Reflection On Happiness

Final Blog Post      
 

        What is happiness, and what does it have to do with global politics? Throughout the semester, my group and I came together to discover how happiness is measured in different nations. Due to the limited number of blog posts, we decided to choose a country in these three regions; Asia, Scandinavia, and South America. Our initial research found that these three regions had a higher national happiness ranking. Upon further research using The Gallup Poll, The Prosperity Group List, and the United Nations’ poll, we chose the nations Bhutan in Asia, Denmark in Scandinavia, and Mexico in South America. These nations also ranked higher on the happiness scale in their respective regions.

By assessing how each nation’s history, government, and culture may have played a part to their citizens’ happiness, we were able to gain an understanding on what happiness may be. Working together as a group also helped us gain different perspectives, which also opened our minds. Bhutan developed the Gross National Happiness Index, also known as the GNH. This concept is “a holistic and sustainable approach to achieve a balanced development in all facets of life which is essential to our happiness. The goal of GNH is happiness”. While according to the Happiness Research Institute, the Danish are happy due to their high level of trust, respect, social security, wealth, and freedom in speech, education, and in careers. In Mexico, the OECD Better Life Index reported that 82% of the Mexican population have positive experiences, over negative ones. Their sense of community, deeply rooted in their culture gives their citizens a higher satisfaction in life, which also helps them rank higher as a happy nation.

When the class first shared their topic ideas for blogs, I was fascinated on the topic of “Happiness by country”. I don’t think my group and I realized how broad the topic really is, which made things a bit difficult. Although we may truly never know what makes a nation “happy” due to differences in opinions, or perhaps even exclusive knowledge in a community, we may have an idea on what makes a nation happy, by looking at the workings of each nation’s history, government, and culture. With the help of my group, we found articles, academic archives, PDF book files to analyze. Even though we all researched the same topic content, each of us found something that contributed to our understanding on happiness in different nations. To read what my group and I observed during the semester, check out our posts on the topic intro, Bhutan, Denmark, and Mexico.

Dewey, C. (2013, September 10). A fascinating map of the world’s happiest and least happy countries. TheWashingtonPost.com. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/09/10/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-happiest-and-least-happy-countries/.

Clifton, J. (2014, May 21). People Worldwide Are Reporting A Lot of Positive Emotions. Gallup.com. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://www.gallup.com/poll/169322/people-worldwide-reporting-lot-positive-emotions.aspx.

GNH Bhutan. What is Gross National Happiness? December 5, 2014, from  

http://www.gnhbhutan.org/about/.

Helliwell, J., Layard, R., & Sachs, J. (2013). World Happiness Report 2013. UNSDSN.org. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/WorldHappinessReport2013_online.pdf.

Kelly, Annie. (2012). Gross National Happiness in Bhutan: The Big Idea from a Tiny State That Could Change the World. The Guardian. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/01/bhutan-wealth-happiness-counts.

Legatum Institute. (2013). The 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://www.prosperity.com/#!/.

Macias, Amanda. (2014, Oct. 31). Mexican Are The Happiest People In A New Global Survey. Business Insider. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-happy-43-countries-are-2014-10.

Weiking, Meik. (2013). The Secret Behind Those Happy Danes. Happiness Research Institute. Retrieved from December 5, 2014, from http://www.happinessresearchinstitute.com/danish-happiness-explained/4578972751.