Agreed, the USA should be at a much lower level of happiness. It isn't in the top ten, and based on it being one of the richest nations, it should be in the top three and it isn't.

But this is Hollywoodland. The movie moves us because we start out with a horrible character who ends up being a nice person after all. Tears, everyone happy. We tell folks they can do it, and put a price on water and air and other things that are free everywhere else in the world, and we end up being happy when our air is not polluted and our water drinkable.

We are in a category of our own because we do not see the rest of the world. We don't see what is normal, because we are not normal, and then when things are going okay-ish, we are happy about that already.

Sweden has been one big military giant for a real long time. Always in the top ten in selling weapons. Finland is one of the nations spending enormous amount of money of weapons. I would do, too, with Russia as neighbor.

Israel just made it into the top ten recently. For a nation at war, that is a surprise, but they must feel secure in their corner of the world. I would not be, but if faith puts you over the top, then that train ride can take a real long time before the train ends its trip.

I think it is undeniable that proportional voting is correlated to happiness. The voters are empowered like nowhere else in the world.

Imagine the United States as a proportional voting nation: Bicycle lanes everywhere. Public transportation that takes you to near-everywhere. Healthcare for everyone. Super-rich people taxed to a normal level. Hardly any homeless at all, pot holes taken care of quickly. Jails hardly full, a good number of them closing. Education for everyone to a very decent level. Mental health patients not on the street but in care facilities. Racism diminished because the economic components are not aggravating competition to a deep level.

Thank you for your good responses, Bob. I appreciate it.