So I was born in some third world shithole in a toxic ass family.
I always believed that when I get rich and move to some developed country I would be happier.
So I obviously worked hard, studied hard to get there.
But it has only got worse.
My happiest moments were in childhood.
And pain seems to only increase with “wisdom” and Rich people around me are miserable.
Idk if I am in some bubble, but can we objectively say that Europe and America are happier than third world counties.
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It’s easier to be happier.
Money removes survival stress not existential pain – rich countries are safer, not happier.
Statistically? Yes. By any normal measure for happiness. The truth is it’s so much easier to be happy while rich.
I‘m sure there are things better in poorer countries but in general you often have more opportunities in richer countries meaning you can rather do what makes you happy. The fact you were happier during your childhood might’ve been due to the fact that you actually preferred it there or just due to the fact that it was your childhood which A) means you often had an easier life and B) means you’re more likely to misremember
You aren’t guaranteed to be happier, but being sure you are going to eat 3 times a day does make it more likely you are going to be happier.
That said, if you are unhappy where you are, and you now are “rich”, move to where you would be happy. That is part of the privilege of being rich, is that you have a lot more choices.
The US is the richest country in the world, we are all just so fucking happy. Cupcakes and rainbows over here.
Not being in immediate danger removes a type of unhappiness. Like your worried about your next meal? Your housing? Healthcare? That makes you unhappy.
Actually being content (happiness is a feeling. It’s fleeting, so contentment is the closest thing you can feel most of the time in life) is something totally different.
It’s not to do with what you have. It’s to do with your sense of self. Being able to buy more or less doesn’t have much to do with it. So having it has very little to do with how rich the country you live in is.
I’ve earned triple our average local wage (in a pretty rich country) and been miserable. I’ve earned just enough to pay for essentials and been happy. They’re not linked.
Money doesn’t buy happiness but it makes things easier and can help you afford things that bring you joy.
Depends a lot on where you live and your social circles as well. Have lived in HCOL areas around a bunch of miserable people trying to climb the ladder and spending their money trying to look rich. Very different vibe from MCOL or LCOL.
The rich people you see who look rich are probably not as happy because they’re trying too hard. Happy rich people are incognito rich people in my experience.
Studies consistently find that happiness increases with wealth, but only up to a point. Peak happiness seems to be when you have enough to live comfortably with a few perks and toys. Beyond that level of wealth, happiness plateaus or even slightly declines. There’s billionaires on the news every day now and they’re rarely ever smiling.
Google Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It has helped me realize that no matter where people are on that scale of having their different needs being met, they can be completely content or totally unhappy with their lives and circumstances.
There are happy people, who can barely make ends meet, and there are depressed ones, who basically have it all.
We Germans as a society have our physiological and safety needs met, but we can be the most depressed shites when things don’t go the way we want.
I think it all hinges upon whether somebody feels that they can control their own lives and fates somehow or whether one feels enslaved by the circumstances around oneself.
I’m happy where I am from, so it’s just a statement you made
Not necessarily.. Maybe more comfortable but happiness is a whole another ball-game.
It’s not that more money makes you happier, but too little money definitely makes you miserable.
Then give me your money, then you will be happy. Oh Gosh! Wake up!
So, did you get rich? If so was it in the Third World country you mentioned? If so why did you move if you could get rich there? lol.
If you didn’t get rich in the Third World country then did you get rich in the Developed country you moved to? If you didn’t get rich how do you know what you would feel like if you got rich? lmao.
Happiness has nothing to do with location. But having money in any location helps. End of the day whether you are happy or not depends on you. There are happy people and unhappy people in both Third World shithole countries as well as in Developed countries. Location has nothing to do with it for them.
Kids don’t worry about all the big stuff….we just enjoy the moment, right? The older you get, the more you realize that happiness isn’t about where you are or how much you have, but how you deal with what’s inside and around you.
Maybe instead of focusing so much on the external stuff, try reconnecting with that simple joy you had as a kid, even if it’s in small ways.
There’s a certain amount of money you need to feel like you’re safe from small misfortunes and can be sure you’ll have food on the table. It’s not like this amount of money is impossible to come by even in a poor nation, especially because necessities are usually cheaper there.
Beyond that, your happyness will increase if you feel like your more complex needs like friendship, community and hobbies are fulfilled. And there’s also more complex forms of feeling safe like knowing there are social safety nets in your country that will protect you if you fall seriously ill or stuff like that. That stuff is more likely to exist in wealthy countries, but not guaranteed to be there.
It’s also worth noting that most people have their happiest memories in childhood if they have caring and protective parents. The feeling of being watched over is nearly irreplaceable (except maybe by religion).
Happiness is more likely when you have less to be worried about and rich people have less to be worried about
No matter where you go, there you are. Having financial security and emotional stability is a great platform to build happiness from, but you need to understand yourself and be prepared to undo the damage caused by past experiences to achieve it.
Money and comforts remove pain and stresses that can prevent happiness, but they do not create the social bonds and fulfillment that lead to happiness.
It’s hard to measure happiness.
Some European countries have tried to measure happiness index but they just end up using socialized infrastructure as a proxy for happiness and conclude the Finnish must be the happiest despite a rather high suicide rate.
I think a lot of the developed rich nations are missing a common purpose and shared identity and are less optimistic than others, with many people here entitled and missing perspective.
There’s research showing that impoverished people are actually happier than rich people, as long as they have enough to get by. As long as there’s a roof and food on the table. Some of the happiest people in the world live in third-world conditions.
You’re just as miserable but in a nicer place.
I don’t know about happier but I sure can tell you that I would rather be sad in a 200m2 home than in my tiny ass 42m2 apartment.
I have a house, own a car, but I’m unhappy.
Because I live alone, no friends and especially no gf.
And because of the job, I have to work odd hours and find it hard to find/trust a woman
Happiness is a subjective feeling. It can be affected by your own mindset, which is partially shaped by your experience. Someone from a third world country, who has never been to or seen a rich country, might be happier than a citizen of a rich country. It’s totally possible, because you just haven’t seen what life is like in other places. That’s also why there’s a saying happiness comes from comparison.
But if there is an objective standard for happiness, which sounds kinda bullshit, people from rich countries should be happier. Because the unhappiness of people in third world countries comes from something those first world citizens never experienced or can’t even imagine.
My experience living in Canada. Canadians are not struggling with survival. You can have a place to live, a car, go out and have kids. There some exceptions to this such as toronto and Vancouver, but canada is much much more than those 2 cities. We are struggling with loneliness and depression. Everyone? No really. But look up the suicide stats and the age group of those stats. It’s a problem. Can it be fixed? I don’t think so.
“No matter where you go you’re always there”
Every person everywhere is always dreaming about a future Utopia where all their problems are gone. That never happens though life is continuous journey of solving one problem after another.
But isn’t it true for most that our happiest moments are childhood, much less things to worry about and all you think about is next summer and water gun fights and climbing trees and chasing clouds?
Rich country = happier people is true to an extent. But for each individual it’s very different. We all have our own worries and problem to deal with.
Regardless of the country you are living in, it’s always nice to be in touch with our inner child and do things that make us truly happy.
Scandinavia is happiest, then it go like rings to the rest of the world. I might be partial in that opinion as a Swede.
I don’t know because I live in Brazil, but I just KNOW I would be way more happier if I didn’t need to worry every single month if I’m going to be able to buy all my food and meds 🙁
The happiest people I’ve met had nothing. The happiest places I’ve been have been the poorest.
YOU need to make yourself happy, and living in a country where you have health care and a decentish salary means you have the… means to make yourself happy.
People aren’t flocking to poor countries to hang with poor people. Maybe rich countries and rich people aren’t living a perfect life but it has to beat being in a 3rd world shithole. In your case specifically what is the problem, can money fix it, if so have you tried throwing money at it?
Iono if I’m any happier, but i don’t struggle to survive which relieves a lot of stress. I can take 3-4 vacations a year without breaking the bank
Money is an enabler of happiness, ritch countries are also generally safer witch also is an enabler of happiness.
Happiness i basically feling content while the basic needs are met.
No
I was also born in a third world country. Now I live int he USA and am around a lot of rich people. In my experience:
Sure, they aren’t worried about stuff I listed in #1, but they are still miserable and stressed. They think it’s unfair that their beach house isn’t as elite of an area as another person’s beach house. They think it’s unfair other people own a jet or a boat and they have to rent one instead. They are upset that someone has a better address than them. They are stressed over home renovations. I have seen rich women CRY, fully grown women sobbing, over renovations. They freak out 24/7 over where their kids will get into university even though their kids have every possible advantage. They are worried their husband is cheating on them and they cannot handle aging and are getting constant cosmetic surgery.
Lots of rich people are unhappy because they are unhappy people. They would probably be more unhappy poor because they can’t handle anything and have no resilience.
Money makes life easier but it doesn’t transform you as a human being into someone who has gratitude or perspective. I am happier than I was when I was poor, but even poor I was someone who tried to look at the good side of things. But now my life is much easier and has a lot more FUN stuff in it. It’s way better to have money than not but it cannot make a person into someone who can live life well. There is no shortcut for internal cultivation. Maybe that is what you are missing.
It’s kind of like fitness. It’s easier to get fit if you have money because you have more free time, can pay for a gym, can buy healthy foods. But having money doesn’t make you fit. You still have to actually do the workouts and eat right. It’s easy mode but you still have to play the game.
>My happiest moments were in childhood.
I mean you were happy when things were provided for you and you had to do very little to get those things. You had no obligations, no responsibilities, but also a limited amount of freedom and very little maturity.
As for “happier”, a lot of people harp on that Happiness Index that always puts Nordic countries at the top. But those indexes are more about government services being rendered so that the necessities are available/provided to everyone rather than individual people being personally happy. I remember watching a VICE video where the dude went to Norway and interviewed someone at a bar in the middle of winter and asked “Are you happy?” and the dude responded “not particularly”. The Nordics even have their own genre of horror films, often inspired by the lack of sunlight during the winter.
But I also think there is something that developed country doesn’t mean the developing world can’t be happy. I was in Mexico City last year and so many people were smiling, embracing each other, having long conversations with each other. There was just a closeness in the atmosphere that kind of warms your soul a bit.
Countries like the Nordics do very well in studies that look at how “content” people are with their lives. In these they ask questions like “imagine the best possible life you could have. How close is your life to that now?”. These countries are fairly wealthy, very safe, and very egalitarian.
In studies where you try to count how many moments of joy/happiness an average person has in a day, countries in Africa and middle-America (IIRC) tend to win.
On an individual level, I think there’s mixed results. But money definitely makes life a lot less stressful. I think the childhood example you give is not really about money. I bet many adults would be pretty happy as well, if they didn’t have to work, or their work was learning, got to hangout with friends all day everyday, no bills or rent to pay etc.
I’d rather be crying in a ferrari than crying in a 10 yr old shitbox.
Trueee money does solve all of lifes problems apart from death
Money has nothing to do with happiness. It does make life easier, but earning it takes time, health, and morality— all of which are also essential for happiness. I hope everyone finds balance and knows when enough is enough. For me, as long as I can provide for my loved ones and cover our insurance, that’s enough. I’ll work to make money until I reach that point, even if the process makes me miserable. I won’t compare myself to anyone, and I’m not interested in material things.
That said, I think some of the richest Northern European countries are definitely happier than the rest of the world. My cousins are in Germany— it’s not the happiest country in the world, but they make enough money doing what they love: cooking and running a small restaurant. The work is tiring, but it’s free of stress. Their hourly earnings are enough to buy food for days, which is pretty amazing compared to if they were still in their hometown, where half of their daily earnings would only be enough for a single day’s food.
Many people from my country work in Japan, and while some find the hardworking and introverted culture suffocating, others think it’s fair and perfectly suited to their personality.
I immigrated from Singapore to the US even though we were financially well off back home and people question me all the time. People never bother to ask me am I truly happy? What’s the point of moving from one first world country to another? I absolutely adore being an American. I was so unhappy in the toxic culture of my former country and yes the US isn’t perfect but I’m happy and that’s all that matters to me. Try to figure out where the source of your unhappiness comes from and work from there.