Are YOU Happy?

Particularly aimed at our American friends: Despite all that has gone wrong with the country, ARE YOU HAPPY?

Consider:

By any measure, the past two years have been rough. This month, we marked the two-year anniversary of the nation’s first shutdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic has caused more than 6 million global deaths since its beginning, including nearly a million in the United States, and continues to kill hundreds of people in this country every day. As a nation, we have yet to fully reckon with the sheer scale of the loss.

Even before the virus arrived, though, there was political strife in the United States. The pandemic hit at the tail end of five tumultuous and divisive years that saw former President Donald Trump’s arrival on the national political stage and his first presidential term. The pandemic persisted through his reelection campaign against now-President Joe Biden and then Trump’s failed attempt to overturn the results when he lost. All of this helped shine a spotlight on the racist systems, police violence, xenophobia, and income and wealth inequalities that had long made life in the United States more difficult for Black Americans, new immigrants and low-income families. In many cases, these forces are now getting worse.

The economic fallout from the pandemic and attendant shutdowns and disruptions has widened a divide between low-wage workers — who have been forced to keep working in person, leaving them vulnerable to the virus and financial troubles — and high-wage workers. Behind all of this, climate change has caused more flooding in Gulf Coast states, wildfires in the West and other problems worldwide. Now, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine feels even more destabilizing.

So given all of this, how are Americans doing?

The answer is, surprisingly, kind of OK. People in general are resilient and optimistic and can find ways to thrive even in the worst of times. But that doesn’t mean that Americans are optimistic about the direction of the country. This was hinted at in a January Gallup poll in which a full 85 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with their own lives, while only 17 percent were satisfied with the direction of the country. That disconnect, though, isn’t unusual. Since Gallup began asking that question in the 1980s, the share of Americans who say they’re “somewhat” or “very” satisfied with their personal lives has been fairly stable, ranging anywhere from 73 percent to 90 percent, while satisfaction in the direction of the country has generally been lower and less stable.

More here:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/are-americans-unhappy/

YES, our non-American friends can weigh in too. Generally speaking, with the war in Ukraine, Covid, Climate destruction, the rise of nationalism, and the angst and paranoia being spread by social media, with all the really bad movies and TV shows nowadays: ARE YOU STILL HAPPY?





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