This news item comes out every year.

My belief is that the distribution of joy and suffering is constant.
That all people experience a similar ratio of joy and suffering- regardless of (or in spite) of the circumstances.

The difference is not in the amount of joy and suffering- but in what people say about it.


The truth is that some people don’t have all that much to complain about.
And some people aren’t that inclined to do that much complaining anyway.

The Norse, the Canadians, Kiwis and Aussies- are not happier.
They just don’t have that much to complain about (relative to the rest of the world).
And they are not all a bunch of whiny bitches who would complain anyway.

Now, in contrast, the Haitians and Somalis have legitimate gripes. But aren’t necessarily unhappy.

And the USA, France (and others) just have a very high percentage of whiny bitches.