tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post2206020635803924129..comments2024-02-17T04:06:00.805-05:00Comments on Just Not Said: The World Happiness ReportJohn Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08729625146043379286noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-51859460206989811752017-03-21T09:01:02.959-04:002017-03-21T09:01:02.959-04:00Ignoring the methods of this study, and whether it...Ignoring the methods of this study, and whether it has any validity based on the questions asked - I bet the US and Japan really are suffering a happiness deficit. <br /><br />There may be many root causes, but here is a big one - and in the US it could, and should be fixed by new employment law. <br /><br />US and Japan have jockeyed for the 'greatest number of hours worked per week'. <br /><br />In the US this is enabled by salaried employment law - where an employer can demand any number of hours of work per week, and the employee has no recourse - either do it, or be fired. <br /><br />Every salaried job I've had lists my hourly pay, based on a 40 hour week. When employers extract extra time from their employees - its free labor for employers; and 'volunteer' labor from the employee. <br /><br />As of a couple of years ago, anyone making above $23,000 a year could be placed on salary (this number was increased to $48K about one year ago). Two years ago I talked to a young woman at a Subway who told me that she had just been made a 'manager' and was being required to work 60 hours a week making sandwiches. What a windfall for the Subway owner, who I'm sure makes real money, while abusing this young woman whose nominal wage might have been around $13 per hour for a 40 hour week, but at 60 hours effectively earns $8.60. <br /><br />I've personally seen what employers have been doing for years - fire people, or let them leave through attrition, and don't re-hire. Just dump the work on the remaining people - they can work harder and longer hours. More profit for ownership - lower quality of life for the workers - and this includes 'white collar' workers. <br /><br />The minimum annual income for 'salary' employment should be increased to $250K. At that level, if you are in upper management, ownership, and may aspire to working your life away in the hopes of true wealth and early retirement - go for it. <br /><br />Otherwise -what could be more fair than this: you work an hour, you get paid for an hour. And the employer pays for an hour, they get an hour of work. <br /><br />Further, with 95 million people not working in this country - eliminating salaried employment would leave little incentive for employers to abuse the workforce as they currently do. Once employers started having to pay time and half for all those extra hours, they'd be hiring like crazy to avoid it. <br /><br />A 40 hour work week is plenty. People need time to be parents, stay fit, and enjoy a hobby, etc. Workers are inordinately stressed in today's society - and its no wonder people are unhappy in the US. <br /><br />- EdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-44270303386541526742017-03-20T18:07:39.655-04:002017-03-20T18:07:39.655-04:00Mark --
Ha, I suppose that's true.Mark --<br />Ha, I suppose that's true. John Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08729625146043379286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-83433088516817011572017-03-20T17:42:30.898-04:002017-03-20T17:42:30.898-04:00Not just the frail and lonely elderly are less hap...Not just the frail and lonely elderly are less happy. I imagine that many <i>young</i> people in Japan also become unhappy when they learn they are sentenced to live 107 years.Mark Caplanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15157338755022593966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-83989635759439451232017-03-20T17:20:10.849-04:002017-03-20T17:20:10.849-04:00Mark --
Thank you for that. Interesting. Japan ran...Mark --<br />Thank you for that. Interesting. Japan ranks behind Taiwan and Malaysia, but ahead of South Korea and China and Hong Kong. (I didn't see North Korea on the list, I'd have to think they'd rank pretty low.) <br /><br />Yes, Japan does have the world's longest life expectancy. But I wonder if that doesn't take away from its overall happiness level: how happy can you be at 95? My Japanese grandfather lives to 103, and he smoked a pack a day until he was in his early 80's, at which point he cut down to something like 6 cigarettes a day. John Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08729625146043379286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-2968086102447598552017-03-20T17:11:42.052-04:002017-03-20T17:11:42.052-04:00I downloaded the actual report (link below), but d...I downloaded the actual report (link below), but didn't notice the chart of countries continues over multiple pages. Japan does rank 51, below Russia (49) and only slightly above Algeria (53). Still, it's way above, say, Haiti (145).<br /><br />Another thing Japan has going for it (supposedly) is extremely long life spans. I heard on BBC radio that a girl born in Japan today can expect to live to 107!<br /><br />"World Happiness Report 2017" (chart begins on page 22)<br />https://s3.amazonaws.com/sdsn-whr2017/HR17_3-20-17.pdfMark Caplanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15157338755022593966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-11753145333122466382017-03-20T16:29:13.304-04:002017-03-20T16:29:13.304-04:00Mark --
Is that a different happiness report? The ...Mark --<br />Is that a different happiness report? The article quoted above says that they surveyed 1000 people in "more than 150 countries." (Which actually makes me wonder about something else: do they only survey 7 or so people per country? Or did they mean 1000 people in each of those 150 countries? It's not clear from the way the article was written.) <br /><br />I have to wonder about Japan. People over there do have a lot of pressure to both do their bit and also toe the line, i.e., work hard and behave. And they do have a relatively high suicide rate. But still, I wonder if there were cultural differences involved in the way they answered the questions. You would think they'd have a higher level of life satisfaction, given everything. John Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08729625146043379286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-13992176201918845362017-03-20T16:19:34.983-04:002017-03-20T16:19:34.983-04:00Japan enjoys social homogeneity, no immigration, l...Japan enjoys social homogeneity, no immigration, low unemployment, low income inequality, low crime, very high GDP per capita. In the happiness ranking, Japan came in 51st out of 53.Mark Caplanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15157338755022593966noreply@blogger.com