Iowa is number 2 on the happiness scale.. (#2 tries harder)..

[Peacetrain]

That was the news yesterday. Nebraska I think is #1.. okay okay.. GO BIG RED..


But if you know anything about our weather.. 6 months of winter, and 6 months of construction.. it would become abundantly clear, its the people :)

And with our move to a solid blue state, with freedoms for all, I am very very proud of Iowa.

I was not born here, but have spent most of my life here, and I just have to say, there is something in the water. Mostly in the center and eastern part of the state for sure. But it is a movement no doubt.

All states are wonderful and glorious, and trust me, most have more spectator scenery, (Unless you love farmland and rolling hills which I do.)

But I just have to give Iowa a thumbs up.. you did good.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Yes, I am apparently happier than you, just by living across the mighty Mo, but

Iowa is nice too. I used to work in Iowa, and loved driving the back roads to the small towns I traveled among. The Midwest is simply a good place to live.

[HamdenRice]

2. Nigeria is one of the happiest countries on earth. Puerto Rico is up there too

There are different measures, but the one I had read some time ago was purely based on subjective happiness, not things like wealth, health care, or political stability -- only how people report their own happiness.

I was thinking about this after reading Joe Baegent's article yesterday about life in Belize and how poor, democratic and happy it is compared to the US.

Africa is stereotyped as a horrible, impoverished, war torn place, but if you went there, you'd be surprised how happy people are.

Botswana was probably the happiest place I've ever been.

On edit: Here's the purely subjective ranking:

http://thehappinessshow.com/HappiestCountries.htm

1. Nigeria
2. Mexico
3. Venezuela
4. El Salvador
5. Puerto Rico

When you combine a wealth component ("subjective well being") with happiness, Puerto Rico becomes the happiest place on earth, and Nigeria drops to just below the US.

Ranking of Countries by Level of "Subjective Well-Being"

1. Puerto Rico
2. Mexico
3. Denmark
4. Colombia
5. Ireland
6. Iceland
7. N. Ireland
8. Switzerland
9. Netherlands
10. Canada
11. Austria
12. El Salvador
13. Venezuela
14. Luxembourg
15. U.S.
16. Australia
17. New Zealand
18. Sweden
19. Nigeria
20. Norway

[cali]

3. What's the happiness scale?

And yeah, Iowa deserves some major kudos, but I still don'6t see it as solidly blue- not when you have pigs like King representing Iowans.

[MuseRider]

4. Hooray for Iowa!

I also love farmland and rolling hills, at least in my part of the state of Kansas. The flatlands are also beautiful in their own way. I think Kansas was #4, can't remember, but we should keep it quiet. A large part of the charm is that we are wide open and not crowded! Thankfully I do not think anyone believes that we are as wonderful as we are. :)

Keep moving left. We were, don't quite know what happened.