kojis Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 HPI 19.6 only... very low it seems... although my answers on life satisfaction questions were (most of ?? ) all positive - and my life satisfaction index is above average. I don't really have a problem with this kind of organisations as long as they don't get any leverage in society... wich they unfortunately get somehow... Kojis, overconsuming sinner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 30.5 and will die at an age of 83.7. :: Ecological Footprint Your ecological footprint is 12.46 global hectares, or 6.92 planets. This is higher than the national averages for every country in the world. Your ecological footprint is greater than the average for the country you live in. If you live in a country with large economic inequalities, do note that this might be the case even if you are environmentally aware and trying to reduce your footprint, as others in your country might be living in very different circumstances. For example, Brazil's mean footprint of 2.2 g ha does not distinguish between the very low consumption lives of tribes in the Amazon, and those of people living Western-style lives in the big cities, whose personal footprints will inevitably be much higher. You are using over five times your share of the world's resources. This is well above the average for most nations - the only nations that can match you or come close for resource consumption are the USA and a few Gulf States. Of course, that is not to say that there aren't hundreds of millions of individuals living at your level of consumption, even including a few in the poorest countries in the world. To be honest, pretty much any change in your lifestyle would reduce your footprint a bit. However, we would prescribe three urgent steps to get you on the right road: Get off the road! Car use has a huge impact on ecological footprint. Obviously it's harder for people in certain circumstances, but where possible, try to use public transport more. Or, even better, get a bike! You don't have to become vegetarian, but cutting down on meat, particularly beef, and particularly from animals fed by imported soya feed, is an effective step to reducing your footprint. No doubt the biggest chunk of your footprint is coming from air travel. For example, flying direct from London to Sydney and back would add 5.44 g ha to your footprint - that's the average Briton's footprint for an entire year. And, of course, flying indirect adds even more polluting air miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evel_Penivel Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 Gee, Cuba and Palestine are far happier places than the UAE and every European country. But I guess that means it must not be so bad for the terrorists held at Guantanamo. Same-same, but different. The conclusion that could be drawn is that we need more countries like Cuba, Bhutan, Vietnam, and Principe and Sao Tome and fewer like Denamrk, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, not to mention the U.S., U.K. and Canada. I wonder what the people of Zimbabwe and Swaziland have done to blot their happiness copybooks - fly too many hours each year? EP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 I remember a few years ago, Bangladesh has the happiest people. If you are not trap in the materialism you will be more happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 I've been there and the country has a small class of very rich people, rest are struggling for finding food for the day. I don't think that can create happy people. Better to become a thai monk and always know that you will eat every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 agree, but the same study study has shown that they are happy, i don't know why. A Thai monk must get up very early in the morning. I would be not so happy with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadaBing Posted July 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2006 ok , who exactly is gathering this info..... Now it's Denmark , but us yanks are getting happier.... Bada Bing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBif Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 The LIST Bada Bing Odd list. 8 out of the top ten countries happen to be Spanish-speaking. Have I found the Secret to Happiness? But it seems the key ingredient (as posited by the well-to-do members of the think tank) is to be poor. Hmmm... However, being a hypocrite doesn't necessarily prove you're wrong. Certainly islands are wonderful places to live... Bertrand Russell in his essay, "The Superior Virtue of the Oppressed" took to task social reformers of his time who romanticized "the workers", "the Irish", "the American negroes", "the Indians" etc. (the essay was written in the 1920s, I think). He argued that if lack of access to education, political rights, economic advancement etc. made people happier (an argument Russell regarded as rubbish) then the whole case for social reform collapsed. Which is true, of course. But even as a young leftist when I first came across the essay I wondered if maybe Russell was mistaken for once: That it was indeed possible to be happy without all the things, material and political, that we take for granted. So this tank of thinkers is contemptible (I leave you to guess their reaction if the current British government decided to deal with dissenters in the manner of, say, Cuba - 6th or 7th on the list), but they may be a little right for all the wrong reasons. "Sir, it is all cant... Publick affairs vex no man" Samuel Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBif Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 ok , who exactly is gathering this info..... Now it's Denmark , but us yanks are getting happier.... Bada Bing Nay, Sir! It is Canada. Here's proof: Canada, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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