News · moment 2 of 15

Finland: The Happiest Country and America's Manic Unhappiness

from The Art Of Happiness | The Tim Dillon Show #340 · #340

4 min

News

Tim reacts to a New York Times article ranking Finland the world's happiest country for six years running, contrasting Finnish contentment with basic needs against America's frenzied, fame-and-money-obsessed culture, using Lake Travis in Austin as an example of how Americans dominate and abuse nature instead of appreciating it.

In this bit8 moments
  • Finland ranked the happiest country in the world for six consecutive years, despite children not getting shot there.
  • Individual Finns interviewed aren't exuberant—they're satisfied and relaxed, saying things like 'yeah, we're cool.'
  • American happiness is manic and frenetic, like a junkie whose dealer is called 'the back,' not the calm Nordic satisfaction.
  • Nina Hanson, a 58-year-old Finnish high school teacher, rejects the 'happy' label and says she's suspicious of that word.
  • What Finnish happiness comes down to: they like nature, welfare, and are satisfied with very little.
  • Americans don't really enjoy nature unless destroying it or using it for personal gain—nature is mostly hanging on by a thread.
  • In America's natural environments, people often show up to commit murder or rape rather than just enjoy the outdoors.
  • American priorities are cities, clubs, drugs, money, and cars—in Finland, they just like seeing a tree and green grass.
Mentioned here

FinlandUnited StatesUnited NationsnatureNew York Times

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