(Gallup) Poll: Venezuela is the Fifth Happiest Country in the World (date: after 3/30/2012)
http://left-click.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1000&Itemid=30
Anti-Capitalist Meet-Up:
Socialist Venezuela in Top Five of Happiest Countries; Capitalist US is ... (4/8/12)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/08/1081731/-Anti-Capitalist-Meet-Up-Socialist-Venezuela-in-Top-Five-of-Happiest-Countries-Capitalist-U-S-is
(good analysis)
Venezuela is the Fifth Happiest Country in the World (3/30/12)
http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/venezuela-is-the-fifth-happiest-country-in-the-world/
Venezuela 5th Happiest Country in the World (4/13/12)
http://torontoforumoncuba.weebly.com/uploads/5/1/8/5/5185218/correo_del_orinoco_-_april_13_2012.pdf
Venezuela is the Fifth Happiest Country in the World (4/3/12)
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6906
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Venezuela is the Fifth Happiest Country in the World (5/4/12)
On March 30, the Washington Post highlighted a global happiness survey released last year by the polling firm Gallup, which found that Venezuela is the fifth happiest country in the world. According to the poll, 64 percent of Venezuelan respondents said their well-being was thriving.
The poll measured how people in 124 countries rated their lives at the current time and their expectations for the next five years.
Topping the list were Denmark (72 percent), Sweden (69 percent), Canada (69 percent), and Australia (65 percent). Finland is tied with Venezuela, sharing the fifth spot.
Venezuela is the Latin American country with the highest wellbeing, followed by Panama (11), Costa Rica (14), Brazil (15) and Mexico (19).
The classifications according to which respondents rated their wellbeing included “thriving,” “struggling,” or “suffering.” People who considered themselves to be thriving rated their lives a 7 or higher on a scale from 0 to 10.
According to the Post, the poll showed that the respondents with highest wellbeing also reported fewer health problems, less stress and sadness, and more happiness, respect and enjoyment.
Out of the 124 countries polled in 2010, the majority of residents in only 19 countries (mostly in Europe and the Americas) rated their lives “thriving.”
An article published on the website of Gallup states that the list “is largely dominated by more developed and wealthier nations, as expected given the links between wellbeing and GDP.”
Nevertheless, it states: “Global wellbeing improved little between 2009 and 2010, remaining relatively steady when Gallup groups all these countries into four major global regions: Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe.”
The results have a 95 percent confidence rate with a maximum margin of error of ±1.7 to ±5.7 percentage points.
Click here to see the poll results. (http://www.gallup.com/poll/147167/High-Wellbeing-Eludes-Masses-Countries-Worldwide.aspx#1 )
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_64505.shtml
(my emphasis)
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There are many current reports about Venezuela's 5th position in this Gallup well-being poll, dated April-May 2012 (this year) though the poll being cited was published last year at this time. The poll results thus reflect polling efforts in 2010 just as Venezuela began crawling out of the Bush Junta-instigated worldwide depression, which makes this result all the more remarkable.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/147167/High-Wellbeing-Eludes-Masses-Countries-Worldwide.aspx#1
1. Denmark
2. Sweden
3. Canada
4. Australia
5. Venezuela and Finland
(The U.S. is no. 12.)
After a period of sizzling 10% economic growth in Venezuela for five straight years (2003-2008) growth plunged to almost zero in 2009, following the Big Bankster Heist here and the impacts of other Bush Junta policy (war, theft), then began climbing back up, a bit more slowly than other leftist countries in LatAm (probably because it was ahead of the curve on economic growth and development, and also because it got hit hardest by the plunge in oil prices) and is now back up to about 7%, I believe. Thus this poll occurred during the short period of the Chavez administration when Venezuelans were hurting a bit. Still, they ranked their own country 5th in the world as to their own happiness, well-being and future prospects.
The Axis of Logic article explains why these results are being treated as new news. Apparently the Washington Post just caught up with this story and published a report about it on 3/30/12. If I have the url right (Google didn't want to find it), it's in the business section of the Post and features Brazil (as No. 1 in their photo display) which came in 15th in the poll (ten places behind Venezuela)! Ha! That is funny. And so typical!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-worlds-15-happiest-countries/2012/03/29/gIQA6ZIFkS_gallery.html#photo=1
The reason why Venezuelans never hurt very much, and why Venezuela and other countries with LEFTIST governments in LatAm have recovered more quickly than the rest of us, is that these Leftist leaders reject "austerity" for the poor while the rich get richer (U.S./E.U. policy) and have, instead, followed a "New Deal"-like strategy of INCREASING government spending, concentration on job creation, and good wages and benefits, lots of public works, lots of resources for education and various supports for the poor. And I'm sure that the reason that Venezuelans rate their own well-being 5th in the world is that their government and their country were the FIRST to establish these "New Deal"-like policies in Latin America and thus Venezuelans had already experienced fast growth and spreading of the wealth. Though they had a short rough patch, their optimism during that very period (just after the 2008 crash and the 2009 fallout) reflects their conviction that their government is working in their interest.
The poll measured individuals' sense of well-being and prospects for the future.
One other thing: Leftist policy in LatAm is not all that radical--unless you consider Scandinavia's policies radical, or those of European countries like France and Spain and even Germany--that is, shared prosperity and close attention to the "common welfare." "Wall Street" considers them radical because "Wall Street" is into making billionaires and pissing on the rest of us. As the E.U. becomes Wall Street-ized, LatAm has gone the other way--toward prosperity for all--and that is considered intolerable so close to the U.S., in this very hemisphere. Venezuela led this "New Deal" movement in LatAm. That is one of the main reasons why "Wall Street" and all the corporate propagandists, including the U.S. government, hate Venezuela so much. It is not a perfect country, by any means, but, by God, it is an inspiring one!
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