Has anyone seen the Reader's Digest article listing the happiest countries in the world?

Question

A Mexican friend of mine who lives in Mexico just wrote to me about the following that he read in the November Reader's Digest. I have tried to find the article on the internet, but cannot. Maybe it is only shown in the Mexican version, I don't know. Has anyone on here seen this?

Happiest countries:

Apparently, the Mexican version of the November Reader's Digest says Mexico rates #2 as the happiest country and the USA rates #15. Has anyone seen this? I wonder how Mexico can be rated so high when more than 400,000 of their citizens run to the USA to live illegally every year? I can see why the USA rates so low, considering how unhappy the citizens are about all the illegal immigrants in their country, but how can Mexico rate so high when so many of them want to get OUT of Mexico and INTO the USA?

1. Puerto Rico
2. Mexico
3. Denmark
4. Ireland
5. Iceland
10. Canada
15. U.S.A.

Answer 1

Don't know where your friend saw that but all I could find is a study done by the NEF..published in the current issue of Reader's Digest, according to NEF website

World Happiness Rankings by Peter Archbold, Oct 12, 2006
Unlike other similar studies, these rankings are not based on any economic or environmental data. The only sets of data used in the calculations are a country’s ranking in terms of life expectancy and the life satisfaction rankings, which are based on international surveys.In light of data regarding suicide rates from the World Health Organization there are some notable surprises in the top 10. It is somewhat surprising that Switzerland top the rankings despite having a suicide rate which is almost double the worldwide average. Other high-ranking countries with even higher suicide rates include Luxembourg and Finland. Although Japan and Hong Kong have the two highest life expectancies in the world their low rankings are a reflection of how poorly they fared in the life satisfaction surveys.Bottom of the pile was Zimbabwe due to their unfortunate combination a life expectancy of just 36.9 and the joint second lowest life satisfaction rating in the world.
1.Switzerland
2.Iceland
3.Sweden
4.Canada
5.Austria
6.Finland
7.Luxembourg
8.Norway
9.New Zealand
10.Australia
19. United States
23Hong Kong
39.Mexico
40.Japan
179.Zimbabwe

Answer 2

These surveys are only as good as the sample (number of people /countries) and the questions asked. I've never seen one based on happiness. The latest one I've seen was based on crime statistics...the least crime was Finland and the most crime Paraguay. The US and and Mexico were somewhere in the middle of 100 countries polled.

Answer 3

a. Puerto Rico is a territory of the USA.
b. I can believe this. Mexicans are happy to see the poor, gangs, criminals, and drug lords flee to America. (They don't have to deal with them.) Americans are miserable with them in their country.
c. Americans are also #15 on the list for a few other reasons. For one, class is usually determined by economic status, and clawing your way up has gotten harder. The middle class can be divided into two parts: upper and lower. The upper class and upper middle class are the economic backbone of American society, and they are always stressed out by school, work, etc. The lower middle class is stressed out by school, work, money problems, etc. Plus, they are trying to claw their way up to upper middle class, but there is always the pull from the lower class that wants to draw them into their group. Finally, the lower class is full to the brim with crime, drugs, illegitimacy, utter laziness, etc. This group frequently cries racism, sexism, discrimination, etc.

Answer 4

Don't know who is happiest, but do know Americans are most unhappy bunch.

America sold bias and racism to the rest of the world, and until you change your ways EVERY citizen will bear the pain of it.
No one will escape - neither the victim nor the victimizer.

The American culture is pretentious and fake which conflict with reality and is the root cause of the problem.

Every house has at least drug addict - legal or illegal. Kids are messed up, obese and lazy and the adults are no different.

The ideals of wanton waste does not jive with God. Thus although high per capita income offsets your mental health issues, Americans are unfulfilled no matter how many things are bought.

That's how God deals; you can't have it both ways.

Answer 5

Not meaning to kick the burrito from your friend's teeth - but Mexico rated number two sounds a bit far stretched. The reason I say so is because their economy is really bad - and that in itself wrecks one's day.

Thats not to say Mexicans do not have celebrations of various kinds - but thats not every day.
Then add to it the growing drug cartel problem with vicious murders, kidnapings, black mail - and add to the mix growing gang problems - a country can not be happy in that state. The drug cartels rule the streets in many places and have the police and government officials in their pockets.

Lastly you have hundreds and thousands of people trying to skirt across our borders and believe me, they are not doing this because Mexico is a happy place.

Answer 6

Don't sound right, we have people trying to enter illegally into the U.S. .

Also I thought Mexico was ridden with poverty, how can you be happy if your starving, perhaps they are not all hungry and starving to death down there.


Maybe it is just onesided reporting, Maybe that had the scores calculated to score higher for Mexico, and Puerto Rico still beat them out.

Answer 7

Sounds phony to me, that dosen't make any sence, that Mexico would be #2. But it dose make sence why the Americans are so unhappy, to many dam illegal Mexicans.

Answer 8

I seriously doubt that is why the US is rated much lower.....Try quality of life, we seem to lack that here in the states, because we are so busy trying to keep up the American dream, we can't even enjoy our own lifes and our life lack simplicity......

Answer 9

I never saw that, however the USA is my happiest place on earth and no other place I would rather be.

Answer 10

Just because Mexicans come to the US for money does not meant they are not happy.

I find most Mexicans to be happy, loving, family people who are greatly concerned about making money to improve the family's living conditions