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[Ankesh]

Originally Posted by Richard Dennis

Obama has changed this country more in 18 months than any president in history in that period of time ... IMO, it's not even close. He has created the socialist state

Not discussing Obama's politics. Discussing political bents and happiness levels.

Here is a list of top 10 happiest countries in the world:
http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/14/wor...lup-table.html

Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, and Australia.

Whats the common denominator?

Overwhelmingly they're socialist democracies. Big governments. High taxes. Cheap or free health and education.

82% people in Denmark think they are thriving. Compared to 57% of people in USA. (India is doing very very poorly...)

As one commenter on Reddit jests:

High taxes and socialism will make everything awful! You don't want to end up like Scandinavia, do you?

Being of a libertarian bent, I hate high taxes and government involvement. But seems like overall, the population is happier when their basic necessities are taken care of by the government.

Seems like - if we take Maslow's hierarchy - the bottom layers of the pyramid should be guaranteed by the government to make people happier. The bottom parts should not be left to merit.

Is there a way to provide the bottom needs to everyone without raising taxes and increasing the size of the governments? I'm not sure... your thoughts?