Happiest country in the world

Denmark is declared to be the Happiest Country in the world.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/20/travel/happiest-countries-to-visit/index.html

Saw a report this morning with interviews with Danes and the reasons they are happy.  Check it out.

The reasons they gave for their happiness may surprise you.

Scandanavian countries in general were at the top of the list of happy countries.

You might find the reason for their happiness here:

Denmark immigration: Strict rules for small community of immigrants

and here:

Denmark to pay immigrants £12,000 to go home if they 'can't or won't' assimilate

They may have found a formula that works.

Right.  We'll send all our immigrants home and leave it to the Indians.  They will be happy too.

After my snarky comment, I will add that happiness is an inside job.  It is also a feeling of the moment, an intention, a response and many other things.  I think measuring "happiness" is about as subjective as one can get.

Am I happy?  Yes.  At this moment I had a shower, washed my hair, got out a bottle of Sparkling Ice and sat down to my computer with the day absolutely perfect.  Enjoyed the company of a quality friend for a 2 1/2 mile walk in the Everglades and a bit of shopping at the Immokalee State Farmers Market where the prices were right.

Don't ask me tomorrow.  I have a bunch of writing to do that I put off to enjoy today.  I have bills to pay that exceed my income. Need I say more?  Don't ask me tomorrow.

But ask me today and I'll compete with any Dane for the happiest contest because right this moment, I am blissfully happy.

Shooting the messenger doesn't alter the report. 
Happiness for one is not the same for another as DK pointed out.  Happy moments can be enjoyed, but are fleeting.  I don't think anyone can live in a constant state of bliss.  Even if they could, it would no longer be anything special.  
 
Contentment may be a better word to describe long-term "happiness". 
The TV report with Dane interviews revealed some comments as the following:
 
“We want more government control.  It gives us a sense of security.”  (They obviously trust their government. The Danes get free healthcare and free education).
“We have the chance to better ourselves, but if things don’t work out as planned, we know that we will be taken care of.”
“We have time for recreation and time to spend with our family.” 
 Etc.

I Agree with DK that our state of mind is more of an internal thing.  I also agree with Abe that "happiness is fleeting."  But one can develop a sense of joy that goes beyond any momentary happy feelings.

A sense of joy can be cultivated.  One of my favorite books is Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah ban Breathnach.  It has an entry for every day of the year.  I've been re-reading it.  A few months ago, my new friend Carmen (daughter Lynn's housekeeper) who has been helping me out occasionally now that I cannot do some of the tasks that need to be done, saw it on my bookshelves and said that she was reading it.  I decided it was a good time to pick it back up.  It is a fairly large book, and my copy, being old, was hardbound, to boot, and heavier than my hands and arms can handle comfortably these days, so I checked Amazon, and found that the Kindle version was very low-priced, so I downloaded it, skimmed quickly through the earlier months, and have been reading it daily.

The concept is perfect for anyone looking to develop a personal sense of well-being.  She builds on several practices that can lead to an abiding sense of joy, six in all, including joy, which is the final step.  She spends two months on each attitude, telling little stories and giving advice on how to cultivate that attitude.  The first is a sense of gratitude, of finding little things every day, even the frustrating days, you can be thankful for. After two months, she adds the second attitude, simplicity.  Since the practice of daily gratitude should be a habit by this time, it should be easy to add to it.  This is simplicity as Thoreau taught it, after he had spent his time at Walden.  So much of modern life is complicated.  Finding simple routines and getting rid of all those things we don't need allows us the time to relax and just enjoy life more. That takes care of the first 4 months.  May and June are about cultivating a sense of order. A place and time for things and routine tasks, taking notes, keeping lists, etc.  By July we are ready to move on to harmony.  While the author doesn't mention her, Dr. Katherine Benziger, an expert on Jung's functions, says there is a specific area of the brain that recognizes harmony in our environment - or the lack of it, and this, she says, is where our emotions, our feelings come from.  A sense of harmony leads to positive emotions.  By September, we have learned little ways to bring more harmony into our lives, and we advance to the concept of beauty.  We learn ways to add more of it to our surroundings - little inexpensive ways, and learn that true beauty has very little to do with external appearances.  By November, we are ready to finish the year out by adding joy to our list of positive attitudes.  And when we operate from a sense of joy, those moments of happiness automatically increase, regardless of externals.

Actually, for some people all that security that helps the Danes feel safe is not a "happiness" state.  Some people are "happiest" when challenged with adversities to overcome and new financial goals to reach.

The fact that a country as wealthy as the U.S. has pockets of extreme - and I mean extreme - poverty are a blight on our happiness quotient.  The fact that we are nearly a police state to feel "safe" from crime is also a blight.  The prison industry and the levels of incarceration are ghastly.  Children are without food, medicine and health care.

The cost for health care is also criminal.  I'm for fixing those things and paying the taxes (as the Danes pay) to make that happen. 

Unfortunately, those whose happiness is derived from gaining more and more monetary and material wealth and power do not wish to pay taxes to improve the lives of the starving and the health care deficiencies and instead pour their money into campaigns to make sure they don't pay taxes to benefit the nation as a whole.  That too is criminal.  That detracts from my happiness quotient when I think about it.

I took the time to download the PDF from the page Abe linked.  It is a report on the actual study and included a list of 156 countries, ranked by the studies findings as 0f 2010-2012.

Here are a few beyond those top 10:

11 - Israel
14 - UAE
16 - Mexico
17 - USA
22 - UK
25 - France
26 - Germany
68 - Russia
98 - Lebanon
148 - Syria

Many SA and ME countries were in the top 50.  Fewer Asian ones there.  African countries generally ranked low.

Not sure what that means in making any overall generalizations.

Political instability and stark poverty are not exactly contributors to the happiness scale.

Oh, absolutely!  I was curious, though - I can't remember precisely and don't have the file on this tablet, but I was surprised about some countries that could have ranked higher or lower, based on those conditions.  Japan, for instance, was ranked lower than I would have expected.

The factor that the study ranked highest was mental illness and whether or not the country accepted the condition as an illness and provided support and treatment.  It;s a very long file, and studying it would take quite a bit of time.  Skimming doesn't really give a clear picture, but I thought that finding was interesting.

Since happiness is a state of mind - that can make sense.  This country is abysmally archaic in its understanding and treatment of mental illnesses.  We put those with mental illness out on the street to live as homeless derelicts.  I can attest.  I have a friend who actually has money, but his illness creates such behavior that no place wants him - how's that - because they cannot treat his illness properly they don't want him.  Let him live on the street where we get him and the police arrest him for 24 hours and put him back on the street.  He was once very productive and contributed more than his share to this economy that has no place for him. We have plenty of money to spend on weapons and war but little for the mentally impaired.

A friend of mine was recently in Los Angeles where there is a designated "skid row" where the derelicts gather with their carts, wagons and plastic bags - for blocks.  Most have a mental deficiency.

Yes, I agree, DK, but this country still ranks #17 out of 156. How many places are even more reluctant to recognize this need?