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Finland Named Happiest Country In The World For The 8th Year In A Row, Per 2025 Report

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Helsinki cityscape with Helsinki cathedral and Market square, Finland

The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s World Happiness Report 2025 has ranked Finland as the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year in a row.

The World Happiness Report combines open-access data from over 140 countries in the world which is then analyzed by world-leading researchers across a large range of academic disciplines and departments.

Finland wasn’t the only Nordic country to rank high again this year. Denmark followed in second place while Iceland, Sweden, and the Netherlands rounded out the top five.

The capital city of the world’s happiest country exemplifies what makes Finland such an ideal spot for happiness—not just focusing on health or wealth alone, Helsinki places emphasis on things like community, kindness, trust in society, and easy access to nature and green spaces.

“One way Helsinki strengthens its sense of community is through OmaStadi, the city’s participatory budgeting initiative,” Juhana Vartiainen, the mayor of Helsinki, said in a press release. “It gives residents the opportunity to directly influence how public funds are spent – by proposing ideas and voting on projects that improve their own neighbourhoods.”

The city doesn’t just focus on outward or performative happiness, either. It rather focuses on an overall feeling of contentment and the way of life that is generally accepted in Helsinki and the rest of Finland as well.

“Here, happiness is quietly built into everyday life. And while it may not always show on our faces, it’s there in the way life works, in the way people come together, and in the spaces we share,” said Vartiainen. “A good example of this is the Oodi Central Library – a public space where people of all ages and backgrounds gather to read, work, play, or simply spend time. In 2022, the Oodi library had nearly 1.82 million visits.”

Helsinki also exemplifies ways that the community can come together without feeling forced or pressure to socialize all the time; the city and its culture over the last century have developed in a way that allows citizens to feel like they can just be, and trust that they can count on others and that life will work its way out.

It’s not about being outwardly over-the-moon every day but rather living with a certainty that everyday things are designed to make life feel stable.

Link to article
 
MickZagger said:
Anybody feel like they can’t even leave the house without dropping $100 these days?
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It costs us $120 every weekend for my wife, Kait and I to watch my youngest two play in tournaments their club pays to play in.
 
Pretty expensive buying a kiddo food that has multiple food allergies.....

I've started gardening a lot more. If SHTF then need to be prepared.
 
Phatguysrule said:
Things would be so different if the DNC and corporate Dems didn't rob us of a Bernie Sanders presidency in 2016...
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Leaving aside the questionable theory of how Bernie failed to get elected in 2016, what makes you sure that a Bernie presidency wouldn't have led to a Trump presidency in 2020 and 2024?

Maybe if Bernie had been elected, Paul Allen would have amended his will to say that the Blazers must move to Seattle when the RG lease ran out.
When you flap that butterfly wing, you never know what might happen.

barfo
 
barfo said:
Leaving aside the questionable theory of how Bernie failed to get elected in 2016, what makes you sure that a Bernie presidency wouldn't have led to a Trump presidency in 2020 and 2024?

Maybe if Bernie had been elected, Paul Allen would have amended his will to say that the Blazers must move to Seattle when the RG lease ran out.
When you flap that butterfly wing, you never know what might happen.

barfo
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Bernie would have easily won reelection in 2020 and since he understands populism we would have had a much better populist option than Trump.
 
Phatguysrule said:
Bernie would have easily won reelection in 2020 and since he understands populism we would have had a much better populist option than Trump.
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Maybe... maybe not.

barfo
 
Sheldon Shape said:
More than maybe. Bernie was polling 20+ ahead of not only Hilary, but Trump as well.
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In some locations Bernie might have polled 20+ points ahead of Hillary, but not nationally. That's not even in the ballpark of reality.

It is true, though, that Bernie polled better against Trump than Hillary.

barfo

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barfo said:
In some locations Bernie might have polled 20+ points ahead of Hillary, but not nationally. That's not even in the ballpark of reality.

It is true, though, that Bernie polled better against Trump than Hillary.
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I worded that incorrectly. Sanders was roughly 20 points above Trump in the polls while Hilary was neck and neck.

Head to head with Hilary that changed because msm tricked MAGA blue that Bernie had no chance despite polling saying otherwise.

Same people who shoved Biden down our throats and called us evil for bringing up Biden's age and mental capacity.

And now we're here...
 
Phatguysrule said:
Things would be so different if the DNC and corporate Dems didn't rob us of a Bernie Sanders presidency in 2016...
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Hillary felt entitled and there was no way in hell the DNC was going to allow Bernie the opportunity....I always wondered why he didnt pout up more of a fight against doc & Hillarys/Donna's shenanigans? I realize that he ran as an Indy put he sure did bow out humbly and without a fight.
 
Hoopguru said:
Hillary felt entitled and there was no way in hell the DNC was going to allow Bernie the opportunity....I always wondered why he didnt pout up more of a fight against doc & Hillarys/Donna's shenanigans? I realize that he ran as an Indy put he sure did bow out humbly and without a fight.
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I thought he ran as a Dem.

He didn't put up more of a fight because he didn't want to hurt the Dems too much and be the cause of a Republican winning.

It's a tough line to walk. Trying to fix it without destroying it. Because once you destroy it it's hard to get it back to as good, let alone make it better.
 
I'm not sure I'd agree that Bernie didn't put up a fight. He stayed in it until the end. He campaigned.

I think he walked the line between running a tough campaign and not wrecking the party's chances in November pretty well. Some of his supporters, not so much.

barfo
 
THE HCP said:
To go see a movie in SF, my daughter and her friends were paying $30 just for the movie. She got the AMC pass that is $25/month and 4 movies a week! Smart Kid.
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Bruh, I live in the burbs
 
It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living.
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- Franklin D. Roosevelt
 
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I've seen this suggestion and it seemed interesting. Any thoughts from our business owners and finance people?

Business taxes should be a sliding scale based on the ratio between the highest paid and lowest paid employee. It would reduce taxes for small business and provide incentive for large corporations to pay their employees fairly.
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I think in order for this to work we'd need to make stock buybacks illegal again, or maybe just include the value of stock and capital gains in the equation? Am I wrong? Any other thoughts?
 
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