Do you even trust published data anymore? Until Covid, there were NO studies showing a realistic # of how many unhappy Americans were. All the studies showed 70%-90% of ppl being “happy” with only a small tiny fraction listed as “depressed/very unhappy with life.” Even after Covid, now, most studies STILL show ~71% of people being very or rather happy with life. Which…I don’t believe. Definitely NOT 71% happy in the USA.
The data would have you believe that the vast majority of ppl are happy with their lives, which is just NOT true. Just given the income data- where 50% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, I very much doubt “71% are happy” with their lives.
—–“Facts” from Web—–
Global Happiness:
A 2024 Ipsos Global Happiness report found that 71% of adults across 30 countries say they are very or rather happy.
In 2023, 73% of people across 32 markets reported being very or rather happy.
The Netherlands and Mexico are among the happiest countries, with 85% and 83% of residents saying they’re happy, respectively.
Hungary and South Korea are among the least happy countries, with 48% of residents saying they’re happy.
Saudi Arabia, India, and Brazil also reported high levels of happiness.
Happiness in the US:
A Gallup poll in January 2024 found that 47% of U.S. adults are very satisfied with their personal lives.
Another 31% were somewhat satisfied, while 11% were somewhat dissatisfied and 9% were very dissatisfied.
In a 2017 Harris Poll, only 33% of Americans surveyed said they were happy.
The 2017 Harris Poll also found that men reported a greater increase in happiness levels, but were also more likely to say they were frustrated at work.
Factors Associated with Happiness:
Studies suggest that people who are older, white, married, and more educated, those with higher incomes, and those who attend religious services tend to report higher levels of happiness.
However, even in disadvantaged groups, only small proportions report being not happy.
Positive relationships, a strong sense of meaning and purpose, and good physical and mental health are also linked to higher levels of happiness.
—–
“Even in disadvantaged groups, only small proportions report not being happy.”
>>Fucking Really? Was this study done by State Street and Black Rock? The ppl at WEF? (“you will own nothing and be happy”)
5 comments
omg that’s bullshit of the highest order. I’m surprised those studies haven’t been thrashed for the blatant skew. I assume it was conducted by phone or internet, which excludes all the impoverished and miserable people who don’t have phones or computers or internet.
It’s like a poll asking how many people have higher education but the question is in Latin so only educated people would respond. Jesus I can’t believe the idiocy (or more likely the deceptive agenda) of so called experts.
We live in a shit society where you can’t even get accurate numbers on suicides because there’s a concerted effort to hush it up. Literally google “guidelines on suicide reporting” and you’ll see countless newspapers proudly and righteously declare that they refuse to report suicides.
I’m the last person to believe conspiracy theories, but this is isn’t even a conspiracy because it’s right in the open: people who are unhappy, depressed and suicidal are personae non gratae in the human herd.
Right? NO ONE questioned “science” and “data” and “studies” until Covid. Everything being “reported” to us was just to be believed. I don’t believe 71% of Americans are happy, given our shit economy. Even 11% dissatisfied / 9%very dissatisfied sounds too low- and this is the “new” data- before 2020 Covid, happiness data showed only like 5% depressed. Well ok, there’s very little data on how many are “unhappy”- unhappy is very different from depressed- but still- that is NOT happy.
god yes we’re not even talking about depression, just plain unhappiness which should be everyone who’s below the average standard of living. (By definition, the average has 50% above and 50% below!)
Ofc not everyone who’s below the avg standard isn’t unhappy, but i think it’s a good metric. You don’t find a lot of happy people who are struggling to put food on the table.
Dont even get me started (too late!) on suicide “data”, such as the lie that people who attempt suicide and are ‘saved’ never attempt again. Who tf, and how, did they come up with that data? Did they follow every person who has attempted suicide, and how would they since suicide attempts are never reported unless an actual crime is registered.
Yet all these snake oil statisticians dance around their studies that show, all you gotta do is wrestle the gun outta someone’s hand and they’re CURED!
The secret to happiness is low expectations, and I can believe that half the population has bought into low enough expectations to be very satisfied. You get them fed, housed, and out of severe pain and they’re doing better than the majority of humanity. Distract, redirect attention, it’s so easy to keep simple minds away from thinking about misery.
I confess, I allow myself to do it more lately, because the human brain is built for it, to accept what it is given. Put the pain in a box and dissociate from it, focus on whatever isn’t pain.
That’s why I went into studying the human brain, to figure out why “normal” people don’t suffer like we do. It’s because they dissociate, they allow themselves to forget their pain. For neurodivergent people it takes effort. I had to teach myself, and I’m still learning that skill.
They (normies) have such trust in instutions and authority figures that if those tell them to do something, they just do it. I can never do that, but I can tell myself to do something and do it.
I think everybody has a lever somewhere in their head, find it and pull and you can get whatever you need out of it. There has to be someone you’ll listen to, someone who can tell you to do something.
Not to be happy, but to start boxing and dissociating from pain.
The World Happiness Report 2025 is out today. Finland, as usual, is at the top, followed closely by the rest of Scandinavia, as well as Holland and several other Western European countries. Where is the US? A very unimpressive 24th considering our wealth and resources, although I guess if 10% of us own almost all of it, I can see why the rest of us would be frustrated. Even Israel, with all the shit happening there, is 8th, and Mexico is at 10. Granted, even though it’s published by Oxford U, it’s hard to know what all the stats really imply: I mean, I’m guessing an American living in Manhattan is way happier than a Mexican in Baja California, not to mention Israelis who live on the border of Gaza or the West Bank. Still, interesting to look at.