For those DR bashers - read...

El Tigre

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From the front page of DR1.com today July 13th, 2006

DR rates high in Caribbean

According to a study published by the New Economics Foundation in London, the Dominican Republic is the best country to live in within the Caribbean and number 26 in the whole world, taking into account "the good life of its citizens and respect for the resources on which it depends". Clave Digital points out that the "Happy Planet Index" presents its scores based on the success or failure of the 178 countries in providing a good quality of life to its citizens and at the same time providing respect for the limited natural resources. The majority of reader comments on the Clave Digital website expressed disbelief about what they were reading, and some downright ridiculed the report.

So quit your bittching and keep enjoying life in the DR whether you live there or wish to live there some day!!!
 

Chris

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Oct 21, 2002
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Yeah Gods! The "Happy Planet Index" :laugh::laugh: Sounds just like Happy Meal! Could be supersize that please! Number 26 in the whole world eh!

I don't know about this. Tell me, did Nals draw up the Index? (just joking some here)
 

trina

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Jan 3, 2002
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Chris said:
Yeah Gods! The "Happy Planet Index" :laugh::laugh: Sounds just like Happy Meal! Could be supersize that please! Number 26 in the whole world eh!

I don't know about this. Tell me, did Nals draw up the Index? (just joking some here)


I've been in 'Happy Planet' a few times! Chris, don't tell me you didn't go there in the 70's!
 

sweetdbt

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Sep 17, 2004
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And to give you an idea of how realistic this index is, rated number 2 in the world, that idylic paradise....... Columbia!!! Number 6 is Cuba.

Complete list: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/list.htm

This thing is a joke. They arrive at their rating by multiplying a subjective "life satisfaction" rating by life expectancy and then dividing that by the countries "ecological footprint". It is a plaything of some environmentalist whackos who want to make it look like the entire industrialized world is miserable.

Some of the other "quality of life" indexes are based more on government provided services, health care, cultural centers, etc., and Scandanavian countries do very well. Since the denominator in these folks formula is essentially fossel fuel consumption, it is dominated by tropical countries, where fuel is not burned for heat.
 
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aegap

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Mar 19, 2005
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*Colombia

reminds me of a failed state list recently posted, which had DR as worst than all the gang-infested Central American countries
 

Chris

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More seriously, I think the name got to me first time around.

There is some valuable information here .. and the site deserves a 2nd look. There also seems to be a bias in their workings in terms of island nations.

I think the DR1 news report is the one that jumped the gun. This method of measurement sets a reasonable target as 83.5. The DR is at 57.1 - not such a good performance. Anyway, I think this thing is quite fun to play with, in Trina's Happy Planet Sense!
 

sweetdbt

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Sep 17, 2004
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Their "reasonable" target is 83.5, but the Island of Vanuatu, with the highest rating, was 68.2

In order for any cold-climate country to be in the top 50 in this thing, they would have to have a life expectancy of 100 plus and an atmosphere of nitrus oxide.
 

Lambada

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Chris said:
I think the DR1 news report is the one that jumped the gun. QUOTE]

The DR1 News report translated the piece in Clave Digital. I think it was Clave Digital who massaged the findings a trifle.http://www.clavedigital.com/Portada/Articulo.asp?Id_Articulo=7801
I'm not entirely convinced that the Clave reporter read the original report; maybe just a synopsis? ;) Antigua and Barbuda are ranked ahead of DR and the last time I looked they were in the Caribbean. Not convinced about Clave's numeracy skills either ..........DR is ranked 27..........:rolleyes:
 

aegap

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Mar 19, 2005
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Here is their formula:


<TABLE height=50 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=47 rowSpan=3>HPI =</TD><TD width=206>
Life satisfaction x Life expectancy​


</TD></TR><TR><TD height=2><HR noShade SIZE=1></TD></TR><TR><TD>
Ecological Footprint​


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>



They basicaly define one's "Ecologiral Footprint," the denominator, to be what one consumes. i.e. those wanting to be infinetly happy must stop consuming anything. citizens of developing countries generally consume less than their counterparts in developed countries and heence why developing countries score well relative to developed countries.


Sounds like pseudo-science to me

..I wonder how happy those developing countries are about how little they consume.
 

CyaBye3015

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Jan 8, 2003
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aegap said:
*Colombia

reminds me of a failed state list recently posted, which had DR as worst than all the gang-infested Central American countries

Neither Colombia nor the DR are "Central American countries."
 

zak023

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Feb 8, 2006
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Colombia

aegap said:
*Colombia

reminds me of a failed state list recently posted, which had DR as worst than all the gang-infested Central American countries

At least you know how to spell it correctly unlike post #4..BTW have you ever been there? Or are you commenting from what you read and see in the news...I have family and property there..Stay away from the Cocaine scene and the Country itself has alot to offer..One of the most BEAUTIFUL SOUTH AMERICAN THERE IS...Too bad there are groups like FARC..ELN...AUC....

But nothing beats the DR...Sure it has it's crime but there are no civil wars..Be happy for that...South and central america have been torn apart from this for the past 50 years...Thanks to DR1 people can learn more about this beautiful Island....Every minute.....My 2 cents............
 
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aegap

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Mar 19, 2005
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CyaBye3015 said:
Neither Colombia nor the DR are "Central American countries."
and your reading comprehension skills leave much to be desired

no joke about my grammar, please. I already now it sucks! :laugh:
 

qgrande

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Jul 27, 2005
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This Happy Planet index is an interesting idea, but you have to take it for what it's worth. It's not designed to measure the happiness of individual countries, but more how happy the planet is about our individual happiness in an ideological sense. So if the DR scores reasonably good it's not because Dominicans are necessarily happier, but use less resources to get to the same level of happiness as other countries. It would be an interesting idea, if only their data would be reliable, but if you check their methodology and data sources, they've had to use some rather sketchy data for most countries. All in all it's all a bit of eco-publicity; nothing wrong with that. And yes it seems to have a bias towards small island states, maybe to compensate for their future flooding because of our pollution....