World Happiness Reports: Reflections on an AARP Interview

Who are among the happiest people in the world? Is that important? How happy are we Americans? I have mentioned the World Happiness Reports in past posts on good government, socialisms, and the American workplace (#4), arguing in part that many other nations rank higher than the US on happiness. I’m raising the issue again […]

The World Happiness and “Shorter Lives” Reports: Important Warnings to Americans

We have commented earlier on the World Happiness Reports, published since 2012 by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. In the 2022 report, the US ranks 15th, just ahead of Germany and behind eight European Union nations, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Israel, New Zealand, and Switzerland. In March 2023, NPR reported that life expectancy in the US […]

Happiness and Health: A Correlation?

The World Happiness Report is out for 2019. Is there anything we can learn from the current top three “happiest countries in the world” and their health care systems, especially as compared to our own in the United States? Is there a way to see how health care systems and citizen happiness are related? We […]

Where the US Stands: A Sampling of Comparative Quality-of-Life Statistics

It is advisable and instructive to periodically take stock of where we as a nation stand when it comes to quality-of-life issues. We have done this off and on over the past five years. Comparing ourselves and how we are doing to our sister nations can and should prompt us to do some self-reflection, to […]

Refuting the Homogeneity Argument: The Evidence is In

Often when the issue of European social safety net practices is broached among Americans the argument eventually turns to the question of our racial and ethnic diversity and our large size versus other countries’ relative homogeneity and small size. The argument asserts that the US cannot (and should not) implement European social practices because our […]

First Anniversary!

One year ago, I posted my first blog on WisdomWordsPPF.org! I thought I would provide a review of the topics and topic areas, to give new visitors a feel for what I have been covering and to help sporadic visitors to get caught up. (Note that there are overlaps in the following selections.) Posts on […]

Making Millions Off Others’ Suffering 2: The Way Things Could Be

In our previous Making Millions post, we examined a number of areas of American life that are negatively impacted by large corporations and their leaders. These entities and individuals have successfully pressured Congress for decades to pass legislation that favors them; whatever their individual psychological make-up or motives, many very wealthy Americans frequently make exponentially more money […]

Index to the Eighth Year

Thank you for your interest in these blog posts! Here is a listing by topic for posts since October 2022. (Some posts appear in more than one category.) Social and Racial Justice, Diversity Resources and Some Good News For Black History Month 2023, 2/10/23 Celebrating Women’s History Month: A Reading List, 3/24/23 Science Meets Religion: […]

America’s Continuing Low Democracy Score and the Urgency to Improve It

Americans should know about the Democracy Index if we do not know about it already. In the latest report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU), the US is described as a “flawed democracy” – for the fifth straight year, and lower than the 2020 score. The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) is a […]

The Best Countries for Kids

Have you heard the latest – the report on the best countries for children? Once again, the US does not look too good: it came in 36th (“right below Boznia & Herzegovina and right above Russia”). According to the Business Insider report by Chris Weller, “In honor of Children’s Day on June 1, international NGO […]