Archive: Opinions

I mailed my school tax payment yesterday.  I was unhappy.  It's not that I don't support the schools, but school tax is so high in New York State and the amount it chips away at my dwindling resources every year is depressing.  Actually I am unhappy whenever any bill comes these days, and when I want to spend money on something it becomes another moment of unhappiness.  So, in the misery loves company department, imagine my delight when I discovered that out of 50 states and the District of Columbia New York rates 33 on the happiness scale.  That's right - we're pretty unhappy here.

They say that Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth.  But a recent Wallethub analysis shows that the happiest place in the United States is Utah.  Who'd have thought???!!!  Utah ranked #1 on the happiness scale, #1 for work environment and #1 for Community, Environmental and Recreational Activities, And #4 for Emotional Well-being.  Now, if you want to be #1 in emotional well-being Minnesota is your state.  While the Land of 1,000 Lakes ranked #7 in work environment and #3 in Community, Environmental and Recreational Activities, it was #2 in overall happiness.

Hawaii is lowest on the depression scale, as well, so it's looking pretty good.  After that California is least depressed followed by New Jersey, South Dakota and Illinois.  Wow, New Jersey!  And would you believe Oregon has the highest depression rating in America, followed by Washington State, Oklahoma, Maine and Vermont?  I always thought Oklahoma was OK!  I don't know why, but Montana has the highest suicide rate even though it didn't make the bottom five in depression.  And, believe it or not, Washington DC has the lowest suicide rate, followed by New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut.  So while I am pretty unhappy, I am not likely to off myself any time soon.  Unless I move to Montana.  That could do it.

I have been trying to lose weight so it caught my attention that the District of Columbia has the lowest obesity rate.  But DC is only 25th on the happiness scale.  So I think I want to move to the #2 lowest obeseity state, Hawaii, which is #3 out of 51 in happiness.

Source: WalletHub

A Gallup-Healthways poll that measures positive emotions around the world also yields interesting results.  If you want to be really happy, it turns out you should move to Paraguay, which has the highest positive experience index of 87.  Syria has the lowest at 36.  The United States has a positive experience index of 78, tied with Chile, Iceland, Argentina, Taiwan, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the Dominican Republic.  For all that grousing Canadians do about the United States, they are actually a little happier than we are, with a rating of 78.  So we may be unhappy compared to other US citizens, but we're still relatively happy compared to the rest of the world.

It is striking to me how the highest positive experience ratings go to almost every South American country.  Maybe the negative stereotypes are wrong.  Maybe Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were onto something (except for the getting killed part).

They say money can't buy happiness.  But a study in the United States found that it can, up to a point.  The higher your income, the study found, the happier you are likely to be, but only up to an annual income of $75,000.  After that the money was found to make a lot less of a difference in the happiness department.  Of course, Donald Trump is probably the exception to this rule, but the study didn't mention him or how happy he is.

When you consider how many hours people in Lansing volunteer it is surprising that New York rates #50 in volunteerism.  The only state that volunteers less is Louisiana.

This idea of moving to Hawaii is looking better and better.  A 2010 study found happier people live longer, and we all know that you live longer if you are not overweight.  I've never felt comfortable wearing Hawaiian shirts, but after seeing these results I am going to rethink that.

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