Hi folks,
Steve just updated his dating profiles comparison page. Check it out.
http://www.happierabroad.com/DatingProf ... arison.htm
I'm still editing and formatting his new Research Section and am halfway done. While doing so, I noticed these excerpts/summaries from the expert books he quoted, which are so true and hit the nail on the head. Here are some of them.
http://www.happierabroad.com/Research.htm
The concept of self-esteem is so unrecognized in Taiwan that neither Taiwanese nor Mandarin Chinese has a word for it. (The Narcissism Epidemic, pg 17)
Asian cultures are more collective and discourage individualism and narcissism. Overall, more traditional cultures - those that value family, duty, and obligation – are less narcissistic than more modern cultures like that of the US. In one dataset, Americans scored in the top 10-20% of nations on narcissism. In another study, Americans obtained higher narcissism scores than people from any other country. Our students might not be the brightest, or our poverty level the lowest, but Americans do just fine on narcissism tests! (Generation Me, pg 37)
This one says it all.
Americans excel at making a living but often fail at making a life. (The American Paradox, pg 138)
Unfortunately, our industrial life is dominated by the materialistic spirit of production [affluenza], giving little attention to the development of the human body, the human mind, or the spirit of life (Affluenza, pg 141)
The daily bombardment of advertising images leaves us forever dissatisfied with our own appearance and that of our real life partners. Advertising encourages us to meet nonmaterial needs through material ends. It tells us to buy their product because “we’ll be loved, we’ll be accepted�. And also it tells us that we are not lovable and acceptable without buying their product. To be lovable and acceptable is to have the right image. Authenticity be dammed. (Affluenza, pg 157)
Such heavy consumer advertising in many foreign countries is mild or non-existent and in such countries as these, you will generally find authentic and humble people, not to mention happier people. It’s much easier to be happier in countries where there isn’t constant bombardment of advertisements telling you that you are less because you have less.
When people feel sad or depressed, what do they do? They go to the mall and shop and it makes them feel better, but only for a short time. There’s an addictive quality in consumerism. But it simply doesn’t work. They’ve got all these things and they still find this emptiness, this hollowness. They’re surrounded by all kinds of fun toys but the meaning is gone. Americans now spend nearly seven times as much time shopping as they do playing with their kids. (Affluenza, pg 39, 41)
The pressure that materialism is bringing to bear on the American family today is woefully underestimated. (Affluenza, pg 51)
America is relatively rich. Even Americans that are not doing that well are relatively rich, but America is very short of social tranquility. (Affluenza, pg 52)
The more Americans fill their lives with things, the more they tell psychiatrists, pastors, friends, and family members that they feel empty inside. The more toys our kids have to play with, the more they complain of boredom. (Affluenza, pg 74)
What the bored person really craves is an authentic meaningful life. American advertising suggests that such a life comes in products or packaged commercial experiences.
Check out what Mother Theresa said about America.
When mother Theresa came to the United States to receive an honorary degree, she said “This is the poorest place I’ve ever been in my life,� recounts Robert Seiple, the former director of World Vision, a Christian charity organization. �She wasn’t talking about economics�, he adds. “She was talking about poverty of the soul�.
These are so eloquent and true!
More than ever we have big houses and broken homes, high incomes and low morale, secured rights and diminished civility. We excel at making a living but often fail at making a life. We celebrate our prosperity but yearn for purpose. We cherish our freedom but long for connection. In the age of plenty, we feel a spiritual hunger. (Affluenza, pg 114)
Like many travelers who return from time spent with so called underdeveloped or primitive cultures, Johnson had trouble returning to the fast-paced, possession laden life in the United States. Culture shocked, he walked through a supermarket aisle that was entirely filled with cake mixes and wondered, “Where’s the affluence? Is this really progress?" Life in Los Angeles seemed surreal when he first returned. His children complained regularly of boredom despite a plethora of toys and activities. People he met seemed constantly busy but unsatisfied with their lives, working and consuming frantically as if to fill some kind of hole or emptiness. (Affluenza, pg 130)
The longer hours we work, the more stressful our home lives become, and the greater our tensions at home. (Affluenza, pg 50)
For a thousand years or more, the Spanish had enhanced their quality of life with a luxurious midday break that doesn’t cost a single peseta. Yet in the eyes of commerce, siestas are a complete waste of time. What the world needs is more production, more consumption, less relaxation, and more money. (Affluenza, pg 123)
Since the Second World War, Americans have been offered what economist Juliet Schor calls “a remarkable choice�. As our productivity more than doubled, we could have chosen to work half as much-or even less- and still produce the same material lifestyle we found affluent in the 50’s. Instead, we put all our apples into making and consuming more. Our friends in Europe made a different choice. They took a big part of their gains in labor productivity in the form of time. As a result, general happiness in Europe continues to increase while in the United States it stagnated after the 1950’s. At the same time, general health in every European country is better than that in the United States.
Canada manages to cover all its citizens at a total cost per person that is far less than what we spend in the United States. And despite criticisms of the Canadian system by American politicians, Canadians are healthier and live longer than Americans.
Beating the afflluenza bug will also lead to less stress, more leisure time, better health, and longer lives. It will offer more time for family, friends, and community, and a more meaningful way of life. (Affluenza, pg 224, 228, 233).
Did you know that road rage is an American thing?
In the most comprehensive national survey on driving behavior so far, a Michigan firm, EPIC-MRA, found that an astounding 80% of drivers are angry most or all of the time while driving. Ed Sarpolus, the head researcher for the Michigan study of driving behavior, was struck by the gender breakdown of aggressive drivers: 53% of them are women. In China the constant weaving, cut offs, and honking does not even result in a mild annoyance of other drivers, it’s simply par for the course. I remember a Columbian friend of mine telling me about Columbian drivers stating (half tongue in cheek) “They weave in and out, cut people off, and honk their horns and nobody shoots each other… it’s magic.� (source -
http://www.drdriving.org/news/)
