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"A drink to go with the food!"
(lemmy.nz)
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this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2026
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And that's why Finland is the happiest country in the world today, kids.
I'm tired of that bullshit myth though.
It's like one of those "bottle of red wine has the same effect as an hour in the gym" things.
You telling me molotoving imperialist invaders isn't a path to happiness
Not in the slightest. It's just been a lifetime since anyone did that in Finland.
What I'm saying is that people unwilling to complain or realise problems can't be called happy just because there's no criticism coming from them so "they must be".
I think the happiness rating usually cited was a self-rating poll for one's own happiness, taken in a number of countries, rather than a tallying of problems cited.
That has its own weaknesses, of course, but it's a bit more than "They didn't complain so they must be happy."
It was a poll of contentedness. Not happiness. Those are adjacent, but definitely not the same (and one of them is a somewhat challenging word you wouldn't necessarily want to use as a pop journalist) Like being fine and being happy are adjacent, but if your gf says she's "just fine", you won't take that to mean she's really happy, would you?
In Finnish culture there's also a sort of unwritten rule that you're not supposed to complain. And a very common saying is "can't complain". But if you can't complain because there's societal pressure not to, instead of you just not having any complaints, that's two quite different things.
Sure yeah, we don't have people living on the streets and whatnot, but we do have problems of our own. Isolation and loneliness being very high on the list. Doesn't really fit with being "the happiest".
There's just a massive gap between how Finns are and how Finns are perceived to be by the world/Internet.
It doesn't seem like it's measuring contentment, by data or questions?
What if Finland is miserable, it's just the least miserable out of all of us?
Least miserable of us all. Ugh. I wish I could communicate to you how wrong you and everyone is to think that.
The "happiness" index doesn't mention happiness in a single word.
This is just a question of "can you imagine things being worse". Yeah, sure I can. "Oh that means you're happy"
Finnish people are emotionally stunted if anything. At least the ones I know.