There are Everton fans in Bhutan?
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Itâs not even just that. Through the salary range most working or middle class people can obtain, there is a fairly tight relationship between increases in salary/wealth and increased happiness. However, itâs not that money buys happiness, but that lack of money to cover your genuine needs is stressful as fuck. Once you get to the point that you can comfortably cover your needs, have enough for a few wants and not have to stress about it, the relationship falls apart. At that point, the additional responsibility that comes with further increases in salary often have a negative impact on happiness.
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There are stupid people everywhere, even in the country supposedly the happiest one in the world.
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Had miserable friends (reasons) who won the lottery. They became really miserable rich people.
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Miserable isnât the same as being scared shitless, thereâs a gulf of difference!
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I agree completely. Scared for your familyâs safety / well-being must be one of the worst things.
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Itâs funny though even in the most dire of times âpeopleâ still manage to find time for fun and if lucky games.
I feel âusâ in the west must be careful of our perceptions. We really are the lucky ones. That doesnât give us the right to be judgemental, so often I see things written that date back to colonial shithousing. Central Africa is an eyeopener on that.
Even lower in some areas often masked by the shear size of a country, and those areas bordering massive countries. I heard itâs still as low as mid 30ies in some regions.
Not talking about extreme poverty or those subject to war, slums, no food or water.
But go to many poor regions in the world and people are happy. More likely greeted with a smile and laughter in a small village in Africa than you are in Tunbridge wells. In the 80s there was a study that compared the happiness of 400 richest Americans and compared it to the happiness of the Maasai tribe in Africa (No running water or electric, herders, mud huts). Both equally satisfied and high in well being.
From the Maasai in Kenya, to the Amish in America, to the seal hunters in Greenland. These people are among the highest happiness in the world. Despite lack of material possessions.
Income is an open ended goal and in a materialistic culture for many its never enough. People want the latest phone, 8K TV, fancy car, bigger house, more extravagant holidays. Yet really a car is to get you from A to B. Most people watch TV from an aerial not capable of 8K signal. Many only care about the camera aspect of a phone.
The strive for income it is never enough. Someone always has something you aspire. Therefore its toxic on happiness.
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Really!!!
Colonial bullshit. Please take it elsewhere, I mean think about what your saying, Maasai, Amish and what the fuck are seal hunters?
If you are taking colonialism from my post you are abstracting a point not made, and totally missing the point.
What I am stating is something closer to what Dalai Lama would say about materialism. I am being critical of western countries/values, the need for material things/wealth. (pretty close to the opposite of colonialism).
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There is also the problem of how to measure happiness.
A general rule is that individuals will compare themselves to their immediate peer group - if they consider they are doing the best out of their group then they are generally pretty happy - conversely if they consider they are at or near the bottom of their peer group then they are more likely unhappy.
It is when people begin to compare themselves to individuals outside of their peer group (ie you compare yourself to Elon Musk,) that people become the most unhappy.
There is also this fantasy that somewhere, sometime all people will be equal. This has never and probably can never happen. How do you equalise health, education, job satisfaction, relationships, housing ? And equalise the perception of these factors as well? These all have a massive bearing on an individuals happiness.
There is a lot of merit in the idea that owning next to nothing and not having a social system run on monetary / capitalist lines can and sometimes does produce happier individuals.
An argument could also be made that certainly in western society the current population is in the top 10%, of the top 1% of all people who have ever lived. In the words of ex prime minister Harold McMillan âYou have never had it so good.â Historically speaking - you are the 1%.
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Itâs the cliche about the Mexican fishing village
An american business man goes on holiday to mexico and see the local fishermen spending a lot of their time doing nothing just waiting for the fish to bits. He sees this as an inefficiency and so starts thinking through how to improve this as a business. He takes one of them aside and runs through the business plan explaining how he could take his one man operation to be the dominant fishing force in the Mexican gulf. The fisherman then asks what he would do once heâs reached that level of success and has the money to retire. The American responds that he enjoys this village and thinks it would be nice to buy a retirement home here and spend some time relaxing on his boat trying to catch some fish.
Data from lots of sources show pretty consistently that people are happier living in a $400k home that is the nicest in the neighborhood than they are living in an objectively nicer and more expensive house surrounded by people who have more and nicer things than you do.
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Sorry I shouldnât have gone off on one. Just to explain I feel that this viewing of specific cultures as some sort of showpiece in a circus is extremely colonialistic. I donât wish to take this conversation down these lines.
On the other hand I have a proposition as I think for example the Maslow pyrimid misses something important.
That is dignity and responsibilty. We need this and even with very basic needs fullfilled (bottom of the Maslow pyrimid) âoneâ can be happy if we have and take responsibility. However if we lack minimum to have a dignified life âweâ can still feel shame and hence lack fulfillment.
Many cultures incorporate responsiblity âgoalsâ into their culture and it seems to work well. The problem I see with âourâ society is it doesnât incorporate this. We have goal chasing criteria that doesnât demand responsibility. Do well in exams, get a job, make money, buy a house, buy a bigger house ⌠be better off than your âneighbourâ.
Responsibility gives us a purpose however if we fail in our responibilities it causes shame (which can be detrimental) but is ultimately a driving force and if we take responsibility we can apologise for where we made mistakes (which is something some say we shouldnât do anymore) and be forgiven.
However responsibilty (or taking it) doesnât lead to living a dignified life it does assure the miminmum of subsistence. This is a cause of great shame for for example poor people who are embarrassed they can not afford their rent, feed their kids correctly or provide the âsocialâ minimum (for example a mobile phone, computer these type of things are pretty basic in or society these days).
I just pulled out a bit from your OP that I feel doesnât belong as it distracts focus and itâs base (though I now realise wasnât your intention) is set in some horrible colonial thinking. Thatâs a big problem in western society these thoughts have bee soo ingrained that we donât even realise it.
Question, can a materialistic capatalist society be happy?
If so how can it be structured to enable this happiness?
Should we forgo ideas such as merit and focus more on proposing ways to fulfill a larger populace than the top 10% meritant?
Iâm a capitalist, Iâm happy. I admit I want more. Knowing I could pay the mortgage and all bills for the next 20 years would be nice but thatâs the peril of running your own businesses.
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Your an individual not a society! 
My comments questions werenât to question capitalism but to ask if thereâs ways to make it more inclusive, or whatever. 
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Regardless of income? So if youâre on ÂŁ100k per year you get a payment? Surely not?