Copying the US economically is not the road to happiness

The news that Canada has slid down to 25^th place would be bad enough if we were talking about our world ranking in, say, kickboxing or beach volleyball.

But the sad truth is we’ve declined all the way down to the 25^th spot when it comes to something that’s really important — happiness.

In many ways, happiness is a more meaningful measure of our overall national success than the always-highlighted economic measure of GDP per capita.

Of course, economic success matters. Absolutely. No poor country is happy.

It’s just that economic success — on its own — isn’t enough to make people happy.

That, at least, should be the takeaway from the World Happiness Report, produced each year by the Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University, based on the self-reported happiness of citizens interviewed in countries around the world.

Before we get into why Canada is slipping badly in happiness — falling to 25^th place this year, from 18^th last year, and 5^th a decade ago — let’s look at who’s happy.

Well, there’s no mistaking the big grin on the face of the Finns. Finland is the happiest country in the world — for the ninth year in a row!

Of course, Finland could be just a weird aberration. But it turns out that all five Nordic countries rank in the top 10 of happiness. Lightning doesn’t usually strike five times.

So what are the Nordic countries doing that makes them so happy? One distinctive thing is that they all have extremely strong social welfare systems. People in Nordic countries pay high taxes and, in return, they get extremely generous social programs and benefits — including top-notch health care and education for all, along with lengthy paid family leaves and six weeks of paid annual vacation.

Interestingly, Canada has been moving in the opposite direction.

The relatively strong social programs we once enjoyed — although never as strong as those in Nordic countries — have been weakened in recent years, as Canadian federal and provincial governments have heeded business demands for lower taxes and spending cuts.

Now Prime Minister Mark Carney is taking Canada farther in this direction, focusing on tax cuts, slashing the public sector and halting the further development of the fledgling new social programs — child care, pharmacare and denticare — which were initiated by his predecessor Justin Trudeau, under pressure from the NDP.

Carney is redirecting our tax dollars towards military spending and pipelines, arguing that this is the way to strengthen our national purpose and knit the country together in response to the hostile regime south of the border.

But fortifying our social systems might actually be a better way to strengthen our national resolve and unity.

I’d bet that more Canadians value and are proud of our national public health-care system, for instance, than they are of any pipelines, real or imagined.

By investing in social programs, our governments would be investing in the potential of all of us to lead healthier, better-educated lives. Wouldn’t that make us collectively richer and, well, happier?

And isn’t happiness — a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment in our lives — ultimately what we seek, not just economic gain on its own?

Yet our public debate is dominated by talk of how Canada measures up economically, whether we’re as rich as the United States. The focus is rarely on whether our social supports are strong enough.

Interestingly, the Nordic countries are all very rich. Norway’s GDP per capita, for instance, is second highest in the world (after Luxembourg).

But, in addition to being rich, citizens in Nordic countries live well. They’ve created social systems that nurture, bolster and educate everyone, systems that give all members of society a shot at developing to their fullest potential — to be the happiest people on earth.

This is the model we should seek to replicate — not the sprawling mess of a country below us.

This article originally appeared in the Toronto Star.