.

Look at the list of the countries listed ahead of the US and you will notice that they all sleep very comfortably under the blanket of security and freedom that we provide. Granted, we do not act perfectly in our world security role. However - the perfect is the enemy of the good. Think how much more 'happy' we would be if other countries provided donations/aid around the world equal to ours and also handled the military security - then we could focus our enormous wealth and resources on our own citizens like they do.

Happy? Did you also do a survey on the amount of people on drugs? Come on, do your homework or don't print half/false truths. No credibility for anyone who thinks.

The world is getting happier? Bull@!$%#!

Well duh, an entire country full of hot blonde chicks.

Richest country (USA) #16...since when $9 trillion debt makes you richest in the world????? What a crack of $hit!

I lived in Denmark for five years and can only describe it as one of the most dreary depressing places on earth. The climate is dark, damp, cold, windy and gloomy about 10 1/2 months out of the year and the Danes are a collective of somber faced souls who seem to embrace the lower-middle class eke out a living existence that is their lot in life as if they were a part of some sort of Orwellian universe. The only people who could have claimed Denmark as the happiest place on earth are their hordes of jobless, aimless citizens who would rather sit on a park bench binging on their precious Tuborg and subsisting on the socialist tax and welfare system that systematically robs everyone of their money and disincents anyone from working harder.

The most happiest country would be in the world: a state with full of smiling scrisofenic ones. :-)

I GUESS THEY SURVEYED ALL THE HAPPY HOOKERS IN DENMARK, I GUESS I WOULD BE HAPPY LIVING THERE TO.

While I have only visted Denmark (I'm half Danish), I found it to be wonderful country. If I didn't live in the USA my second choice would be to live in Denmark. My relatives over there (though distant ones now) are very happy there. All their education is paid for, though they have very high taxes. Granted, I visited during the spring, the winters I'm sure would be long and dreary. The transportation system is excellent.
And a note to Brian - Denmark provides more aid to countries during catastrophies per person than does the USA.

The "happiness rating" for the United States is pretty high - all things considered. Imagine how much higher we would be if it weren't for all of our inept politicians. With politicians who cared more about their country than their own jobs and power we wouldn't be facing an energy crisis, problems with our Social Security System, Immigration, and Health Care. In fact, one could argue that if Congress stayed out of session more often, the happiness rating would go up several points!

The tag line is misleading. I saw this story, on 60 Minutes, I think. The people of Denmark are not cheery; in fact, some might think them a bit glum. The theory presented for the country being considered the happiest is that the people do not expect a great deal, and are therefore not easily disappointed, but can be satisfied, even delighted, with less. True or not, it may be a lesson we should look at more closely, perhaps: It's an attitude thing.

Thank you for this article, which I see as being out-of-the-ordinary "good" news. I'm not surprised the U.S. ranked 16th, but wonder if the ranking would be even lower if the poll were conducted today, what with many people struggling financially to make ends meet with rising fuel and food prices.

As a U.S. citizen in my mid-40s who traveled extensively in my 20s and 30s, I wasn't the least bit surprised to learn about the countries that ranked happiest. While many of the happiest countries of course, as ours does, possess negative qualities, I found the pace of life more relaxed and easygoing than in the U.S. People seemed to have more leisure time to spend with their loves ones and weren't so intensely focused on getting more stuff, but simply enjoying what they had.

In my experience with salaried positions I previously held, employers were quite bullying, very often insisting that everyone work 16-hour days six or seven days a week along with "mandatory" volunteerism. No matter what was and is produced, it is never enough. I actually held three "white collar" positions where coworkers dropped dead and/or suffered debilitating strokes while we were working. Of course, heredity plays a part, but among all the factors cited, the one common to each was this: Due to unrealistic expectations and impossible-to-achieve demands, not a single one was permitted to take time off work to see a physician.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Denmark, Sweden, and many of the other countries mentioned also have socialized medicine, which I enjoyed while living in England in the 1980s. While we keep being told here in the U.S. that socialized medicine is bad, that care would be worse, cost us more (how much of what you earn is automatically going to medical and dental regularly?), etc., I found the opposite while visiting ERs in England. In every respect, I received better care, perhaps because the staff was not as overwhelmed or perhaps because, unlike many students in the U.S. today who are choosing the nursing and medical fields solely to earn more money and secure their futures, those who took care of me actually seemed to care about my welfare.

If you have more leisure time and you don't have to worry about losing everything you own if you or a family member becomes seriously ill, I see that as a huge factor contributing to happiness.

One more thing, RB-360043: A friend of mine who works in the oil industry lived in Denmark for two years, and he had the opposite experience. He sent me tons of photos in which he was laughing and smiling and enjoying the company of many Danes. Perhaps, as in the U.S., where you'll find happy people is dependent not only on yourself but also on the towns and cities you visit.

Ms. Rita Jean:

Are you saying that the National Science Foundation did not conduct a scientifically valid study? That's a serious accusation against a well-known, established and respected organization. In fact, when surveys are taken, it is impractical, if not impossible, to survey 100% of the population. In these case researchers use what's called a "representative sample" of the population. This has been done by social science researchers for decades. Do an Internet search for "sample size calculator" and see for yourself. Or better yet, take some college courses on statistics and research methods.

The world is getting happier? They obviously didn't survey anyone in South America, Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, etc.! According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty and MSN wants me to think the world is getting happier! Nearly three billion people live on less than two dollars a day (that's half of the world's population below the poverty line)… What I would really like to know is what interest group put MSN up to publishing this nonsense and how much it costs to give people a false sense that the world is healing.

You do not understand statistics and sampling methodologies. A poll does not required a large percentage of people to get a statistically accurate result. Many political polls or polls quoted by TV news channels have samplings that are much much smaller, but they are still statistically accurate at that particular time. This presumes that the sample selection is random and that people are telling the truth.

This is yet another stupid expert panel who have no idea - happiness is not about political freedoms, which people take for granted. How many people vote? How many people give their political opinion, how many care what the state religion? These are very important, but they do not determine happiness. Not in todays world, people in the west like in England don't give a damn!

Now then, how many people care about the deadline for work tomorrow, their children failing in schools, or gas prices sky-rocketing?

Egg head experts, come down from your foolishly high positions, and observe the real world.

No offense to all you who think that the right to vote means you have freedom... but really how many of you, in your heart of hearts are voting for someone you really think is going to lead us out of this economic collapse we are in? Or solve the problem of incessant warring? Or REALLY stop the decay of our culture so apparent to so many? The people for whom we are voting are only those whom the MEDIA chose for us! Many of us are asking where our REAL leaders have gone... because they certainly aren't running our country--and not even in Congress. except an elect few! Instead of REAL leaders we have movie stars, comics, and all sorts of celebrities leading us--and we undermine and blackmail those with any talent for leadship--and never teach our young ones what INTGRITY means. i won't vote--because voting means nothing in this country, in spite of what my Church would have me do. There is no one for whom to vote that upholds my Church's values--not even close. No matter what I do--vote or not--it is set up so we are giving in to the financiers who would have our country's ruin. It is rigged. Yes, I'm tired right now--dog-tired, and without hope for this mess as it is. WHERE IS OUR SANITY!

Notice how low the media is ranking these remarks--probably because they are getting such "bad press" with this article! let's see if they even put this comment on the board. Actually at the moment, I'm more than a little angry at the way they control the outcome of our country's fortunes. The media has 'way too much power. I have many of my comments in these kinds of discussions disallowed. So I do not believe in "free press."

Hopefully, the study takes in consideration that questions that seem typically normal for a survey in the US are totally unacceptable in this format in other parts of the world, thus unreliable.
Lived many years in Europe, surveys are formulated differently.
It is not decent to complain or show dissatifaction in some european countries, thus the response might be the "polite" one.