Dominicans? happiness plunges in just 3 years from 2nd happiest to 93rd

windeguy

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[h=2]Something happen?

Dominicans? happiness plunges in just 3 years[/h]
United Nations.- The security problems in Latin America, the region with the world?s highest murder rate, don?t stymy its citizens from being the happiest on Earth, an apparent contradiction explained by the enormous progress the region achieved during the last decade, EFE reports.
Interviewed to mark the first International Happiness Day on Wednesday, UN deputy secretary general Heraldo Mu?oz noted that the ?58 million Latin Americans are no longer poor since the last ten years, have come surmounted the crisis and in addition to that there?re no more dictatorships and democracy spreads.?
Progress
Latin America?s homicide rate is the world?s highest, averaging 22.2 murders per 100,000 population, well above the global average of 6.9, but at the same time the region has been able to continue bolstering its human development standards in recent years.
Among Latin American countries Costa Rica ranks first and 12th worldwide, followed by Venezuela (19), Panama (21), Mexico (24), Brazil (25), Puerto Rico (27), Guatemala (37), Argentina (39) and Colombia (41).
Below those figure other countries like Chile (43), El Salvador (48), Uruguay (50), Bolivia (57), Honduras (63), Ecuador (66), Cuba (69), Paraguay (70), Peru (77), Nicaragua (89), and Dominican Republic (93) and, far behind, Haiti.
In a similar study Dominican Republic figured as the second happiest country in the world just three years ago, paced only by Costa Rica.
Nordics
According to a UN report released last year, which compares data from the pollster Gallup between 2005 and 2011, the world?s happiest countries are Denmark, Finland and Norway, while the Central African Republic, Benin and Togo are the opposite.
Source: Dominican Today
 

Luperon

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Price of beer, inverse relationship. Just a little more beer tax = revolution... hopefully!
 

windeguy

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Price of beer, inverse relationship. Just a little more beer tax = revolution... hopefully!

I do believe you have the reason. I would have thought it was the introduction of Brahma beer, but it really does all come down to money.
 

dv8

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sounds like any marriage :)

and people dare to ask about being happy here, eh? ;)
 

frank12

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I hate to sound like a broken record, but, again, according to this survey and every other survey out there that i've seen or read over the past two decades, Scandinavian countries rank highest in every positive category out there...just pick one.

Why is that? Well, for starters, they provide every citizen with free health care and free education (all the education you want).Yes,it's paid by one's taxes, but at least you see the benefits every day around you.

If only other countries could follow suit, the world would be a much better place to live in, and people would not be stressing out, re-mortgaging their homes, and going through their entire life savings over the two most important social factors of any society:
1. Healthcare
2. Education.

It's not rocket science.

Frank
 

dv8

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frank. this is why i do not get americans fuming about "no such thing as free this and that". damn. they also pay taxes yet they do not get much in return. yes, taxes in scandinavia are high. but the return is significant!
 

Criss Colon

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The "Scandinavians" are all DRUNK!!!!!
Plus, they are a "Homogenious" people!
That don't mean "GAY"!
It means there is no "Racial Inequality" to PI$$ anybody off!
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dv8

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cccc, just say what you really think: all scandinavians look the same to me!
:)
 

windeguy

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frank. this is why i do not get americans fuming about "no such thing as free this and that". damn. they also pay taxes yet they do not get much in return. yes, taxes in scandinavia are high. but the return is significant!

Health care is not a right in the US. Too much money is made by that industry and they heavily fund elections.
 
May 29, 2006
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And the US pays five times more on their prison system than they do on education...

As for the DR, I'm reminded of how when I first went to the Pacific Islands, people were poor but all in all very content. But this was before there were VCRs and TVs( or electric) in most of the homes. A few years later and everyone realized how poor they were compared to the US or the rest of the world. Same deal in the DR. Now with the satellites and TVs they see themselves as poor even when they are doing well above average compared to other Dominicans.
 

Criss Colon

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"PETER", not to "Bust Your "Pelotas", but I would like to see the source for your first sentence?????
I guess the USA, should impose the death penalty :dead::dead::dead::p MORE, to save money!
Comedian Steve Martin used to say he could solve New Your City's Traffic problem.
"DEATH PENALTY" :cheeky::cheeky::cheeky: for "Double Parking"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
 
Dec 26, 2011
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And the US pays five times more on their prison system than they do on education...

As for the DR, I'm reminded of how when I first went to the Pacific Islands, people were poor but all in all very content. But this was before there were VCRs and TVs( or electric) in most of the homes. A few years later and everyone realized how poor they were compared to the US or the rest of the world. Same deal in the DR. Now with the satellites and TVs they see themselves as poor even when they are doing well above average compared to other Dominicans.

Comparison is the thief of joy.
 
May 29, 2006
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"PETER", not to "Bust Your "Pelotas", but I would like to see the source for your first sentence?????
I guess the USA, should impose the death penalty :dead::dead::dead::p MORE, to save money!
Comedian Steve Martin used to say he could solve New Your City's Traffic problem.
"DEATH PENALTY" :cheeky::cheeky::cheeky: for "Double Parking"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC


This site says 6 times more on the prison system than on education, but the figure I've seen was five times. About a quarter of those in prison are there for being caught with small amounts of drugs numerous times. This prob includes followup of having people on probation and other costs.

https://sites.google.com/site/educationvsprisoninamerica/facts-about-america-s-prison-sytem

The prison system has a strong pull in state governments. It's a jobs program for poor uneducated white men. One in nine state jobs is for the prison system. I know someone who works in a prison and she says it's more than $100,000 per year per inmate, but that seems high even to me. Three million people in prison or jail in the US(more than 1%), so even at $33,000 per year(and it's higher than that), you're looking at an annual cost of over $100 billion not including everyone on probation.

Chart: One Year of Prison Costs More Than One Year at Princeton - Brian Resnick - The Atlantic

It's close to $8 billion just in California:
http://www.vera.org/files/price-of-prisons-california-fact-sheet.pdf