Pace on Earth

Shiny Happy People

In a recent study Canada was ranked as the 10th happiest country in the world. The study incorparated a wide range of criteria to come up with the list. There are not too many surprises; the expected quasi-Socialist Northern European countries, the Luxo-Swiss-trian yodel triangle, and the two countries where drunks are treated the best - Ireland and Canada. They all share low crime rates, four distinct seasons, and liberal prescription drug policies. That appears to be the recipe. The suprises among the top 10 are The Bahamas, Brunei, and Bhutan. Besides the letter B they have little in common. I tend to think any tropical paradise nation would rank higher if they bothered leaving the beach to answer a survey (Bula! Fiji) and Brunei is basically an tropical paradise with oil so the only surprise is that they don't rank higher. Bhutan is the only real surprise but I don't know enough about the country to offer an informed opinion beyond saying it's amazing what a little coercian can make people say. Either way, I am happy to live in any country included in this list. Now let's aim for those plucky Danes' knees!In a related story, in a recent survey on the Quality of Life in Canada showed that those of us in the East were the happiest in the country (Thanks to Chris at The Perfect Balance for pointing this out). The factors that the top cities had in common appeared to be a sense of community so it shouldn't be surprising that the smaller communities were at the top of the list while Canada's biggest centers were left out. Initially I was disapointed that Freddy Beach didn't make the list but then realised it probably didn't earn a spot in the voting. I'm not the least bit surprised Saint John won; I've always said that it is the city in which you are most likely to talk to a complete stranger or get punched in the face by a complete stranger. Happily, I've only ever experienced the former (note - if you punch me because you read this you are no longer a complete stranger).
It's easy to generalize but I lived on the West Coast and it was the people on the East Coast that drew me back. Now I just wish I could convince some more friends to move home...

Pace out.

Labels: Freddy Beach, Oh Canada, Saint John is gay

posted by Vitamin S @ 6:04 p.m.