http://news.yahoo.com/s/l...ewresearch
The happiest states:

1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Mississippi
7. Montana
8. South Carolina
9. Alabama
10. Maine




Wow....SC's in the top 10? Would've never guessed and I live there.



The entire top 50:
1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Mississippi
7. Montana
8. South Carolina
9. Alabama
10. Maine
11. Alaska
12. North Carolina
13. Wyoming
14. Idaho
15. South Dakota
16. Texas
17. Arkansas
18. Vermont
19. Georgia
20. Oklahoma
21. Colorado
22. Delaware
23. Utah
24. New Mexico
25. North Dakota
26. Minnesota
27. New Hampshire
28. Virginia
29. Wisconsin
30. Oregon
31. Iowa
32. Kansas
33. Nebraska
34. West Virginia
35. Kentucky
36. Washington
37. District of Columbia
38. Missouri
39. Nevada
40. Maryland
41. Pennsylvania
42. Rhode Island
43. Massachusetts
44. Ohio
45. Illinois
46. California
47. Indiana
48. Michigan
49. New Jersey
50. Connecticut
51. New York


Top 10 Countries:

Who is the Happiest of Them All?

1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Netherlands
4. Sweden
5. Ireland
6. Canada
7. Switzerland
8. New Zealand
9. Norway
10. Belgium

Read more: Top 10 Happiest Countries in the World | Travel Blog - Tripbase http://www.tripbase.com/b...z0a1eiRor5


Scandinavian countries dominated that list. Must be something in the water.....wish I could visit someday.


Top 10 Happiest Cities:

* Rio de Janeiro, Brazill (#1)

* Sydney, Australia (#2)

* Barcelona,Spain(%#3)

* Amsterdam (#4)

* Melbourne, Australia (#5)
*
Madrid, Spain (#6)
*
San Francisco (#7)
*
Rome (#8)
*
Paris (#9)
*
Buenos Aires (#10).
http://www.nydailynews.co...ities.html
[Edited 12/20/09 22:52pm]

That country list is interesting. No wonder I love Scandinavians so much!

connorhawke said:

it's not how happy they are, they base these things on financial data, unemployment, education levels, number of weeks paid leave, hours in a working week, size of average family, emigration data etc. so considering that the majority of folks have masters degrees and can afford a summer home and holidays abroad, it's that they fucking SHOULD be happy
[Edited 12/18/09 1:16am]

Damn. NJ is 49!

I´m not surprised to see Florida and Hawaii in the top three. Those are places where I would like to live, if I could.But why isn´t Minnesota placed higher than 26? As far as I recall, it used to be number two or three in some other poll a couple of years ago, back when Jesse Ventura was still the governor ( now don´t get me wrong, I´m not saying that Jesse made the people of Minnesota happier ).

Why don´t I see California on that list? Sure,they have their problems there...but...don´t forget that old Tony Tone Toni song : " It never rains in Southern Californiaaaaa !"
I mean come on, California is number 46?

I don´t really trust the statistics about Scandinavia though...maybe they´re richer or have a better social or school system but they also have a high number of people who suffer from depression and commit suicide. Money and social security aren´t everything. Another factor is probably the fact that Scandinavians, the Danes in particular, are relatively homogenous compared to other countries, i.e. they still maintain their culture and traditions, unlike other countries, and the changes are not that drastic, so people feel happier or more grounded and less alienated in their own country.
Born and raised in Germany as the son of Turkish immigrants, I can somehow relate to that....feeling alienated from the majority is not a good feeling, and I bet many people in the USA have some sort of identity issues, at some level, too.Then again, my main issue is that I have too much of a cosmopolitan state of mind to really feel happy in a country like, for instance , Germany or Turkey. And of course the weather seems to play a part, too, especially in Florida or Hawaii.
Then again, the other factors seem to outweigh the nice weather....see Scandinavia and the colder, but happier states like Montana, Maine and Alaska.



Wait a second.....Alaska ?????

KoolEaze said:

see my post above

Yes I saw that before, Zombie. But you didn´t mention some of the other factors,such as living in a rather homogenous culture etc.
Just wanted to add my thoughts. But yes, you´re pretty much on point.

And, if people there really were so happy, then they wouldn´t put such a high tax on alcohol, would they?

KoolEaze said:

oh, actually I did before I edited and then thought emigration (should also have read immigrants) covered what I meant

KoolEaze said:

and be babysat by their governments for fear of them drinking themselves to death

All the states I've spent the most time in are in the bottom 10

Maybe it's time for me to integrate Montana

they should do this for the Canadian provinces.

thekidsgirl said:

Florida

NC

The South shall rise again!

Tennnessee? Alabama?? MISSISSIPPI???

say word.

connorhawke said:

That list isn't surprising. Oprah did a show about some of these places. It really is amazing how true some of that is.

And being in New York.....I can vouche that these people (I'm not from NY) are a bunch of miserable motherfuckers. And I'm not in NYC either. I'm in the upstate area, which is like any other place. Cranky fuckers.

I read somewhere that Denmark consumes more mayo per capita than anywhere else. No wonder they're so happy. Yum.

Efan said:

And with Switzerland and chocolate.....no surprise they're on the list either.

yay netherlands.

Wow the Org is nowhere on that list.

ernestsewell said:

johnart said:

I wonder why?

Efan said:

yuk!!!!!

ZombieKitten said:

You don't like mayo? It's awesome!

Efan said:

You can't have a ham/cheese w/o it!

Efan said:

no I can't stand it
I put some mixed with sour cream in the potato salad, but that's it

there is an argentinian salad where everything is drowned in mayo I can hardly stand to look at it!

ZombieKitten said:

Don't ever try that kewpie Japanese mayonnaise then. It's sooooo full of msg that I get a migraine just looking at it. Also it has the consistency of wallpaper glue.

AND THEY PUT IT ON PIZZA!!!!!

ZombieKitten said:

i can't stand it, either. it looks like spunk. vile.

whistle said:

You know, now that I think about it, maybe it's butter that they consume more per capita than anybody else. Whatever. They got some nice good eats there and I think I would fit right in with that.