Happiness: A scarcity that’ll take long to eliminate

livemint.com:

There’s another International Day on its way: 20 March. It’s marked on the calendar as the Day of Happiness. In an increasingly polarized world that looks set to become more so as political divisions deepen, where two major wars are raging, one in its third year and the other with no end in sight, and where not a single day goes by without countless acts of violence, celebrating an International Day of Happiness sounds absurdly Panglossian.

True happiness, after all, is a pipe-dream. But can it become an ideal that all of us can aspire to, no matter how out of reach it may seem for most of humankind today? Perhaps. This was what led the United Nations General Assembly to pass a resolution 12 years ago marking 20 March out for annual commemoration.

The UN website describes ‘happiness’ as a fundamental human goal. And in recognition of the right to be happy, it calls for “a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes the happiness and well-being of all peoples." Ah, so there you have it: Happiness is not entirely surreal. It is closely linked with economic well-being.

But if you think being well-off alone ensures happiness, perish the thought. Studies have repeatedly shown that while the rich are generally happier than others, wealth and prosperity are no guarantee of happiness. Else, the world’s richest large country, the US, would also be its happiest.

Instead, the UN’s 2023 World Happiness Report, published on 20 March last year, ranks the US a relatively low 15th. In contrast, the Nordic countries—Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Norway—rank consistently among the top 10, with Finland leading from the front for the sixth successive year. So, is there some magic potion these