Summary
What Goes Into the World Happiness Ranking?
The rankings are based on answers to main life evaluation question. The respondents are asked to rate their own current lives on that 0 to 10 scale. The report shows the relationship to happiness based on six factors: levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and perception of corruption.
What Goes into The Happiness Index Ranking?
The Happiness Index measures the “extent to which countries deliver long, happy, sustainable lives for the people that live in them”. The Index is measured using data on life expectancy, experienced well-being and Ecological Footprint using the following formula: (Experienced well-being*life experience) / (ecological footprint).
A Measurement Outside of the Economy..
In Nick Mark's Ted Talk, he addresses the problem with measuring a country's "success" based on productivity and efficiency measures such as GNP and the economy. The World Happiness Ranking and the Happiness Index Ranking look beyond economic variables and consider other factors that go into a country's level of happiness.
The rankings are based on answers to main life evaluation question. The respondents are asked to rate their own current lives on that 0 to 10 scale. The report shows the relationship to happiness based on six factors: levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and perception of corruption.
What Goes into The Happiness Index Ranking?
The Happiness Index measures the “extent to which countries deliver long, happy, sustainable lives for the people that live in them”. The Index is measured using data on life expectancy, experienced well-being and Ecological Footprint using the following formula: (Experienced well-being*life experience) / (ecological footprint).
A Measurement Outside of the Economy..
In Nick Mark's Ted Talk, he addresses the problem with measuring a country's "success" based on productivity and efficiency measures such as GNP and the economy. The World Happiness Ranking and the Happiness Index Ranking look beyond economic variables and consider other factors that go into a country's level of happiness.
Algeria was ranked higher than the US based on the Happiness Index Ranking. This does seem reflective of the country because the ranking only considers the ecological footprint, life expectancy, and experienced well being in the calculation. Algeria has a smaller population with a lower consumption rate than the use. In fact, according to the video the Story of Stuff, "the U.S.has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 30% of the world’s resources". In other words, the ecological footprint of the US is enormous, which could explain why the HIR ranking was so low for the country. Algeria also has a similar life expectancy rate as that of the US. These two factors makes sense why Algeria's ranking was higher than the US. However, Costa Rica had the highest overall ranking. This is likely due to the small ecological footprint of the country. In fact, according to Nick Mark's Ted Talk , "Costa Rica is the happiest planet on earth and they use a quarter of the resources" and is one of the leading countries of low carbon consumption.
However, Algeria was ranked the lowest out of the three countries based in the World Happiness Index. This is likely due to the fact that this rating considers many economic and social factors including levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and perception of corruption. The lower ranking of Algeria is likely due to the fact that Algeria has the lowest GDP and lowest life expectancy (though very close) than the US and Costa Rica. Although the government types for all three countries are the same, which could help to explain level of corruption, it would be interesting to gain a greater understanding on factors such as generosity and social support that contribute to Algeria's ranking.
Reflection
This assignment really opened my eyes to the "American way of life". Too often we base livelihoods on money. This is true for countries as a whole, but also for individual lives. Like the Story of Stuff video mentions, everyone wants to have the latest things. However, to buy things we have to make money, and to make money we have to work. Not only is this unhealthy for our planet, considering that it will take 3-5 planets to support American consumption habits alone, but it is also unhealthy for the well being of humans. The Story of stuff video states that we as Americans "have more stuff, but less time to do things that really make us happy" due to increased work loads, and in those off chances that we do have time, we spend it a) watching tv or b) shopping. This really conceptualizes the fact that yes we as a country might have higher economic ratings, but we really aren't happy people :(.
Seeing how successful countries like Costa Rica are (based on the Happiness Index) despite their low economic growth, showcase that sustainable and healthy lifestyles really is key to a happy planet. We as a global community must recognize that our planet is finite if we want to avoid what Hardin calls "the tragedy of the commons". This tragedy of the commons refers to a situation when individual users act independently and rationally based on their own self interest, rather than collective interest, until the point where a common resource is depleted. Therefore, the planet is the entire population's common resource. Perhaps we can avoid depleting the commons by basing growth, or in other words success, not on economic development, which requires the continuous extraction of world resources for economic gain, but instead on sustainability and happiness efforts.
Algeria was ranked higher than the US based on the Happiness Index Ranking. This does seem reflective of the country because the ranking only considers the ecological footprint, life expectancy, and experienced well being in the calculation. Algeria has a smaller population with a lower consumption rate than the use. In fact, according to the video the Story of Stuff, "the U.S.has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 30% of the world’s resources". In other words, the ecological footprint of the US is enormous, which could explain why the HIR ranking was so low for the country. Algeria also has a similar life expectancy rate as that of the US. These two factors makes sense why Algeria's ranking was higher than the US. However, Costa Rica had the highest overall ranking. This is likely due to the small ecological footprint of the country. In fact, according to Nick Mark's Ted Talk , "Costa Rica is the happiest planet on earth and they use a quarter of the resources" and is one of the leading countries of low carbon consumption.
However, Algeria was ranked the lowest out of the three countries based in the World Happiness Index. This is likely due to the fact that this rating considers many economic and social factors including levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and perception of corruption. The lower ranking of Algeria is likely due to the fact that Algeria has the lowest GDP and lowest life expectancy (though very close) than the US and Costa Rica. Although the government types for all three countries are the same, which could help to explain level of corruption, it would be interesting to gain a greater understanding on factors such as generosity and social support that contribute to Algeria's ranking.
Reflection
This assignment really opened my eyes to the "American way of life". Too often we base livelihoods on money. This is true for countries as a whole, but also for individual lives. Like the Story of Stuff video mentions, everyone wants to have the latest things. However, to buy things we have to make money, and to make money we have to work. Not only is this unhealthy for our planet, considering that it will take 3-5 planets to support American consumption habits alone, but it is also unhealthy for the well being of humans. The Story of stuff video states that we as Americans "have more stuff, but less time to do things that really make us happy" due to increased work loads, and in those off chances that we do have time, we spend it a) watching tv or b) shopping. This really conceptualizes the fact that yes we as a country might have higher economic ratings, but we really aren't happy people :(.
Seeing how successful countries like Costa Rica are (based on the Happiness Index) despite their low economic growth, showcase that sustainable and healthy lifestyles really is key to a happy planet. We as a global community must recognize that our planet is finite if we want to avoid what Hardin calls "the tragedy of the commons". This tragedy of the commons refers to a situation when individual users act independently and rationally based on their own self interest, rather than collective interest, until the point where a common resource is depleted. Therefore, the planet is the entire population's common resource. Perhaps we can avoid depleting the commons by basing growth, or in other words success, not on economic development, which requires the continuous extraction of world resources for economic gain, but instead on sustainability and happiness efforts.