[dismalaf]

Canada here. Feels like we're barely hanging on to rung 5 or 6 and about to fall to the bottom.

Quantifiable example: most recent jobs report we lost 100k+ full time jobs. Biggest job less since COVID. Or the fact our increase in GDP per capita is the (second?) worst in the OECD in the last 10 years. Worse than Japan, Italy, the UK and all the other laggards...

[throw0101d]

> Canada here. Feels like we're barely hanging on to rung 5 or 6 and about to fall to the bottom.

The Missing Middle podcast went into this in a recent episode, and it's age-dependent: older folks are happier (i.e., they have purchased homes), while younger folks are less happy (cost of living). We Canadians basically have age-dependent wealth-class nowadays.

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dizaUBC22o4&t=4m13s

[dismalaf]

The fact boomers have it so good yet our ranking is dropping like a rock tells you just how bad it is for the working class, especially those who don't have government jobs...

[girvo]

It’s the same in Australia. And they will live for another few decades most likely, so this only gets worse as far as I can tell.

While the government removes all the benefits boomers and Gen X got to use to build their wealth, ensuring the ladder is firmly pulled up behind them.

[bombcar]

Reminds me of the labour union negotiations where to preserve existing member benefits they forfeited future member's access to the same.

[SECProto]

Also Canada, and I disagree pretty strongly with your post. Those two statistics have little bearing on happiness. Housing costs and healthcare access are much bigger concerns.

[9rx]

They are concerns, but not all that closely tied to happiness. Research shows time and time again that deep social connection is the key, if you will, to happiness.

And today's Canadians aren't that great at being social: "In 1986, about one in two Canadians saw their friends on an average day. Now, only about one in five do." — https://www.cbc.ca/radio/nowornever/maintain-friendship-conn...

[applfanboysbgon]

> Research shows time and time again that deep social connection is the key, if you will, to happiness.

Research suggests it, but it does not show it. Psychological research is notoriously unscientific, with most studies not even being replicable because humans are extremely complex and it's basically impossible to design any kind of methodology that concretely controls for all variables, all the more so when we have things like 'ethics' that make it even harder to do controlled resaerch.

It is absolutely possible to be happy without deep social connection. I am an absolute misanthrope, I seriously hate every one of you bastards, but I'm pretty damn happy. The key to my happiness is that I live a comfortable life and have the freedom to spend it creating (and consuming) things I love - art, music, games, software. If I had to instead spend my days labouring on a farm, if I didn't have indoor plumbing and air conditioning, didn't have access to healthcare and stability and security, etc. I would be absolutely miserable. My happiness is only possible due to the great economic conditions and sensible policies of my country.

[9rx]

> It is absolutely possible to be happy without deep social connection.

Well, of course it is. No matter what you think it is that brings happiness to the general population, there will be at least someone who doesn't find happiness in it. There are always outliers.

> If I had to instead spend my days labouring on a farm

Farms are where you find the intersection of all cool tech. I have to wonder how someone who enjoys creating and consuming software would dislike working on a farm. But to each their own.

[applfanboysbgon]

> No matter what you think it is that brings happiness to the general population, there will be at least someone who doesn't find happiness in it. There are always outliers.

I'm not convinced I'm that much of an psychological outlier, though; I think only my prosperous conditions are themselves a global outlier. I believe that if you gave most people the privilege I have, of having just enough money to pursue the things they love without doing work they don't enjoy, without worrying about being able to afford food, shelter, or medical bills, they would be happy too, with or without social connections.

> Farms are where you find the intersection of all cool tech. I have to wonder how someone who enjoys creating and consuming software would dislike working on a farm.

I need to do intellectually stimulating work to be happy. Repetitive manual labour would drive me insane. My mental image of "labouring on a farm" there was also "poor economic conditions subsistence farming", not "industrial farm with a million dollars worth of cool machinery".

[dyauspitr]

I’m in tech and laboring on my farm are my happiest moments. I love to work hard with my hands. I absolutely hate working with what seems like pointless minutia on a computer but I’m good at it and can’t make a comfortable living farming so I do what I have to do. People are very different so I’m interested to see what their n is in each country. If it’s in the hundreds, this study means nothing.

[bombcar]

> I am an absolute misanthrope, I seriously hate every one of you bastards, but I'm pretty damn happy.

Hey, it didn't say deep positive social connection.

Perhaps your hatred is what fuels you and keeps you happy :)

And another question from a ratbastard; have you ever spend a significant time labouring on a farm, or without indoor plumbing and/or air conditioning?

[applfanboysbgon]

I have, yes. Although born in a wealthy country, I grew up in abject poverty. I wasn't entirely unhappy then, and I do understand how social connection can help make it bearable. But I'm a lot happier now than then, and my happiness no longer depends upon the whims of other people, one of whom in particular betrayed my trust and left me deeply depressed for years. I greatly prefer my happiness being in my own hands, and I really couldn't go back to manual labour now, because there is so much I want to create and already not enough time to do it all; having more time to idly think about all the things I want to create and less time to create them would be torturous.

[dismalaf]

> healthcare access

What healthcare access? My family has had to go abroad for surgeries twice in the last 3 years because there's no access to healthcare here...

And housing prices? My sister bought a mansion in Texas for less than a condo here.

Arguably these two data points are even worse for Canada. Either way our ranking is dropping.

[SECProto]

I'm saying that data (not anecdotes) on those would've been better justification for your ranking.

That said, for most people, going abroad for surgery or to buy a home is not an option.

[dismalaf]

Yes. GDP per capita is data and a well known proxy for quality of life.

For example, declining productivity (which is what GDP per capita is) means a worse house price/income ratio, ie. worse affordability.

[canucker2016]

Here's the more important data point - Canada lost to the USA in three 2026 Winter Olympic Hockey finals. The whole country is hanging their collective heads in shame...

[bombcar]

Well USA lost to Venezuela in baseball, so maybe something's going around.

(Canada losing to a USA team made mainly of Canadians is another issue entirely ...)