Is Happiness on the Decline in the U.S.?

Alec Siegel — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 17:57:05 +0000

Image Courtesy of Rachel Kramer; License: (CC BY 2.0)

The World Happiness Report released its sixth annual edition on Monday, with the U.S. registering as the 14th happiest country on earth. Four of the top five happiest countries, according to this year’s report, are Nordic countries: Norway (one), Denmark (two), Iceland (three), and Finland (five). Switzerland was the fourth happiest country. The U.S.—the wealthiest country in the world and, by many metrics, the most powerful–was ranked lower than last year, even as its citizens get richer. In fact, America’s GDP has increased threefold since 1960, but Americans have not grown happier. Why is this, and what can be done to fix this unhappy trend?

According to an analysis of the report’s findings by Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, the U.S. is tracking downward in four of the six key factors that lead to happiness: social support, sense of personal freedom, generosity, and the perceived corruption of government and businesses. “America’s crisis is, in short, a social crisis, not an economic crisis,” Sachs, who is also a Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General, concluded.

At the same time, America’s GDP and life expectancy, the other two happiness factors according to the report’s model, are rising. Sachs sees a discrepancy in how the U.S. government generates policy–with a focus on economic wellbeing–and how the American people are feeling. “Almost all of the policy discourse in Washington DC centers on naïve attempts to raise the economic growth rate, as if a higher growth rate would somehow heal the deepening divisions and angst in American society,” he said.

Sachs expanded on America’s current social crisis, which most recently manifested itself in the 2016 presidential election, and the polarized nature of political discourse that has only worsened in the past decade. American politics, Sachs concluded, are opaque, flush with billions of dollars and private interests, and people simply do not trust that their government has their interests in mind. Second, the country’s income inequality is worsening, as a shrinking pool of people amass more wealth, while a growing number lack job opportunities and are struggling to get by.

The third factor in America’s listlessness, according to Sachs, is a decline in social trust. Community bonds are falling. Neighbors do not trust neighbors. President Donald Trump, who campaigned as an outsider (never mind how he has governed), and an agent of change who would “drain the swamp” and bulldoze the establishment, capitalized on these trends of distrust–of neighbors, of outsiders, and of government. The fourth and fifth factors are a fear of terrorism and the deterioration of America’s educational system, respectively.

So how does America, and specifically the government, craft policies that salvage the country’s drop in trust, and in happiness? Sachs said the government’s “happiness agenda should center on rebuilding social capital.” The government, he said, “should raise happiness by addressing America’s multifaceted social crisis–rising inequality, corruption, isolation, and distrust–rather than focusing exclusively or even mainly on economic growth, especially since the concrete proposals along these lines would exacerbate rather than ameliorate the deepening social crisis.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Continued Food Shortages in Venezuela Spark Social Media Outcry

Jennie Burger — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 15:23:55 +0000

Image courtesy of [The Photographer via Wikimedia Commons]

Venezuela has been suffering from food shortages for a while now. Shortages of basic needs have become the norm in Venezuela over the past few years, but as images from citizens continue to swarm social media sites it only seems to be getting worse. The government has reportedly taken control of all major television stations, leaving only social media as one of the few ways to see what’s going on inside the country.

Venezuelans are posting the pictures for that very reason. According to the polling firm Datanalisis, the Venezuelan people believe this is the biggest problem facing their country and the government isn’t doing anything about it. According to public opinion expert, Marcelino Bisbal, “the people, mostly poor and middle class have to queue for hours almost every day to search for food and other basic products such as detergent, toilet paper, and oil.”

The YouTube video above claims to show empty shelves in a supermarket in Venezuela. Social media sites are routinely being used by media opposed to the Venezuelan government to show the world what the government is failing to address. One of the officials behind the anti government website called Dolar Today stated in an interview with BBC:

Definitely there has been an increase in these kinds of videos, every week we get between five and ten, Without a doubt, there is a chance that they might be false, or out of date. But the vast majority of the cases are real.

Venezuela used to be known for producing coffee, rice, and oil, but with the recent food shortages productions have decreased, according to Asdrubal Oliveros, an economist at Ecoanalítica, a leading consulting firm in Venezuela.

The government continues to ignore the problem, causing many Venezuelans to believe the government’s mismanagement is behind the shortages. In January 2015, Interior Minister Carmen Melendez stated,“Don’t fall into desperation, we have the capacity and products for everyone, with calmness and patience. The stores are full.”

However, pictures from Venezuelans tell a different story. Activists believe it is important to show the pictures to the world and allow the international community to see the reality of Venezuela. Marcelino Bisbal, a public opinion expert, added, “This is highly dangerous in a country where the government policy is not to say a word about this, as if it’s not happening.”

In 2013, President Nicolás Maduro stated that the food shortages were being artificially created by the opposition and the CIA. President Maduro backed up this claim by claiming that the CIA was somehow involved in the death of Venezuela’s previous president Hugo Chavez. He stated that a U.S. Air Force attaché had been expelled from Venezuela hours before Chavez’s death and accused him of seeking military support for a plot against Chavez. He also claimed that the CIA is forming a wider plan to destabilize his government in addition to sabotaging the oil industry, creating food shortages, and triggering power cuts.

While there are multiple reasons for the instability in Venezuela that is causing the food shortages, the government’s apparent attempts to ignore the problem are drawing more attention to the country. Government officials continue to claim that their policies are not the problem and they have nothing to do with the food shortages, but the fact that they have done nothing to ameliorate them is certainly concerning.

Earlier this year, the government deployed the military to control food supplies, making sure citizens do not overindulge. Venezuelans now deal with militarization, food shortages, and a tanking economy. With the government in control of the television and offering the people little hope of reform, Venezuelans have shown the government they can not be silenced or ignored and they will continue to use social media to convey the truth.

Jennie Burger

Jennie Burger is a member of the University of Oklahoma Class of 2016 and a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Jennie at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Government Corruption – Law Street

Is Happiness on the Decline in the U.S.?

Continued Food Shortages in Venezuela Spark Social Media Outcry