Published: July 02, 2008 12:24 am            

Price of happiness too high, it seems

We’re No. 16.

That might be a cause for celebration among the fans of some of college athletics’ lesser lights, but not for the United States of America.

We’re used to being No. 1, and we are, in any number of things. Like having the largest economy in the world, for instance.

We are not the richest country on the globe, however. That honor falls to Luxembourg, with a gross domestic product of $68,800 per capita. We’re No. 6, at $43,500 per capita.

We’re not the most generous nation in the world, either. That would be Luxembourg, again. We’re No. 18 on the “it is better to give than receive” scale.

We don’t have the biggest drinkers in the world. That honor falls to, guess who, Luxembourg. The U.S. is not even in the tippling top 15.

And we are not the happiest country in the world. That position is held by, nope, not Luxembourg, but Denmark.

According to the World Values Survey, Denmark is No. 1 on the list of happiest nations, while the U.S. is No. 16.

Hamlet notwithstanding, it seems, the Danes are far from melancholy. They are happy because of their nation’s peaceful atmosphere, they say, as well as their democracy and social equality.

Last on the happiness list is Zimbabwe. Not only is Zimbabwe ruled by dictator Robert Mugabe, who recently won a runoff election in which he was the only candidate (a vote marred by violence and intimidation), but inflation in that African nation has risen by about a million percent per month. Admis-sion to a public swimming pool in Harare, Zimbabwe, is about 30 cents U.S., which is roughly $100 million Zimbabwe dollars.

The unhappiness of Zimbabweans, then, certainly is understandable.

But why are we, in the U.S., unhappier than, say, Canada, Sweden, El Salvador and New Zealand, all nations ranked above us on the happiness meter?

Perhaps you can blame me, and my fellow Baby Boomers. A survey released last week found Boomers are, on the whole, miserable when compared to other generations.

Heck, what do Boomers have to be unhappy about? Besides, that is, the wrinkles, the gray hair (where we have hair, that is), the saggy bits, the aches and pains and the fact the state of the economy will force us to work until we’re 90?

These are not happy times for our wallets. Gas and food prices continue to climb, the stock market continues to fall and all areas of the economy are shaky. Heck, even the world’s oldest profession is not immune. Nevada’s legal brothels are suffering, and some are even offering gas cards and other incentives for customers after seeing their business drop 25 percent from a year ago.

Of course, the drop in business at these cat houses is good news for many, especially the wives and girlfriends of customers of such establishments.

Humankind, it seems, is pretty good at taking the good with the bad. Which is perhaps why the worldwide happiness index has risen in recent years.

Somebody has to be happy over rising energy and food prices. He or she is making a killing while the rest of us suffer. Should we be happy for them? I wouldn’t go that far.

But heck, we live in America. What’s not to be happy about? If there is a nation in the world other countries look up to, it’s us. They either admire us, en-vy us or resent us, but they certainly don’t ignore us.

Despite the fact I’m a Baby Boomer, I’m happy (the wrinkles, the gray hair (where I have hair, that is), the aches and pains, even the saggy bits, notwithstanding.



Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle.