According to a recent article in the Austin American Statesman, Louisiana is the happiest state in the country. New York? The un-happiest. Texas came in at #15.
This info was gleaned from a ponderous publication in the journal Science, based on mathematical analysis by British researchers. They "considered objective indicators for each individual state, such as weather, coastal land, public land, parks, hazardous waste sites, commute time, crime, air quality, teacher-student ratios, local taxes, cost of living and other factors. When comparing...they found a very close match between how happy people say they are and the estimated quality of life in their state."
Here's the part that cracked me up: "Of Louisiana's top ranking, he noted that some of the data collection preceded Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But Oswald still believes the state is happy because of, well, low expectations. 'Bargains in life are usually found outside the spotlight,' he noted." Low expectations? Give me a break! We have dear friends in Louisiana who chose to settle there, after living all over the world. They chose the area around Lafayette because those Cajuns have very high expectations, not low. They expect to have a life outside of work. They expect to have time for family and friends. They expect to enjoy good food, music and dancing on a regular basis. They expect to be a part of a tight-knit community, and for spirituality to have an important place in their lives. And that, my friends, is why they are so happy. They know what it means, to be livin' the good life!
P.S. Many thanks to nicholls.edu and Rosie Ledet for the above image.
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5 comments:
I read that article. I didn't see Oregon's rank but I suppose clouds and rain would be a big negative. Sorry, I love clouds and rain. I was unhappy in Texas because of the hot sun. How can you say a state is happy or unhappy?
Supposedly they took a random sampling and had the people rate themselves on happiness. Then, they compared those results to the way the states ranked on all those other criteria, to see if there was a correlation. Guess what? People who spend two or three hours everyday in traffic or on a train, get home at bedtime, then get up to do it all over again, are less cheerful. Well, duh!
The phrase "low expectations" sure fired you up my friend. I can see why, but here's another perspective on it. It could mean having simple expectations, living a simple and good life, a life free from greed and the need to outdo your neighbors, a life filled with the joy of living and loving each other.
This is interesting to me because, for the four years before Katrina, I lived in Baton Rouge. The main topic of conversation in the media? Why everyone was leaving. This was because even before the storm, the state had a disproportionately high rate of people leaving for jobs/work/etc.
I think you're on to one thing, though. The area around Lafayette is particularly joyful. Some smaller towns envy the vibe as much as (if not more than) the one in N.O. and have tried to replicate it in their own towns.
At the same time, "who" is happier? It's much, much easier to be a middle-to-upper middle class white resident (which I was) living in Louisiana than it is to be a black child living in the inner city with a poor school and food insecurity issues.
In short, it's all relative. (Isn't it always?)
Yes, it's all relative. Plus, I always find it rather disturbing just to think of all the money we spend having these kinds of surveys done in the first place - money that could have been spent om improving some of those things that make people so UN-happy!
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