How did such a cold isolated place become the world's happiest country? Twitter: / h0serr Business Email: h0sermailYT@gmail.com Some sources: pastebin.com/5CaKhRCc
Finnish happiness comes also down to modesty. Finns don't usually dream about huge mansions and endless amounts of sports cars and women, but rather just a nice cottage on the shore of a lake in the middle of forest with enough money to live that simple life for the rest of their lives. That's the finnish dream.
Ngl, that sounds boring. Are you sure that's Finnish's definition of happiness? I'm not saying that you need huge mansions and sport cars to be happy but staying in the cottage or forest for a long period will drive me crazy. And from the look of it, Finland doesn't look that... deserted?
@@subliminalfalllenangel2108i mean everyone is different but as a finn yes id say a lot of people including me have that end goal, to be surrounded by forest and not have to worry about society or other people or any of that bullshit
@@tonttu7979 do Finnish people often have live music concerts or sth like that? Or are most Finnish people just the "Netflix and chill" kind of people?
@@subliminalfalllenangel2108 wouldnt say often. We have a metal scene and a small urban clubbing scene, and some festivals in summer, but most people just drink in small groups or with a friend or two in sauna. Then there's also the practice of drinking alone at home which we have a whole word for
I think that instead of calling Finland the happiest country, they are the most content. They’re not smiling and laughing, or in a joyful bliss… but they are content with what they have and their quality of life. As Norwegian with Finn roots and Finn friends, I feel especially the Norwegians in the north relate to the Finns. And tbh, despite already living in a country that’s said to be one of the best to live in.. I really want to live in Finland, I just gotta learn Finnish first 😅
i wanna live in finland too, and im also trying to learn the language. though i think i would every now and then like to take a train or drive too norway or parts of sweeden for that nice mountain scenery. i dont have any finn roots at all, much less any scandinavian roots, but i do have one really close friend who lives there
I recently went to Finland to visit family for the first time. They live in a city of 4000 people. It was so North we were in the North Pole territory, at -30 degrees Celsius. And yet, it was the happiest days I have ever spent. With only 3 hours of light and barely any distractions (malls or cinemas, etc), the sense of community and respect was HUGE. I was constantly impressed by their trust. They leave bikes untied and stores unattended, asking to simply grab what you need and leave the money. It is the only place I have ever felt safe at night. I remember asking a bunch of construction workers if I could ride with them to the village as I was very tired from my hike. Now that I think about it, I would have never gotten in a truck full of men in any other place. People say they are cold, but in reality they are incredibly open minded, they have a deep connection to nature and spread kindness around. Here we tend to be impressed by nudity, but in Finland they treat it as something natural and beautiful. Going out of the sauna half naked and jumping into a pile of snow outside is something I never imagined myself doing. The local fish store woman would gift me leftover raw fish to eat with bread, as she simply wanted me to enjoy her delicious food. All in all I felt free, I felt loved, I felt healthy and I felt like I belonged. ❤
As an Australian who lived in Finland for about 3 years, I think the 'Happiness' index measure isn't really the right word. It should really be called the 'Contentedness Index', Finns are definitely the most content people on Earth, they're okay with things just being okay. Adopting that mindset really improved my life and I'm very thankful I got to live in Finland for a couple years.
This. Content. Not happy. We also have pretty high suicide rates and there's a lot of things inside our social culture that don't work and can make people miserable. Some of those things are changing though and I really hope a new generation would take up the reigns already.. Oh, and bureaucracy here is a torture machine.
"This is the happiest? Can you imagine how miserable the rest of the world must be?" This is excatly what we finns are actually thinking. Spot on :D Thank you!
@@mokisanWell if you are thinking of moving to Finland there are couple things to keep in mind: - everything is expensive becose high taxes, so either be really rich or have a stable job. - The language is super hard to learn but you should be relatively fine with english, especially with younger people. - It’s not always cold in Finland. summer’s have lately reached even 30 degrees celcius thanks to global warming. More average summer temperature is about 20 degrees though. And how to move to Finland? Well buy plane tickets, duh.
We were in Finland for 1 month this year and we want to move from Germany to Finland in a few years. Ppl are honest, mostly chilled and don’t set high expectations. I think they learned to take life as it is while being so close to the extreme nature, with all pros and cons.
Good idea. Here in Germany or especially Central Europe it's all about high expectations, career chasing, money etc.. The mindset is one I don't like and truly makes me unhappy compared to friends who live in Finland who are grateful and happy with what they have.
For an individual Finn, the secret is this. - be quiet - consume alcohol even if you fail or win in life - eat sausages - go to sauna twice a week (double the sauna in summer) - enjoy the nature - embrace the coldness of winter - embrace traditions and don't forget your own culture
@@icanusesakurasforeheadasap4304 But the poverty in Finland is a bit different. There is not really homeless people the same way as in other countries (atleast middle and south Europe. Not sure about other nordic countries). Government usually takes care of homeless poeple in Finland and offers help to them. We might get appartment or money from government when we dont have money but in Finland everything is expensive and many poeple are lining to bread lines (where u get a little bit of food for free if you are not doing good money wise at the moment). So there is quite a lot poverty, its just different poverty. And again example we have free school so people usually get the chance to go there even though their family is poor. And there is free meal in school. Poverty just gives a problems in the family example and free time with hobbies.
i studied in Helsinki for a while, which at the time held the world’s highest suicide rate. I asked one of my professors how Finland could be the happiest country while this was true at the same time, and he responded “oh, it’s quite simple! you see, all the sad people are gone by the time we do the surveys”
This video has to be very inaccurate because my girlfriend is Finnish and she told me many younger Finnish people struggle with depression and isolation it is also normal for people from Finland to go to therapy, she goes to therapy as well and she is recovering from depression. The suicide rate over there is also high, so there is really something wrong with calling Finland as the happiest country.....
The suicide rates have gone down from what it was in the end of last millenia, but it is true that our young population is not feeling good. Especially the pandemic took many important years away from them, time when you experience generational things like graduations, going to universities, bond with other people finding your friends for life or a partner. Things you can't get back really. Isolation is a poison.
I live in russia, it's just mindblowing how these two countries are different. We don't have any trust in the government, neighbors, society. And every time it's proved a reasonable strategy. You just don't feel safe , you can rely only on your immediate family . Total corruption, horrors of war, tyrany, low incomes and poverty, absolute indifference from everyone , the feeling that you're outcast to the rest of the world
As a finn, I used to be depressed all the time and life was really hard. Now, really the only thing that has changed is my additude. And as a result, I don't get depressed or anxious anymore. And If I do, I actually do something about it. Life is what you make of it.
I'm from Finland and this video is incredibly well-researched, so thank you very much. The only thing I would clarify is that the income tax rate of 56,5% is only for the highest income class, having a gross salary of literally a million euros per year. Finnish income tax (for salary) is very progressive, with the national median salary having a tax rate of 26%, and if you are for instance a student working a job for 2-3 months during the summer leave, you only get taxed a few percent.
@@renanvinicius6036 That's true, but the system does work in Finland. Without free education and healthcare I would definitely not have a degree, and would probably be too sick to work. But instead I am educated and working, and paying those high taxes and thus contributing back into society. Obviously most rich people don't like to pay high taxes, but not a lot of them understand that their tax money also contributes to a better and safer society, where you don't need to spend money on private security and building gated communities. And BTW private education in Finland isn't really even a thing, and specialized healthcare is pretty much always higher quality in Finland (private clinics are small and don't do a lot), so even the rich benefit from our welfare system.
@@astroturd bro, you are like paying half of what you make in taxes and is expensive to live not only in Finland, but Nordic countries as a whole, the minimum you would have to demand is what you have got, nothing is for FREE you are paying for this, it seems obvious, but the way you guys portray public systems is wrong, and it opens up the way to populist cretin politicians to explore this and find ways to do what they like the most, spend your money with unnecessary stuff and make their image good because they are "taking care" of you. Please just stop it, I even prefere some public systems rather than private, but abusive taxes and people saying things are for free, I honestly cannot take it.
Here in Norway (and this is probably a thing everywhere in the world that has long dark winters), we have something called “winter depression”. Basically a period during winter (duh) where everyone suddenly feel very depressed. And the theory is that it’s due to the lack of sun. The fact that the days become shorter and nights becoming longer results in people feeling more depressed. The moment summer comes around, everyone is just a lot more happier and livelier. So yeh, those cold climates is definitely not the reason we’re happy.
Nokia is a good representation of Finland. It was very secure. Literally indestructible. Nokia 3310 is a legend. Nokia was my first phone and although now I have a smartphone, my almost 20 years old Nokia still works.
I loved how comically you told this! Very entertaining and also informative! Nice pacing (I wrote this during the ad break) and concise. Clear, logical set up that doesnt jump at strange places. Super well done!
I think it’s easier to live up to your potential in Finland than most countries. It doesn’t matter if you come from a poor or a rich family, quality education is available to everyone and you don’t have to be in debt for the rest of your life in order to get your education. Also money is usually not a huge issue in general for people. You don’t have to be on a sigma grindset working two jobs and have 0 vacations in order to live a satisfying life.
It's also important to note that Finland is a first world country, that has access to wealth and resources since the european colonialism from the 19th century. Compared to say, South Sudan, they have it easier
Wow, what an insightful condensation, one word. I had never considered TRUST as an explanation to our (yes, I'm Finnish) supposed happiness, but true, it is! Being able to trust in things makes all the difference. Hard luck or bad weather or what ever it is depressing this month, you can trust there's something to be done about it or at least the weather will change eventually. My own thoughts on why Finland is considered the happiest country in the world is that we manage our expectations. Not having anything specific to complain about is happy enough, reasons for great joy are nice but small joys are more likely and not having big feels all the time is nothing to be negative about. We also know that while we're the poor cousins to Norway and forever feel insecure compared to Sweden, we actually have it very good and mostly just how we like it.
A finn here. Even though my life hasn't been easy and all that happy because of deppression and a crippling addiction to hard drugs, I can't imagine any other country (except other nordics) where i would have gotten through it alive. Because of the decisions of my government i got professional help like detox, rehab, psychiatric help and social welfare fast and for free and for that i am eternally grateful that i was born in this country. Im clean and studying now and when i graduate and get a job i'll be happy to pay those high taxes so that others in my situation may also get the help they need :)
This video has to be very inaccurate because my girlfriend is Finnish and she told me many younger Finnish people struggle with depression and isolation it is also normal for people from Finland to go to therapy, she goes to therapy as well and she is recovering from depression. The suicide rate over there is also high, so there is really something wrong with calling Finland as the happiest country...
@@HereGoesKevin Not necessarily. Many other countries also have high suicide rates and similar problems among people. In many countries, it can also be unclear how many people have, for example, depression if extensive help is not offered or it is not talked about. It's not a bad thing that many go to therapy (for a variety of reasons), it might just show that the offered help is answered, making people happier. The happiest country trope is a little misleading, because obviously it doesn't entail every aspect of living, mearly the surface level: space, government support, salary, work culture, healthsystem, education, and so on.
When I was a kid in elementary school, we were always told that "it's like winning in lottery to be born in Finland". Back then I was very naive thinking that things were like this everywhere else. And I completely agree on the trust aspect. It's the main pillar on which our whole country is built upon.
@@Jusuuw Probably considered racist now. I was definitely told that exact phrase many times in elementary school. Then as a rebellious teen I thought it was just "trite nationalism". Now I realize it's true.
It's hilarious how he put Portugal for "don't show up late" because we literally have a thing where you're allowed to show up 10 minutes late to the first class in the morning and the first class in the afternoon 😂😂
@@Piaapo Come Turkey and see how disorganisation works. Statistics all over the place no planning at all, people just go with the vibe. Traffic,city schemes are just a mess. Politics change every day. There is a disaster every 3 months. There is terorism,immigrants and depressed violent people. You can die tommorrow or you can lose all of your money in one day thats how unpredictable and unplanned it is. And there are worse countries than us can you imagine.
it's just that the criteria they use in these statistics don't really reflect our subjective reality/feelings. If I had to guess which European country has most overall satisfaction in their day-to-day life, I would say Spain.
I have flown with Finnair from Australia to Poland a couple times now and they easily have my favourite airport now. Helsinki airport is open with some lovely shops and lots of cafes and restaurants. Best of all they have padded benches instead of seats so you can lay down, with more than enough power points. I do wish they had thicker padding, but it's still way more effort than the other airports make. The staff are also friendly and easy-going.
As someone who is Canadian and lives in Canada but has Finnish parents on both sides and visited Finland many times, I have some insight into why they may be the happiest country. Like you said, it is trust, but to be more specific it is that you will be cared for as an individual no matter what. Even if you do nothing, abuse drugs, don't work, whatever; you still receive the same free healthcare, education, mental health treatment, place to live, and training to become something. It really makes you believe in your country and countryman. The trust factor also comes in how they speak. I've been to other parts of Europe and NA/SA, and everyone spoke the same way except in Finland. They say as much as possible in as few words as possible. It makes them impossible to lie to. Too many words or too few details, they will know you are lying, and ask question until everything is clear. It is almost like they subconsciously interrogating you, like you are always talking to your parents. I have never felt this way anywhere else, but every time I return to Finland I remember I'm speaking to icemen. It's not that you have to speak carefully, it's that you have to speak sufficiently.
@@holoholopainen1627 Definitely my Fin is dog shit, but even where people only spoke Spanish, or in Holland, or in Sweden, it was not the same. I am not blaming anyone, every people is different. I love visiting Finland, but every time I go it is jarring. Of course not everyone in a country is the same either, but even though my relatives lived in NA and speak good english it is always something I notice when I visit them. I have no issue with it, I appreciate their honesty. It is refreshing when you live so close to the US.
@@MrNommerzThis video has to be very inaccurate because my girlfriend is Finnish and she told me many younger Finnish people struggle with depression and isolation it is also normal for people from Finland to go to therapy, she goes to therapy as well and she is recovering from depression. The suicide rate over there is also high, so there is really something wrong with calling Finland as the happiest country...
@@HereGoesKevin remember that everyone lives in their own little bubble.. I myself have some mental problems but in finland it doesnt matter that you have.. everyone is equal here.
I dont think so since milk isnt really nutritious nor good for anything except for sweets. Also high milk consumption causes digestive problems,parasites(They like milk a lot),low calcium(since milk has high potasium and calcium binds calcium) plus high iodine inside causes throid damage especially people with throid autoimmun idseases such as hasimato,graves etc. So keeping cow milk consumption is a good idea.
That's just because Nordics are the least lactose intolerant in the world. Its like the worlds lamest x-man superpower. The andeans have superior oxygen metabolism and we can drink milk.
I lived in Jyvaskyla as an exchange student for a while and i have to say Finland is a beautiful country with great nature and public facilities. In that period i visited many places and I absolutely fell in love with the country. The one thing I, and literally every other exchange student, had problems with was the lack of daylight. At the shortest days we only had a couple hours of daylight. Not sunlight, we did not see the sun for weeks at a time. From asking around we all had problems with our biological clock and we did start feeling a bit more "down".
Yup I always get ’seasonal depression’ from the darkness. It makes me feel tired all the time and that life’s hardships are two times worse even though they really aren’t.
My mom is 100% Finn and I was raised mostly by her and my grandpa and I think one part I don't think you covered was the culture of Sisu and to keep your feelings to yourself. My dad's side of the family is all French and the cultures couldn't be more different. French culture is very outgoing flamboyant and dramatic and when they have a problem or criticism they make sure everyone knows and it's always someone else's fault, and it's seems as being sophisticated to not be happy, where as in Finnish culture it's very quite, reserved and stoic and it's normal to say your happy and looked down if your complaining and blaming it on other people.
"quiet, reserved, and stoic" So Finnish people don't have culture, is this what I'm gathering?
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Yes, it seems that when the survey was on going, the finnish went for the humility answer and said they are happy, but this culture and the suicide rate points to something darker.
Finnish people will not say they are happy if they aren't. It's more that they just tend not to complain. In other countries the culture of having to be outwardly happy always and just answering "fine", "good" etc. instead of saying the truth when asked how you are is much more prevalent. This Finnish way of not pretending to be happy is said to be better when you are sad or depressed, because you don't feel like you are the only one not feeling good.
I think Finnish culture is changing for an even healthier direction with our current generation and the following (I was born in the 90's). The youngsters are more emotionally expressive and empathetic, but not at the expence of being overtly loud, emotional or flamboyant. Most are ambitious and take their life seriously, though not forgetting to have fun. Although I see more and more people just being tired and burned out by work and school. We are a heavily responsibility-oriented culture I think our definition of happiness is quite modest and minimal. We like to be frugal and satisfied with little. As long as we have a roof on top of us, warm food and drinks, our basic needs satisfied, Finns would often say they are content and happy with their life, even if otherwise you woild say they are constantly sad or depressed.
@ What you're describing is more akin to latin America than Finland. That's where you'll find the happiest and least happiest people since they aren't actually the happiest but they have a culture of saying they're the happiest. If you ask a Finn whether they're happy or not, they'll just feel fine and satisfied. That's because Finns don't have to deal corruption, feeling unsafe, being poor, etc. which simply isn't true for most of the world, at least not the same extent as in the nordics.
They should change the name of the "happiness" survey into "contentment" because thats fundamentally whats at play here, Finnish people are content because they feel safe knowing they can TRUST people around them and the government to help them out if things go badly. The safety that arrises from that knowledge is also what creates said trust in thew first place.
Not the most accurate video about our country but it was entertaining. We did receive some money from the US during all of the marshall aid stuff, but it was kept hidden. Tar was also a pretty big export, I believe mainly to England for their ships. Also just because we are labeled happy, it doesn't mean that we are actually happy. My social studies / history teacher once said that Finland is not the happiest country, but instead the most satisfied one. Also the depression part was not only tied to the Soviet Union collapsing even though it was one of the reasons (it started before that). Banks just gave out a lot of bad loans. Aaaand Nato is definetly not the only source of defense for Finland. We have a very functioning defence force.
@@n1ckster055 still fit for purpose given the capability the Russians are displaying in Ukraine. The Finns have the best intelligence on Russia's capabilities and know they can defend themselves against Russia minus the nukes. Even for the nukes, they are quite prepared with enough well-equipped bunkers to shelter their entire population and some change while their forces defend against subsequent land invasion.
@@hydrolifetech7911 yeah, they are prepared, but they stand no chance. They are much smaller than Ukraine and have way less people. Their capital is also more exposed and very close to the Russian border.
@@Handle0108 I'd say there's a chance. ~80% of Finland is forest and we also have a lot of lakes. In the worst case scenario we have around 1 million people who have gone through military training.
I've seen a lot of news on Finnish media about these studies because most people living here seemed somewhat surprised about this and it's sort of a joke to many people considering our high suicide rates. I reckon the biggest takeaway from that conversation was basically that we feel "contentment" rather than outright happiness as most people would understand it. If you just ask people how many times they've felt happy in the last month, Finland doesn't come close to being the happiest country, i think Uruguay was on top of that list so we don't actually feel happiness all that often. The study instead combined multiple different elements that it considered happiness to consist of and on that basis Finland was the happiest. To me that makes perfect sense, there's more of a "it is what it is" kinda culture here thats more of a stable, comfortable grey feeling rather than an ecstatic happiness kind of feeling. When you think of a happy nationality, a finn is probably not what comes to anyones mind, we're not particularily outgoing or extroverted and seeing outward expressions of happiness is quite rare here in my opinion, and that is immediately noticeable when i travel abroad. Just wanted to share this because when the study first came out, i was really interested in why do finnish people generally have sort of a grumpy vibe if we're so happy all the time.
About the wood burning as energy.: Not too many large plants use wood in heat/electricity production but it is very common in household use. It is quite often the "secondary" system to heat OR to cut down heating expenses during cold times. Firewood has typically a very good availabilty. It also brings some security in winter, that you can use 2 systems for heating.
Wood burning, however, is both horribly inefficient and bad for the environment & occupants. It seems Finland, like much of Europe, was over reliant on Russian gas.
@@Pan_ZNatural Gas made up around 5% of the Finnish energy mix pre Ukraine and 3% post Ukraine, so we definitely aren't over reliant on that. I think we just replaced the little gas that some industries need with LNG via the baltic link. Very few places use gas. Most buildings are warmed by district heating or ground heat. 3 biggest electricity generation methods in 2022 were Renewables at around 42% Nuclear at around 21% and Oil at just under 20% . We are still Net energy importers though and import around 3% of our electricity from other countries in the European electricity grid (Mainly Sweden) rather than using more polluting power plants like coal or oil. We do have excess capacity though so incase of peaking European demand or high import costs those powerplants can switch on. Also Finland has the most forest cover percentage of any European country and it actually went up last year. By law you must replant trees when you cut them down for industry unless you have explicit permission. Many ordinary people own parts of industrial forests and let bigger companies handle the logging and collect a nice paycheck every 20 or so years. And summerhouses, which most Finnish families have, are usually somewhat old fashioned and may be heated with wood. I have no idea what all the "Wood related fuels" cover though as it's not explained on the narional statistics page. Kind of surprising it is that big but unfortunately we don't get a lot of wind and also we meed to upgrade the western energy grid to handle the fluxuating loads from wind energy before we can add more. Wood fireplaces are banned in cities though, not that pollution is a problem here.
Since forestry is still one of the largest industries (paper is dead, but cardboard is doing better than ever, lumber is always needed) in Finland, it generates a lot of energy biomass as a by-product (black liquor, sawdust and wood chips, treebark, branches and tops, sometimes stumps) which make up most of the wood material that is burned for energy. I think that most (if not all) pulp mills also generate electricity, for their own use but they also sell it to the power grid. Private households with fire places actually make a rather small portion of the energy generated by wood burning.
Finland also have the highest F1 driver champions and winners to population ratio, even when compared to F1 champion juggernauts like the UK and Germany
Finland is a weird place of champions considering how small the country is Best hockey team: Finnish The best F1 driver: Finnish the best Starcraft 2 player: Finnish one of the best dota 2 players: Finnish the best Age of Empires 2 player: Finnish These are only the ones i'm aware of
@@juhotuho10It’s because our hobbies are limited by our environment. Winter sports, driving and maybe hiking is what you can do outside, other that you can stay inside and read a book or play video games.
So I just came back from Finland and it is really interesting to be in a country with almost the same population as yours (Singapore) yet be so many more times larger. There is a lot of natural beauty to be seen in Finland, and it's really one of the countries I wouldn't mind living in, the cold notwithstanding. Though staying for nearly a week north of the Arctic circle in the deepest part of winter will make you worship the mysterious glowing sky orb when you return home. That's the one thing I don't miss about Finland.
12:10 Finland doesn't use wood to make electricity, it's energy consumption not electricity consumption. The reason why 30% of Finland's energy is from wood sources is due to heating, most of the houses are old and don't have modern electric heaters or air conditioning. Also wood is cheap and self-sufficient.
Wood chips are an increasingly common way to replace coal, oil and peat fired powerplants from the district heating systems. As you mentioned, wood is often burned in a fire place, especially during the winter in buildings that are not connected to district heating systems, and use electricity (direct or heat pump) for heating. The idea being, that burning some wood once a day can significantly lower your electricity bill. Sauna is also a thing, and it is traditionally heated with wood.
It does. Finland uses trees crust produced as a byproduct in the wood industry as fuel producing electricity and district heating. For example in Oulun Energia.
@@plasmakitten4261 Not everyone is doing that themselves, though many people like me do cut the firewood for fireplaces and saunas from their own property. Other people choose to pay companies to do effectively the same thing at an industrial scale. Amount of wood in the forests and the annual growth rate are difficult to estimate, but it's safe to say that the annual growth rate is around 100 million m^3, so as long as the amount harvested is equal or smaller than that, wood is self-sufficient on the country-level.
I think the harshness of the weather provides a contrast in life. Many unhappy people are stuck in complete and utter monotony. By having a harsh environment, it allows people to appreciate good things far more.
That's probably also one reason for the Finns hardiness, frugality, modesty, desire to survive and save for the future. On the contrary, the reason for their communality and empathy, too. In the south, you might survive even without shelter and plants and animals may grow year round. Here you will freeze to death, unless you plan for the winter and if you don't have a warm place to live. So people aren't left behind so easily, as it would be more brutal for them.
@@omenapiiras nah but the fact that it's literally dark in the winter at 3-4pm for months n months n months is annoying, all though that just makes us appreciate summer a lot more
This video has to be very inaccurate because my girlfriend is Finnish and she told me many younger Finnish people struggle with depression and isolation it is also normal for people from Finland to go to therapy, she goes to therapy as well and she is recovering from depression. The suicide rate over there is also high, so there is really something wrong with calling Finland as the happiest country...
@@HereGoesKevin are you really going around replying to every comment because you dont like finland being called the happiest country. It has lower suicide rate than south africa,Russia, the US, South Korea.
I really want to live in Finland someday. Never had a winter here and always wanted to live in a land of snow. Just need to finish my college degree, get some exp, money and planning, and I'll be living there till the day I die. I just hope I can find a reliable connection there because starting from scratch would be hard
As a Finn, one of the less talked about things that make me happy, is that I can really trust not only the ones in power e.g. the police, but also average people. If I lose my wallet in the city, I'm almost certain someone's going to return it. And in general people just seem to trust strangers easier than in the US (besides from Helsinki)
Thats another world to me.. Im a German-Born Brazilian and i cant trust literally no one here, its 99% chances of them not returning, plus using my numbers to do banking-type theft. Its everyone on their own for survival on South America, this place will NEVER turn out good and work out.
The thing about cold countries being happy is only loosely related to the weather. Very cold countries are, by necessity, very wealthy and have a lot of social safety nets in place. So we have a very high standard of living and we take care of the poorest people very well.
Countries of cold climate usually have low population density and large amounts of natural resources, which results in very high per capita wealth. That can be used to support generous welfare states which would be impossible in most places. Also it is not secret that rural life is better for your mental health that urban one.
I also think that cold climate repels laziness. Survival needs more effort, it's not about wanting to do things, it's more like do or die. And think about the future, at least the next winter. And in centuries and millenia, these things engrave into people. Idk, not sure though... I do find it annoying though xD Also about helping neighbours... there's a famous story/poem? about a man and his wife, who had bad years of harvest, so they mixed edible part of tree to their breads. Then they had a good year, and the wife wanted to make all-grain-bread, and the man still said, to put half of the tree stuff into the bread, their neighbour had a bad harvest. 🤭 So... gotta do stuff and gotta help the next guy. Idk, it's winter, it's night, and I just want to sleep my troubles away. 😴
Finland is indeed a beautiful country with lovely people! I had two online friends from Finland. They are both so respectful,kind and humble!!! Definitely visit this wonderful country someday!!! I love Finnish people and they're culture of happiness:)
I think you should have better explained that the ~56% personal income tax rate is only the top bracket. Earning 0-19900EUR annually (up to ~20k USD) gives you 0% personal income tax rate 19900-29700 is 19% 29700-49000 is ~30% 49000-85800 is ~34% and then anything over 85 800 EUR (92570 USD) is taxed at 56% So I'd say thats a pretty sweet deal considering all of the social services offered by the country Then there's local income taxes, but that's another deal
Capital gains taxes are lower and are 34% at the highest. In practice they are usually a few percents lower than that. But they start at 30% (though in practice often 25% or lower)
56% tax is definitely not a sweet deal. It drives wealth away from the country because most people who are capable of producing such revenue streams are also capable of moving their business elsewhere so they can make more money.
Yes, 56% is for quite wealthy people, but even if you are making 19k€ per year (which is very much on the low end), you still end up paying a small income tax (something like 3%). Besides that, everyone (who work for someone and get a salary) have tax-like deductions to their paycheck. These are mainly unemployment and pention securities (you cannot opt out), which add up roughly to 10(ish)%. Since the workforce is highly unionised, you are likely to pay union membership fee, which is often about 1% of your salary. Tax brackets make determining the tax rates more complicated, but the average tax (and tax-like expence) rate in Finland in 2022 was 43,2%. Before you gasp how much that is, you need to have a look at what you get in return. Free education, social securities, free/cheap healthcare, security etc. In many other countries, these things are not covered with your tax money, but you have to pay tuition fees, insurances, private unemployment funds and pention plans etc. Don't get me wrong, finns do pay for private pention plans and insurances, but I guarantee that on average we spend quite a bit less on them than people in some other countries do.
While the key message of this video, the idea of trust being the very foundation of happiness, is correct I would like to remind you that trust without reason is even worse than not trusting at all. If you just blindly trust a person, organization or movement, you can easily be taken advantage of. Trust only works in Finland, because it has been observed working, and the subjects of trust are actually trustworthy. As you touched on in the video, trust must be gradually built, it doesn't come quick or for free, and it can be easily broken. Once you have attained it though it is more than worth it.
This video has to be very inaccurate because my girlfriend is Finnish and she told me many younger Finnish people struggle with depression and isolation it is also normal for people from Finland to go to therapy, she goes to therapy as well and she is recovering from depression. The suicide rate over there is also high, so there is really something wrong with calling Finland as the happiest country...
Trust doesn't work in Finland. Ignorance is bliss and only the dumb people here are happy since they don't know any better but to trust blindly and stay oblivious to all the flaws.
Wait a minute, so you mean to tell us that a government that puts people over profit and makes sure their citizens live comfortable lives will generally be more like by the people in question?
This was a very informative and accurate video. I'm glad you also mentioned our shortcomings, since we're not perfect and we are going through an economic "crisis" at the moment. Greetings from Finland!
This video has to be very inaccurate because my girlfriend is Finnish and she told me many younger Finnish people struggle with depression and isolation it is also normal for people from Finland to go to therapy, she goes to therapy as well and she is recovering from depression. The suicide rate over there is also high, so there is really something wrong with calling Finland as the happiest country...
@@HereGoesKevin I can tell you as a Finn that this is quite an accurate video. Sure, it's not perfect but it's better than the other videos similar to this. Finland has had a high suicide rate but it has gone down since the 90's and now is on par with the rest of the EU. The importance on mental health has been a popular topic among the now-ongoing parliamentary elections with many candidates having the topic of mental health as one of the key elements in their respective campaigns. It also helps that seeking help for mental illnesses here is socially acceptable unlike in other countries and you can recieve help and medication quite easily. The whole 'Finland is the world's happiest country' is skewed. We Finns are not generally the happiest in terms of emotions but we are content and satisfied with our lives. The world happiness report takes into account more of institutions and not the general populace.
@@HereGoesKevin Also isn't it good that it is normal to get help if you are mentally unwell? It helps them reintegrate back to work and it decreases suicide rates.
it is very worth noting that the typical surveys that are used for these statistics, base the understanding of "happiness" on the old Greek word "Eudaimonia". The word is often translated into English as "happiness", but it would actually be more appropriate to translate it into something along the lines of "Living well with what you have and being content". I am from Denmark, and have visited my northern european neighbours frequently in my life. And one thing is for certain; Northern European peoples for sure are the most content people on earth.
This video has to be very inaccurate because my girlfriend is Finnish and she told me many younger Finnish people struggle with depression and isolation it is also normal for people from Finland to go to therapy, she goes to therapy as well and she is recovering from depression. The suicide rate over there is also high, so there is really something wrong with calling Finland as the happiest country...
Ok, usually I just skip sponsor sections but this was so well done I had to play it through. Not that it does much to his wallet but it is all about my respect!
I have a ton of finnish heritage! It comes from my dads side. I was born in maine and i live in maine to this day. Also the polar bear drawing is adorable 😊
Love how the picture you used at the beginning for the bright summer nights isn't even that bright lol. Southern Finland may get one night of 24/7 sunlight but come to Lapland and it becomes a month at minimum, so compared to that the picture you showed is really dark - in the summer I barely have to use any lights inside no matter the time of day. Also, the image at 2:42 shows the place name in two languages: the one above in Finnish, and the one below in Sami. Southern Finland has place names in Swedish and Finnish, where as in Inari and above in Lapland the place names are written in Finnish and Sami (do note that there isn't just one Sami language, so it's just written in the most common one for the area I believe). As for the wood as an energy/heat source: 1999 had an exceptionally cold winter week where temperatures in Lapland went down as much as -45° to -50°C (-49° to -58°F). The following summer had an increase in people building fireplaces in their homes, understandably so. (As this was before my time, anyone who remembers more about it feel free to add anything.) Don't know if that is partly the reason, but I know for sure my parents heat the house using their fireplace in the winter on top of having electricity.
@@anonymoust2877 Yes he is. Most big buildings, like apartment buildings for an example, must have a nuclear bunker. It's literally the law. That's because of our history with Russia. In Helsinki there are complete networks of nuclear bunkers under the city.
2:57 That part with referencing Portugal was funny af 😆I'm from Portugal and believe me when I say we wouldn't be just 1 minute late, it would be a minimum of half an hour.
Imo it's sauna and the trees you mentioned. I'm also really happy that my city has more trees than inhabitants and going to a sauna regularly is a gamechanger, try it.
I LOVE your comparison at 11:09. As an Indonesian, I've always thought that we should strive for at least something similar to the Nordic model, but my friends who study economics said that it wasn't feasible due to our history etc. Since I have no knowledge of that matter, I accepted that, but a recurring theme in your video keeps making me think: The problem lies in trust. Judging from my observations and daily experiences, I'm confident the average Indonesian has little to no trust for the government. Would need actual data support that.
Yea, make it so you are at work the regular 7-16 time in manufacturing. Inside in a dark and dusty workshop you won't see sunshine except from a window during the week 😂 only on weekends. Feel like gollum.
For anyone wondering about that example of finnish language, it is a road sign with a places name on it. The name translates to "Fatfish Lakes" and lower half of it is whatever you call saame.
“The Soviet Union’s war against Finland should’ve been easy victory but it became a humiliating struggle and their military eniptitude was put on full display. In the end they did force the Finns to sue for peace. Then they continue their honorable campaign on pushing much smaller countries by annexing the Baltic states and part of Northern Romania.”
fun fact: India is apparently unhappier than war-ridden Ukraine. happiness is an abstract idea that can't be measured by wierd survey so they use metrics like corruption etc.
How can u be happy in india? Social class warfare, descrimination based on religion and race, huge economic gaps, cities with buildings build on top of buildings, polluted water, china barking, water "insecurity", pseudo-democracy, extreme push for high levels of education just to stay unemployed or have a lower salary than most other countries..... On tge other hand Ukrainians have a purpose, defending their homes and purpose brings happiness for many
In places that get this cold and dark, comfort is of high importance. Warmth, company, alcohol, candy, death metal, whatever gets them through. Seasons are powerful & sometimes all you can do is be content. I don't know that well, but people seem kinder in cold places. But the potential for isolation it causes isn't always good.
About climate thing. Yeah winter can feel long, cold and harsh but that just makes spring/summer more amazing. I personally really like that we have 4 real seasons that feel different from each other. My favorite season is summer but I wouldn"t like to live in country where is hot all the time. There are different traditions and hobbys to do every season so it is nice change of pace time to time.
I think the word "trust" says a lot about what is meant by Finland being the "happiest" country. It's about stability. But we are not very social or smiling all the time. This is a peaceful and stable country, but that's not all you need for happiness. Good relationships and cheerfulness are also needed, and I don't think we do well in those.
This video has to be very inaccurate because my girlfriend is Finnish and she told me many younger Finnish people struggle with depression and isolation it is also normal for people from Finland to go to therapy, she goes to therapy as well and she is recovering from depression. The suicide rate over there is also high, so there is really something wrong with calling Finland as the happiest country...
@@HereGoesKevin This is not based on a survey asking "are you happy?", it is based by tons of small things such as economical security, access to healthcare and education, poverty rate, equality etc. Has anyone actually read the world happiness report? All youth in developed nations are generally unhappy because the news are saying the end is near, housing crisis, social media, crime, climate change, pricing are going up, wages are low, boomers will use up all the retirement funds etc. Only those who are blissfully ignorant and can stay focused on their own life in a bubble are happy now.
That Energy chart felt bit weird, especially when pointing out the "Wood" part. When 2022 sources say Finland consumed more like 15% of "biomass" for electricity production. Biomass including waste product from wood industry, compressed pellets and also burning household waste, which is also quite common in Finland in regions with district heating. Oddly enough, Peat isnt included in the biomass category, then again Finland has been working on reducing peat burning as its one of the dirtiest forms of fuel. Nuclear power is also more like 30% of electricity produced in Finland. It would be higher, but the newest reactor has had many delays, and currently probably under maintenance (again) or running at limited capacity.
Long and dark winters combined with beautiful nightless summer weeks create a contrast that makes you appreciate the highs and lows. No light without shadow. Very corny but true. I think that mindset is at the core of many Finns outlook on life.
