The annual World Happiness Report has again ranked Finland and other Scandinavian countries the most cheerful nations on Earth. Costa Rica and Kuwait entered the top 20 in place of the United States and Germany.
Finland has remained the happiest country in the world for the seventh year a row with nordic neighbors Sweden, Denmark and Iceland also retaining their places in the top 10, according to the annual World Happiness Report published on Wednesday.
But rising unhapiness especially among young people has seen other Western countries drop down the UN-sponsored index, with the United States and Germany dropping out of the top 20 for the first time since the report’s first edition more than a decade ago.
Taking their place were Costa Rica and Kuwait at 12 and 13 respectively, while Eastern European countries Serbia, Bulgaria and Latvia reported the biggest increases in happiness.
Afghanistan, plagued by a humanitarian catastrophe since the Taliban regained control in 2020, remained in last place.
I just think in the grand scale of things, a state doing limited surveillance is fairly low on the injustice ladder. I’m generally against it, but I think more of it is done by google and facebook than the FBI.
I’m also not a believer that all oppression can/should be eliminated, as some will always be necessary for self-defense purposes. It’s not like countries invading other countries doesn’t happen, and we do need ways to fight back, which would necessitate some limited intelligence-gathering capabilities.
That said, we do need to repeal the current surveillance laws, they went too far. It’s not limited strongly enough.
>I’m also not a believer that all oppression can/should be eliminated
… i’m an anarchist. so that’s like my raison d’être
I think anarchists are important too. It’s our plurality of positions that makes us free. And stronger/more innovative in the idea space.