Even happier

At a time of panic caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there is good news. Pakistan has gone one spot up from last year on the UN World Happiness Index 2020 to become the 66^th happiest country in the world. This reinforces our belief in the adage: life is too short to be happy than anything. Pakistan is also the happiest country in South Asia followed by the Maldives at 87^th, Nepal 92^nd, and Bangladesh at 107^th. India has slipped four spots from last year placed at 144^th this year. It’s among the 10 countries at the bottom out of 153 states. This is a natural outcome of the rising fascistic tendencies in that country. For fascists, happiness is to live by misery of others. In Pakistan, Karachi is the happiest city ranking 117 followed by Lahore on the 122^nd spot.

In a first, the index has also included different cities in the world because it is cities where most GDP is generated. The index took into account various factors from freedom, opportunity, generosity and trust in institutions to social, urban and natural environments to determine happiness scores, life evaluations and overall well-being of the states included in it over a period of two years. The index has not taken into account the curbs placed due to the coronavirus.

Finland is at the top on the index for the third consecutive year followed by Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Holland. Decreasing inequality, increasing employment opportunities, and trust in social and political institutions have contributed to the level of happiness in the Nordic countries. Afghanistan is just below South Sudan, Zimbabwe and Rwanda ranking as the least happy countries in the world. The index reveals that those living in a green environment and close to large water bodies are happier than those without these things. The index does not give any idea about the state of education. This might lead to misleading conclusions.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2020.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.