Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019
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I spend a year in Finland, which means I lived through the depressing winter and the invigorating summer. They are well aware of seasonal depression, so they plan activities in the evenings with lots of lights during the winter. There are lots of great things about Finland, but I don't think these studies are realistic.
Free college sounds great to Americans. How does 100% sales tax on cars? Free health care sound great, but exponential increasing taxes doesn't.
The bottom line is that you can do whatever you want, but it comes at a cost.
Be happy where you are. Be grateful for what you have. I live in a part of NY that has brutal winters, but no mosquitoes in the winter so I can be happy about that.
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@Mike-Davis said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
I spend a year in Finland, which means I lived through the depressing winter and the invigorating summer. They are well aware of seasonal depression, so they plan activities in the evenings with lots of lights during the winter. There are lots of great things about Finland, but I don't think these studies are realistic.
I always forget that you lived way up there.
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@Mike-Davis said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
Free college sounds great to Americans. How does 100% sales tax on cars? Free health care sound great, but exponential increasing taxes doesn't.
Actually I like all of those things. Free college IS great. Cars SHOULD be priced off of the road. health care should definitely be included in taxes, and taxes should get better coverage.
In the US my tax rate was 52%, that's higher than Finland, and the healthcare coverage was abysmal.
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@Pete-S said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
@scottalanmiller said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
@Pete-S said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
So the day is a couple of minutes longer in Finland today than it is at Disney World.
Which they try desperately to say is the happiest place on earth. But in reality, it is just depressing.
Disney World is for sure the most depressing place on Earth if you forgot where you parked your car.
Or if you paid the admission fee.
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@Emad-R said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
@scottalanmiller said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
Baba new Ganeh
Papua New Guinea
Ah, now that place we know. I wouldn't call that a happy place. It's got entire regions where they keep people from learning to communicate with the outside world so that we can treat them like animals and observe them eating each other!
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@Emad-R high income from the outside can make you happy almost anywhere, I doubt it's much of a real factor.
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When I was picking a country to live in, the choice wasn't so great. My criteria were:
- English
- Free-ish medicare
- Affordable higher education
- Actual seasons with real winter and real summer
- A decent market for IT jobs
- A nice overall mentality
- A place where I can raise my kids without worries
It all converges on Canada for me. I've lived and worked in Europe, visited the US quite a bit and spent years in both the Middle East and Eastern Europe, so I have a fair bit of knowledge of what life looks like in other places.
I'm not chasing the big bucks, but I do want to live in a nice house in a nice neighbourhood and be able to afford enough luxury. In 5 years in Canada I got all that and more. Never going to be a millionaire, but that was never the point.
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@dyasny said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
@Emad-R high income from the outside can make you happy almost anywhere, I doubt it's much of a real factor.
High income.... can make you happy almost anywhere.
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@scottalanmiller said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
@dyasny said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
@Emad-R high income from the outside can make you happy almost anywhere, I doubt it's much of a real factor.
High income.... can make you happy almost anywhere.
High income can make you happy
to a point -
@dyasny said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
@scottalanmiller said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
@dyasny said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
@Emad-R high income from the outside can make you happy almost anywhere, I doubt it's much of a real factor.
High income.... can make you happy almost anywhere.
High income can make you happy
to a point More importantly, low income can make you sad pretty extensively.
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@dyasny said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
- Free-ish medicare
You know this doesn't exist anywhere - right? If it's free - it's paid by taxes.. Now that said - I have no clue what the actual typical tax rate is in Europe say compared to the USA ( I know that my tax rate between state and Fed is around 17% - that doesn't seem right, but this is based on my actual pay, not the post standard deductions pay, which would clearly be much higher.
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We need to stop calling these things free and call them tax payer funded.
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@Dashrender said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
You know this doesn't exist anywhere - right? If it's free - it's paid by taxes.. Now that said - I have no clue what the actual typical tax rate is in Europe say compared to the USA ( I know that my tax rate between state and Fed is around 17% - that doesn't seem right, but this is based on my actual pay, not the post standard deductions pay, which would clearly be much higher.
Thanks you captain obvious. I'm happy to pay higher taxes if it means I can get proper medical care without being presented with a huge bill. I've actually given up on additional paid medical insurance 6 months ago, and the level at which I get medical coverage did not decrease, beyond nice perks, like a few hundred $ per year in massages, physio and new eyeglasses every 2 years. I still pay 0 for covered meds, 0 for children's dental care etc. It could be better, but I'm not here to be sick on someone else's account
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@scottalanmiller said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
Cars SHOULD be priced off of the road.
You've lived in some pretty sparsely populated parts of the country. What would public transport cost in Piffard, NY? I think cars would like a cheap and reasonable alternative to busses running down all the country back roads every hour.
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@Mike-Davis it's all about having a balanced system (note, I'm not saying fair, just balanced). If the tax rate isn't murderous, and that provides me with healthcare I don't get an extra bill for, that works for me. Just like paying car insurance that isn't insanely expensive, and in case of an accident, being covered instead of going out on a limb. In Canada these things are more or less balanced. Again, not perfect, but well balanced enough for me to feel comfortable with.
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@Dashrender said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
I know that my tax rate between state and Fed is around 17% - that doesn't seem right, but this is based on my actual pay, not the post standard deductions pay, which would clearly be much higher.
According to H&R Block my tax rate for 2018 was like 12% calculated after deductions and crap.
But those numbers do not account for my portion of health and dental insurance premiums, etc.
So I consider my "tax" rate higher. -
I like the Dutch system of health care vouchers. It gives everyone coverage, but is competitive because private companies compete for the voucher money.
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@Mike-Davis said in Top Ten Happiest Places on Earth in 2019:
I like the Dutch system of health care vouchers. It gives everyone coverage, but is competitive because private companies compete for the voucher money.
I may be too American, but I refuse to believe that privatized healthcare can ever actually be valid.
