As the publication «Russkaya Germaniya» notes, the top ten happiest countries are predominantly northern nations. Here is how the remaining places in the «Top 10» were distributed: Norway, Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia. The bottom of the ranking is made up of the poorest African countries, interspersed with such unstable and war-torn states as Afghanistan (153) and Syria (156). Ukraine, by the way, ranks 111th between Iran and Iraq, behind even Palestine (108). It appears that the changed situation in the country over the past year has already been taken into account by the report's authors.
Germany is in 26th place, behind such sunny «happiness giants» as Costa Rica (12), Venezuela (23), and Panama (25). Russia is in 64th place – behind Colombia (33), Guatemala (43), and Nicaragua (57). Many former Soviet republics also feel happier than the «big brother» – for example, Uzbekistan (44), Moldova (52), Kazakhstan (54), Belarus (59).
Sooner or later, anyone studying this ranking begins to ask themselves: what is it actually based on? What did its compilers prioritize? It turns out that the report is primarily based on data about the social system and labor market of the countries. This is supplemented by surveys of residents about how they perceive their lives and their level of satisfaction with them.
It must be said that in countries with authoritarian regimes, people rarely complain about life during official surveys. Moreover, the respondent's opinion is a very subjective factor. After all, everyone has their own problems, in full accordance with the saying: «One man's soup is thin, another's pearls are small.»
Perhaps this is the only way to somehow explain the situation where Mexico (14) surpasses the United States (15) in the happiness ranking. What strange people the Mexicans are: if my memory serves me, it is they who stubbornly try to illegally enter the southwestern states of the US, although according to the conclusions of Columbia University scientists, it should be exactly the opposite. Or, given the minimal difference in positions, the Americans built the border wall in vain.
And this is not the only example that makes our indignant minds boil. According to the report and ranking, residents of Hong Kong (72) feel slightly less happy than Turkmen (70), not to mention the aforementioned Russians and other representatives of the former USSR. For the population of Hong Kong, the only way out is to lower their level of needs as much as possible. And everyone will be happy.