I love this picture which was taken on the set of the film Munich which I plan to see this week. There's something tense but very happy about the atmosphere. And I can't figure out what exactly.
Which brings me to the Veenhoven happiness index. My first reaction was to write an email to several friends to see what they thought. Here's the exchange:
My email: Tal-ostra kieku. Imma kif kulhadd gej l-hawn mela? Avukati, media gurus, kittieba, muzicisti, drammatugi, gurnalisti u sahansitra newscasters….boqq! David
One reply: interessanti din ghalkemm jien suspettuz immens (tafni int) minn dawn it-tip ta studji li jkejlu il kuntentizza…kollox madonna jridu jkejlu u dejjem ikollok xi gustuz johrog b'xi teorija tal-kejl preciz.
Anyway, for the sake of the argument, the lower the expectations the happier you are, that's one possible interpretation… my other interpretation is that we are all a deluded lot, influenced in our conception of happiness by older generations - ie married, with children and a house, and a deep belief in the afterlife provide the delusion of happiness. … what a joke!
Anyway, this is a bit of a stupid exercise, not surprised we came first in an exercise that is absurd from the very start. And having said that, people moving here is not necessarily a sign of unhappiness elsewhere. Many are coming for the money and see their stay as transitory…. And it's not a bad life in malta either mate…
What I find interesting in all this is our almost immediate reaction of disbelief and our attempt to find a loophole in the results of this survey. Here's another reaction which reveals some astonishment. It's as if our own experience, our conversations with people and friends over the years and, (in our generation's case) the quite widespread "kemm nixtieq nitlaq" statement, all point in the opposite direction. In spite of the good weather, the sea and the close family ties.
I'm not convinced that this survey's all cack but can't quite bring myself to describe Malta as a shiny happy place either.
Maybe the clue lies in the generation gap. What do you think?
