Happy Nation What is happiness? When asked this question, many people would have many different answers. Some may refer to happiness as family, and others may declare money as one of their main reasons for happiness. Indeed, all people are different. However, happy people usually have one thing in common and it is where they live. So, what should a country have, or look like in order to deem itself the happiest? According to New York Times’ reporter Nicholas D. Kristof, Costa Rica is the current “winner” of the “World Database of Happiness.” This small Central American country has accomplished monumental undertakings to deserve this enormous title. For instance, Costa Rica abolished its army, preserved nature, and made …show more content…
It is financial aid. Very few counties provide financial aid to low-income students, and American citizens who are offered this opportunity should be very proud of it. Despite the current economic downfall, the United States continues to provide this opportunity allowing students to obtain an education in higher learning. For instance, in 2008 the United States Government provided nearly 91 billion in financial aid to 104 million students. Moreover, according to President Obama the financial aid budget will increase this year and more students will be able to finish their study. Furthermore, the American government creates special programs that allow students from foreign countries to come to the United States on student visas. Those programs are very popular among foreign students because they not only provide a decent opportunity to gain a valued experience, but also provide job opportunities after graduation. Briefly, high level education is one of the reasons that support America as a happy nation. Finally, enriched family and international relationships are also good reasons that support the American “Happy Nation” theory. In fact, family, for almost every American citizen, is the biggest treasure in the world. There is no other place in the world where people send so many greeting cards to loved ones as they do here in the United States. For example, in the Ukraine cards are sent for happy events such as,
While taking the “Happiness Quiz,” I found the explanation for answer #2 regarding Denmark being the happiest country to live in quite interesting. From the sounds of it, Denmark has the makings of good attitudes and life balance. The fact that Denmark realizes the toll stress and imbalance takes on our lives and has incorporated things such as fathers also having the ability to take leave with new babies, seems promising. Another portion that peaked my interest was #4 explaining how happy people generally do not have higher incomes or superior intellect than others. The practice of gratitude was addressed in question #12; I came to realize in reading that section, the importance of the act of engaging in gratitude. It is one thing to verbalize
Unfortunately, the author eludes that the U.S. is no longer top on the list. Along with a decreased education rate, universities began accepting students more for economic status over merit value. This contributed to the positive trend of financial aid be given leaving it at roughly 247 billion dollars per year. This author mentions that this has a major impact of the decisions of lower income students to even strive to continue their education. In efforts to propose another plan to fix the controversy a program named America’s Promise was developed along with a couple of statewide programs very similar to Governor Cuomo’s. Georgia is one of the states that implemented these programs and has found a higher attendance rate in young individuals however find that the criteria may be too hard for low income students to meet. Kamentez writes that self paced online courses have been offered but self motivation has proved to an issue. The controversy continues and many new developments are being made, however, college will always be invaluable no matter the economic cost
According to the catholic theology, the feeling of pride is considered one of the mortal sins. The mortal sins are believed to be the root cause of all other sins and generally all that is wrong in the world. The idea behind the churches condemnation of pride is that if a man takes too much pride in himself his narcissistic tendencies may began to lessen his idolization of his lord and project it onto himself. Flannery O'connor being a devout catholic made pride a dominant personality trait of the character Joy/ Hulga in her short story, “Good Country People”, in order to show the dangers that she believed came with living a life unregulated by regular church attendance and strict adherence to the word of the
Senior compares what people think about people in other states and locations happiness, finding that usually these comparisons are untrue. Different studies and polls found that the Swiss and Canadians rank themselves among the happiest, while the Japanese are less happy. European countries tend to rank themselves the least happy, with Russia coming in last. Is happiness really based on location? I find that just because people don’t like the snowy weather doesn’t mean that they are unhappy during the holiday season. Families seem to come together and rejoice in each other’s company during this bad weather season. “And no matter where they live, human beings are terrible predictors of what will make them happy” (426). Senior discusses how we fill in the gaps, where we tend to remember only happy events and feelings and phase out bad ones. She discuss how our imaginations work in rationalizing situations and feelings, setting ourselves up for big disappointments, but deal with the successfully at the
Happiness a word in which many want to hear and want as part of their life. Take Brave New World a society that was built on happiness and perfectionism. Brave New World is like The United States because the United States is called one of the greatest countries in world. Where everyone wants to live and strive the american dream, while brave new world is a society that everyone has certain role and in order to feel happy without feeling depressed they have soma, sex, stabilty, ford, and conditioning. All these elements contribute to happiness the key word to a perfect society called Brave New World.
Being happy in their country is more of an obligation and a duty, not simply a choice. An illustration of this is when Mildred overdoses on sleeping pills one night. Montag comes home from work and finds her after she passes out on the floor with an empty bottle nearby. He quickly rushes her to the hospital where they pump her stomach and siphon her with “new blood.” The doctors there say it is no hassle just a frequent everyday transaction. The essential question brought about by this is why would “happy” people feel the need to drown themselves in pills to fulfill their already content and comfortable lives? Well, maybe it is because no one is genuinely happy. Mildred is probably in a deep depression like many others around her, but is completely unaware of it because of her society’s outlook on happiness. Another example of this false joy is the interactive televisions known as parlor walls in their homes. Mildred and many others invest an immense amount of their savings into them and refer to them as “the family.” They all use this progressive technology to free themselves from their desolate state of loneliness and total isolation. Many others spend most of their day attempting to escape reality and free themselves from the burdens of their suffocating
College athletics is a big time money maker for universities. Universities sell memorabilia, tickets to games, and great tailgating gear. The games are also aired on television were millions of people watch. Universities bring in tons of revenue every year, but where does it go? Not to the stars of the show. Athletes work hard to make their schools proud, but work so hard on their athletic skills; they have no time to actually work for extra money. Because college athletes have no time to support themselves, the school they attend should provide additional funding.
A leading detractor from this theory, Daniel Nagin, believes that statistics of past deterrence and the death penalty should be overthrown. With Nagin’s high credential in being a Harvard scholar in Criminology overlooks many studies goes in to say that those several researchers who focus on past statistics should be ignored. Nagin claims, “The evidence does not exist to back them up” (10). Although, he may be correct in some extend, I can agree when he explains his answers. Nagin believes that due to being inconclusive on whether or not the death penalty is deterrent, it still increases crime and makes people skeptical about it still. No one really knows whether to agree or disagree with the capital punishment. Even so with Nagin’s opinion
There are different factors that affect happiness and it is rooted from the country you were born in. “We are shaped not only by our current geography, but by our ancestral one as well" (Weiner 112). Most countries have different culture that contributes to people 's happiness. People who live in America will not be as happy as the one who lived in Moldova. In Eric Weiner 's, book The Geography of Bliss. He was searching for data on happiness. He conducts a study on how people in different countries understand and measure their happiness. The biggest factors that affect people 's happiness are the environment and cultural differences. Where you live is a big factor of who you are. People find happiness when they feel comfortable and
When we look to define happiness, many different ideas come to mind. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary uses three definitions for happiness: good fortune, a state of well being and contentment, and a pleasurable satisfaction. In Brave New World, Aldus Huxley argues that a society can redefine happiness through the government’s manipulation of the environment and the human mind itself. The government accomplishes this by mind conditioning throughout the process of maturing, keeping a caste-based society, and obliterating problems. The government thus defines happiness as the absence of all conflict. This differs from happiness as the American society sees it: the ability to pursue and enjoy individual desires.
Its people show extraordinary inventiveness and resilience in the face of great hardships. Constant food shortages, power blackouts and communication breakdowns affect its people in many ways. But it’s the simple pleasures in their lives that seem to make all the difference. Work, home, baseball and especially family play a large role in daily life. Denmark is the happiest country on earth according to the World Happiness Report commissioned by the United Nations at a conference on Happiness first held in April 2012.
I started to question about happiness in America after I saw a pattern in high school that students are often confused or stressed. I started out with the question, “why is it hard to be happy when being happy shouldn’t be that hard?” To answer these questions, I found Sophie Chan’s 2011 study, “Hong Kong Chinese community leaders’ perspectives on family health, happiness and harmony: a qualitative study.” This study would help answer questions on my audience’s curiosity about other countries happiness compared to the United States. Then I started to think that there were also other issues that friction with happiness in America and
Every person has a different understanding of happiness. Happiness is defined as an emotion in which one experiences feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense joy. Happiness may be defined in such a way, but it can be interpreted in many different ways by different people. There are many happiness triggers in life, and each person has a set of triggers that make them feel happy. Based on the readings “The Sources of Happiness” by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, “If We are So Rich, Why Aren’t We Happy?” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and “July: Buy Some Happiness” by Gretchen Rubin, three of the causes of human happiness are a positive adaptation to life, the ability to get fully involved in life, and the wise use of money.
Being Puerto Rican means more to me than just food but that’s where it all begins sitting at a table surrounded by loving, funny, loud family members. We love our food, music, family and religion. Being part of a small island, in this world with the biggest heart, brings me joy. When you are around any Puerto Rican you feel a part of the community instantly.
The filmmakers really amplified the idea that everyone can become happier. They filmed people from many different cultures around the world, to show that there are no barriers for being happy. Rather than starting the film with an interview from an average American, Happy began with an Indian rickshaw driver sharing his daily lifestyle. Although it may have seemed like a hard, tiring, and anticlimactic lifestyle to the audience, he was happy. The narrator reports, “Research shows that he was as happy as the average American.” This may seem unrealistic for the audience at first, considering the audience is still discovering this principle that happiness is diverse for other individuals. Especially for an audience member who finds that a majority of their happiness is related with money, this moment in the film may have not been easy for them to comprehend. This part of the film really amplifies the main claim from the director that happiness is mainly influenced by our ecology. The Indian rickshaw driver found most of his happiness when he came home, and interacted with his son. The idea of ecology has a lot to with the social interaction between individuals of the same species, in this case, it was the interaction between the rickshaw driver and his son. Not only did the interaction with his son brighten his mood, but his interaction with his neighbors also brought him to be happy.