Unhappy nations may not smile any time soon if team spirit is key

Women from more than 40 South Sudanese women's organisations march through the city to express the frustration and suffering that women and children face in Juba, South Sudan, on December 9, 2017. PHOTO | STEFANIE GLINSKI | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Researchers evaluated citizens’ perceptions of their economic well-being, health issues, freedom of choice and corruption.
  • If South Sudan and Yemen were not being ravaged by war, their inhabitants would be much happier. But there is more to it than that.

Do nations ever really change? Do things get markedly better? Or significantly worse?

An annual United Nations (UN) report seems to suggest that if your country did OK last year, it has probably done much the same this year, and if you were in trouble last year, the picture won’t have changed much today.

Nordic countries regularly appear at the top of the class, while war-hit and/or sub-Saharan African countries wallow at the bottom.

For its 2018 report, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network rated 156 countries.

It named the five happiest nations as Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland.

The five least happy: Burundi, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Tanzania and Yemen.

HAPPINESS RATING
Kenya came in at number 124, down from 112 in 2017 but close to its ratings for 2015 and 2016 of 125 and 122.

It was also ahead of Uganda at 135 and Tanzania at 153.

Germany was placed at 15, the United States 18, the United Kingdom 19 and France 23.

To gauge the happiness factor, researchers evaluated citizens’ perceptions of their economic well-being, health issues, freedom of choice and corruption.

EQUALITY

Obviously, if South Sudan and Yemen were not being ravaged by war, their inhabitants would be much happier. But there is more to it than that.

One possible reason for Finland’s success, as noted by economic writers, is its history of equality.

The Observer newspaper of London commented that Finland “has managed to strike a balance between workers and bosses and within the education and welfare systems”.

Without being unduly pessimistic, if a widely accepted spirit of cooperation is a requirement for success, it might be a very long time before many of the world’s unhappy people begin to smile.

* * *
Some readers have suggested I was overly harsh last week in depicting my fellow Brits as greedy and lacking in compassion.

They point to a column, Good Deed Feed, in the Metro newspaper, which every day tells stories direct from readers of kindliness and self-sacrificing generosity. For instance:

“Grateful thanks to the young graphic designer who assisted me when I collapsed in the snow in Glasgow.”

“Thanks to Joshua for letting two stranded ladies share his cab from Woodford when the Central Line was down on Wednesday.”

“This is to the fabulous lady who found and safely returned my dementia-confused father-in-law today. We know you found him in the Bromley area, but that is all that he can tell us.”

“A massive thanks to the number 472 bus driver who helped my mum when she fell after getting off. Following a visit to the hospital, she is home, bruised and sore.”

“Thanks to the Newcastle person who found my alpaca scarf in a remote corner of Nun’s Moor and tied it to the fence, and to all the people who passed by and left it there for me to find a week later.”

* * *
Two very cold spells in recent weeks have taxed the ingenuity of shivering Britons.

Stay home, wrap up well and keep warm is the advice of the experts. But it’s not always that easy.

For instance, my centrally-heated flat has a large living room, but a bedroom, study and kitchen of modest size.

Staying warm in the smaller rooms is no problem but the living room, where the telly is and where one socialises, is a challenge.

WARMTH
The Age UK people gave me a cardboard thermometer, which states that my ideal living room temperature is 21C.

To get up to that point I have to ensure both my large radiators are on, along with an electric fire. Often, too, I plug in an extra three-bar electric portable.

Eventually, all is nice and comfy, though the smaller rooms are by then too hot for comfort, and God knows what my fuel bill will be.

Venturing outside can be scary, the important factor for us oldies being conditions underfoot.

SNOW

Soft deep snow is not a problem; it gives purchase for your footwear, and melting snow, what we call slush, can usually be negotiated in a splashy sort of way.

What is worse for the pedestrian is hard-packed snow, shiny, white and treacherous. To step upon it is to invite disaster.

What drivers most fear is known as “black ice”. Snow has melted and the water has frozen into icy patches.

The trouble is the surface does not glint or sparkle but remains the colour of the road surface, thus invisible to the motorist or cyclist.

* * *
A visitor to the rural areas was looking for a room in a small hotel.

The lady owner said, “We have a room with a shower and a room with a bath.”

The visitor, who was concerned about prices, asked, “What’s the difference?”

“Well,” said the owner, “with the shower, you stand up and the water comes down on your head, whereas with the bath …”