Link between post-capitalist culture and higher happiness

[Maciamo]

Two years ago we discussed the factors that make some countries happier than others. I wondered why countries with a high level of development like Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Italy, Spain, Portugal or Hungary scored relatively low on happiness. Even the United States ranked 18th worldwide (19th in the 2019 ranking) even though it had one of the highest GDP per capita. After getting acquainted with the psychological stages in a society's evolution (known as spiral dynamics), I set about devising a scoring system to assess how far advanced were various countries on the path to a post-capitalist culture. The classification was based on values and not on GDP per capita, although the spiral dynamics theory postulates that a society mist past through each stage of development before going to the next. The 5th stage (green vMeme) represents post-capitalist, ecological, post-modern, relativistic, multicultural and egalitarian values, and can only be attained after people have passed through the 4th stage of capitalism (orange vMeme) and rejected its excesses.

The old adage has it that 'money does not bring happiness'. Psychologists have confirmed that this was true, at least once basic needs were met. One must realise that before adopting the values of the green vMeme. My score table shows that there is a reasonable correlation between those "post-capitalist" (for want of a better, more encompassing term) values and levels of happiness - especially after being adjusted for GDP per capita at PPP. The correlation seems stronger within a same region though. It works well within Europe. It works within East Asia or within Latin America, but not when all countries are mixed up, probably because other cultural factors also play a role.

Country	Green vMeme score	Happiness Score (2019)
Sweden	92.42	7.343
Iceland	80.95	7.494
Finland	74.11	7.769
Switzerland	73.88	7.480
United Kingdom	73.61	7.054
Norway	72.71	7.554
Ireland	70.57	7.021
Netherlands	67.99	7.488
Denmark	65.99	7.600
Austria	64.27	7.246
Germany	63.63	6.985
Belgium	63.56	6.923
New Zealand	62.90	7.307
Singapore	59.98	6.262
Australia	56.65	7.228
France	56.58	6.592
Slovenia	55.98	6.118
Luxembourg	55.91	7.090
Israel	54.26	7.139
Estonia	53.56	5.893
Spain	52.10	6.354
Canada	51.33	7.278
Taiwan	51.02	6.446
Portugal	50.98	5.693
Italy	50.76	6.223
Malta	47.38	6.726
Lithuania	45.56	6.149
United States	44.84	6.892
South Korea	44.38	5.895
Czechia	43.27	6.852
Slovakia	39.56	6.198
Latvia	39.07	5.940
Croatia	38.90	5.432
Poland	38.88	6.182
Hungary	37.15	5.758
Uruguay	36.97	6.293
Japan	36.30	5.886
Cyprus	35.66	6.046
Greece	34.99	5.287
Bulgaria	34.69	5.011
Costa Rica	34.44	7.167
Argentina	33.29	6.086
Chile	32.76	6.444
Hong Kong	30.22	5.430
Mexico	29.68	6.595
Peru	27.95	5.697
Serbia	27.92	5.603
China	27.68	5.191
Malaysia	27.33	5.339
North Macedonia	27.08	5.274
Brazil	26.01	6.300
Romania	24.77	6.070
Turkey	23.12	5.373
Russia	19.60	5.648
Saudi Arabia	13.96	6.375
Qatar	10.01	6.374
Kuwait	7.84	6.011

Europe only

Country	Green vMeme score	Happiness Score (2019)
Sweden	92.42	7.343
Iceland	80.95	7.494
Finland	74.11	7.769
Switzerland	73.88	7.480
United Kingdom	73.61	7.054
Norway	72.71	7.554
Ireland	70.57	7.021
Netherlands	67.99	7.488
Denmark	65.99	7.600
Austria	64.27	7.246
Germany	63.63	6.985
Belgium	63.56	6.923
France	56.58	6.592
Slovenia	55.98	6.118
Luxembourg	55.91	7.090
Israel	54.26	7.139
Estonia	53.56	5.893
Spain	52.10	6.354
Portugal	50.98	5.693
Italy	50.76	6.223
Malta	47.38	6.726
Lithuania	45.56	6.149
Czechia	43.27	6.852
Slovakia	39.56	6.198
Latvia	39.07	5.940
Croatia	38.90	5.432
Poland	38.88	6.182
Hungary	37.15	5.758
Cyprus	35.66	6.046
Greece	34.99	5.287
Bulgaria	34.69	5.011
Serbia	27.92	5.603
North Macedonia	27.08	5.274
Romania	24.77	6.070
Turkey	23.12	5.373
Russia	19.60	5.648

Pretty good correlation in general. A few countries are happier than their Green vMeme score suggest. This includes Luxembourg because of its extremely high GDP per capita; Israel, Malta and Cyprus, probably because the sunlight has a positive effect on mood; and Czechia for reasons I can't explain (especially considering the big gap in happiness with Slovakia, which is very similar culturally).

Countries that are less happy that they should be are Portugal, and to a lower extend also Greece and Bulgaria.


East Asia only

Country	Green vMeme score	Happiness Score (2019)
Singapore	59.98	6.262
Taiwan	51.02	6.446
South Korea	44.38	5.895
Japan	36.30	5.886
Hong Kong	30.22	5.430
China	27.68	5.191
Malaysia	27.33	5.339

Nearly perfect match between the two scores.


New World only

Country	Green vMeme score	Happiness Score (2019)
New Zealand	62.90	7.307
Australia	56.65	7.228
Canada	51.33	7.278
United States	44.84	6.892
Uruguay	36.97	6.293
Costa Rica	34.44	7.167
Argentina	33.29	6.086
Chile	32.76	6.444
Mexico	29.68	6.595
Peru	27.95	5.697
Brazil	26.01	6.300

The countries in the New World (Americas, Australia and New Zealand) are all happier than their Green vMeme score would suggest. This is especially true for Costa Rica, Mexico and Brazil.

[Maciamo]

I thought about the reasons why Latin American countries score considerably higher on happiness than on post-capitalist culture. One factor is that I could not find data for all categories in my scoring system. None got any point for consumption of Fairtrade products, because they are typically the beneficiaries of Fairtrade agriculture rather than the consumers of goods labelled as such. I had to give the same Wikipedia score to all Spanish speaking countries as there was no way to distinguish the country of origin of contributors. Nevertheless it is undeniable that some countries contributed more than others.

Last but not least, the ecology score is usually low in Latin America, but that is not entirely the fault of the population. If the governments do not have the means or the will to recycle municipal waste in every city, or if CO2 emissions are high because of (foreign) companies abusing the environment, we can't put all the blame on the population.

The choice for ecological and Fairtrade products is generally only possible once people become wealthy enough to vote with their feet and boycott abusive companies. It's not a choice that most ordinary people have in Latin America yet.

[Maciamo]

If I exclude Fairtrade from the total Green vMeme score, here is what I obtain for the New World.

Country	Green vMeme score	Happiness Score (2019)
New Zealand	71.68	7.307
Australia	68.47	7.228
Canada	61.30	7.278
United States	56.67	6.892
Uruguay	47.92	6.293
Costa Rica	44.55	7.167
Argentina	43.02	6.086
Chile	42.31	6.444
Mexico	38.20	6.595
Peru	35.90	5.697
Brazil	34.41	6.300

All the Green vMemes scores are higher and more in line with the Happiness scores. Costa Rica and Mexico still get considerably higher happiness scores.

[Maciamo]

If I give a bonus for Greenpeace donations (adjusted for GDP per capita) as calculated here, the countries for which Greenpeace data is available obtain the following score.

Country	Old score	Greenpeace bonus	New score
Sweden	92.42	2.50	94.92
Iceland	80.95	2.50	83.45
Switzerland	73.88	6.20	80.08
Finland	74.11	2.50	76.61
United Kingdom	73.61	2.50	76.11
Norway	72.71	2.50	75.21
Netherlands	67.99	5.00	72.99
New Zealand	62.90	5.90	68.8
Denmark	65.99	2.50	68.49
Germany	63.63	3.00	66.63
Belgium	63.56	3.00	66.56
Australia	56.65	1.80	58.45
France	56.58	1.50	58.08
Spain	52.10	1.30	53.40
Canada	51.33	0.80	52.13
Italy	50.76	0.70	51.46
United States	44.84	0.30	45.14
Czechia	43.27	0.20	43.47
Greece	34.99	1.30	36.29
Mexico	29.68	0.60	30.28
Brazil	26.01	0.40	26.41

[Axion]

indebted people live on the edge thus not loosen enough to say we are happy, also emotional intelligence in places where gambling corruption and fear are high contribute a lot to the feeling ... but lets say happy people are those that have good quality of social life, in ex-yu think that was even in poor times pushed till ceiling first because clear belongingness to still traditional families and having chance to earn more as emigree ...