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Every time someone makes the comment "oh if America was just like Europe and had X number of days off and relaxed attitudes towards work and a strong work life

Every time someone makes the comment "oh if America was just like Europe and had X number of days off and relaxed attitudes towards work and a strong work life balance etc", I feel obliged to point out that there's a large majority of people in this country who A) Do not like being told we should be more like Europe and B) Don't mind the 5 day work week and have just as much joy and happiness as anyone. Not to mention the abysmal state many European countries and economies have found themselves in. While they were taking their siesta, the USA was busy being the largest economy in the world.

deleted 10y ago
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Ygg2 10y ago
Isn't America 108th of 140 countries by happiness index.
- burkaman 10y ago
  US is 13th on the UN's World Happiness Report: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report I don't know how many of these lists there are, but 108th would be a little hard to believe. The UN puts Palestine at 108.
  - Ygg2 10y ago
    Here are my sources. I kinda find it hard to believe a happy country would choose Trump as its Presidential candidate. Truth is probably somewhere in the middle. http://happyplanetindex.org/countries/united-states-of-america http://happyplanetindex.org/countries/united-states-of-ameri...
    - burkaman 10y ago
      Well these rankings would be a lot easier if it was just a boolean happy or unhappy. Phillipines is 20th. "I kinda find it hard to believe a happy country would choose Duterte as its President." Brazil is 23rd. "I kinda find it hard to believe a happy country would impeach its President". Palestine is 22nd. I was gonna write a sentence of that form for each one but it seems a little unnecessary. Pakistan is 36th. Haiti is 57th. Iraq is 67th. Egypt is 86th. America does at least barely squeak by Afghanistan and Syria at 110th and 113th. There certainly is no objective way to measure happiness and the UN method does seem flawed, but come on.
    - VLM 10y ago
      That link defines happiness as in how happy would an American hipster be with the local political situation if teleported there, not happy as in how likely is the average dude on the street to smile or laugh, or how likely is armed revolution. For example Turkmenistan comes in near last, and it would be hell on earth for a coastal USA hipster who just wants to talk progressive politics in a coffee shop all day, but the natives kinda like it the way it is... happiness is not defined by most as a starbucks on every street corner, etc.
DrJokepu 10y ago
I think you're mostly right, trying to apply European solutions to American problems is not necessarily a good idea, just like trying to apply American solutions to European problems is not necessarily a very good idea. The nationalist slur at the end of your comment was totally unnecessary though.
- s_q_b 10y ago
  The free market: It's what makes America great, Britain good, and France terrible. /s
  - ninguem2 10y ago
    I thought the staunchest defenders of the free market are of the opinion that America needs to be made great again.
    - forloop 10y ago
      anarcho-capitalists are trump supporters?
      - eyelidlessness 10y ago
        Oh that's a good point, I had just autocapitalized "Free Market™" (and tacked on that ™ symbol) in my brain reading the comment. I forgot that the words have actual meaning too. Yeah probably those guys are mostly holding their nose and backing Gary Johnson. :)
    - eyelidlessness 10y ago
      I'm reasonably certain you've mixed up stereotypes. The staunchest defenders of the free market are keeping busy retreating back to the Democratic Party because it serves their interests more than the Republican Party does. They did the reverse in the 80s (hence "neoconservative") for the same reasons.
      - 10y ago
kartan 10y ago
> the USA was busy being the largest economy in the world The article is about energy consumption and how to save the worlds natural resources. What has your comment to do with that? It is having more money worth damaging our planet, risking famine for millions, risking natural habitats? Maximizing relative economy value is not a goal in itself. The goal is the citizens happiness and health. They are talking about saving the world and you answer back talking about money.
theseadroid 10y ago
Every time someone makes the comment "oh if China was just like Western countries and had X etc", I feel obliged to point out that there's a large majority of people in this country who A) Do not like being told we should be more like Western countries and B) Don't mind Y and have just as much joy and happiness as anyone. Not to mention the abysmal state many Western countries and economies have found themselves in. While they were taking their Z, China was busy being the second largest economy in the world and soon to be the largest.(Source: Chinese) /s
- zerr 10y ago
  But when it comes to happiness of individuals.... American factories certainly don't have suicide fences around them.
  - niccaluim 10y ago
    Well, sure, because American factories don't even exist in the first place. ;) But if we're making happiness the measure, America doesn't even break into the top ten.
lmm 10y ago
> there's a large majority of people in this country who A) Do not like being told we should be more like Europe and B) Don't mind the 5 day work week and have just as much joy and happiness as anyone. Citation needed. From what I've seen the US underperforms on e.g. happiness surveys (certainly in an overall statistical sense - it's possible there are individual exceptions). > While they were taking their siesta, the USA was busy being the largest economy in the world. And what do you have to show for it? Has that large economy "trickled down" to the people in the street?

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Ygg2 10y ago

Isn't America 108th of 140 countries by happiness index.

burkaman 10y ago
US is 13th on the UN's World Happiness Report: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report I don't know how many of these lists there are, but 108th would be a little hard to believe. The UN puts Palestine at 108.
- Ygg2 10y ago
  Here are my sources. I kinda find it hard to believe a happy country would choose Trump as its Presidential candidate. Truth is probably somewhere in the middle. http://happyplanetindex.org/countries/united-states-of-america http://happyplanetindex.org/countries/united-states-of-ameri...
  - burkaman 10y ago
    Well these rankings would be a lot easier if it was just a boolean happy or unhappy. Phillipines is 20th. "I kinda find it hard to believe a happy country would choose Duterte as its President." Brazil is 23rd. "I kinda find it hard to believe a happy country would impeach its President". Palestine is 22nd. I was gonna write a sentence of that form for each one but it seems a little unnecessary. Pakistan is 36th. Haiti is 57th. Iraq is 67th. Egypt is 86th. America does at least barely squeak by Afghanistan and Syria at 110th and 113th. There certainly is no objective way to measure happiness and the UN method does seem flawed, but come on.
  - VLM 10y ago
    That link defines happiness as in how happy would an American hipster be with the local political situation if teleported there, not happy as in how likely is the average dude on the street to smile or laugh, or how likely is armed revolution. For example Turkmenistan comes in near last, and it would be hell on earth for a coastal USA hipster who just wants to talk progressive politics in a coffee shop all day, but the natives kinda like it the way it is... happiness is not defined by most as a starbucks on every street corner, etc.

DrJokepu 10y ago

I think you're mostly right, trying to apply European solutions to American problems is not necessarily a good idea, just like trying to apply American solutions to European problems is not necessarily a very good idea. The nationalist slur at the end of your comment was totally unnecessary though.

s_q_b 10y ago
The free market: It's what makes America great, Britain good, and France terrible. /s
- ninguem2 10y ago
  I thought the staunchest defenders of the free market are of the opinion that America needs to be made great again.
  - forloop 10y ago
    anarcho-capitalists are trump supporters?
    - eyelidlessness 10y ago
      Oh that's a good point, I had just autocapitalized "Free Market™" (and tacked on that ™ symbol) in my brain reading the comment. I forgot that the words have actual meaning too. Yeah probably those guys are mostly holding their nose and backing Gary Johnson. :)
  - eyelidlessness 10y ago
    I'm reasonably certain you've mixed up stereotypes. The staunchest defenders of the free market are keeping busy retreating back to the Democratic Party because it serves their interests more than the Republican Party does. They did the reverse in the 80s (hence "neoconservative") for the same reasons.
    - 10y ago

kartan 10y ago

> the USA was busy being the largest economy in the world The article is about energy consumption and how to save the worlds natural resources. What has your comment to do with that? It is having more money worth damaging our planet, risking famine for millions, risking natural habitats? Maximizing relative economy value is not a goal in itself. The goal is the citizens happiness and health. They are talking about saving the world and you answer back talking about money.

theseadroid 10y ago

Every time someone makes the comment "oh if China was just like Western countries and had X etc", I feel obliged to point out that there's a large majority of people in this country who A) Do not like being told we should be more like Western countries and B) Don't mind Y and have just as much joy and happiness as anyone. Not to mention the abysmal state many Western countries and economies have found themselves in. While they were taking their Z, China was busy being the second largest economy in the world and soon to be the largest.(Source: Chinese) /s

zerr 10y ago
But when it comes to happiness of individuals.... American factories certainly don't have suicide fences around them.
- niccaluim 10y ago
  Well, sure, because American factories don't even exist in the first place. ;) But if we're making happiness the measure, America doesn't even break into the top ten.

lmm 10y ago

> there's a large majority of people in this country who A) Do not like being told we should be more like Europe and B) Don't mind the 5 day work week and have just as much joy and happiness as anyone. Citation needed. From what I've seen the US underperforms on e.g. happiness surveys (certainly in an overall statistical sense - it's possible there are individual exceptions). > While they were taking their siesta, the USA was busy being the largest economy in the world. And what do you have to show for it? Has that large economy "trickled down" to the people in the street?