Governments, universities and various institutions spend a lot of time studying and promoting the concept of happiness. Much has been made of Bhutan’s happiness index and Denmark is supposedly home to the happiest people in the world. Whenever these happy-clappy reports come out, I wonder how the fifth-happiest country feels and whether a somewhat happy nation starts to ask itself why it’s not as perky as its high-ranking neighbour. Also, why is so little made about the world’s grumpiest nations? Surely they need as much attention, if not more, than the smilier countries of the world? And who are the grumps anyway? Or do we know already? I certainly have my own shortlist of the unhappier peoples of the planet – most of them passport holders from a clutch of crabby developed nations.
政府、大學與各種機構花了大量時間去研究及推廣幸福的概念。不丹(Bhutan)的幸福指數遭到大肆宣揚，而據稱丹麥人全球最幸福。不管這些讓人羨艷的報告是如何出爐的，不知幸福指數排名全球第五的荷蘭會作何感想，這個自我感覺幸福的國家是否會自問為何不如排名高的近鄰丹麥那樣亮麗？同樣，為啥只字不提幸福指數最差的那些國家呢？很明顯，這些差國（即便不象那些幸福指數高的國家那樣大肆報道）也應得到曝光，對吧？再說，那些幸福指數差的國家究竟是誰？我們知道這些國家嗎？全球最不幸福國民的名單，本人當然心知肚明——多數國民來自那幾個動輒大動干戈的發達國家。