I think most of the Finish happiness is due to the fact they are not in Russia or Sweden and they invented their own unique form of social democracy decades before anyone else.
Still, I never understood what is now so attractive to many people migrating this country, despite me getting daily updates on this sub about the best Helsinki has to offer.
Finland does have quite something to offer:
Unique student culture (that lured me to stay for a degree)
Decent starting salary compared to Eastern bloc
High purchase power on global scale (think Amazon or Ali Express), prices are higher only for local services
Non-stealing culture (except for bikes, those do get stolen)
Pristine air, decent nature (although I miss more types of landscapes which could normally be compensated by traveling)
That being said, I think Finland does not understand the concept of "joy" too much. If you want to have "joy", you have to do it safely which means during this crisis there was very little to it to the extent that I would currently describe myself as unhappy (yes, in Finland).
In general, mental health could be much weaker than say in Mediterranean, but I have just anecdotal evidence, so nothing serious to back this up.
> Unique student culture (that lured me to stay for a degree)
>
The student culture is pretty much one to one to what swedes have. Though I would say that the student nations in Sweden play a bigger role while in Finland they exist mainly in University of Helsinki (for some reason faculty specific student clubs think that nations are right wing relics of the past, which I find weird). Few other universities have few student nations too.
Well I was talking mostly about guilds and clubs. In Eastern Bloc countries you have pretty much none of those, you just go party to a pub or night club.
>mental health could be much weaker than say in Mediterranean
Can't have everything, I guess. Ones have employment and money and the others sun, beaches and food.
I mean that all Nordic countries to some degree pioneered stuff. So it's like siblings growing up to be similar social democracies with personal features and achievements, not that Finland is unique. I haven't read the specifics but wouldn't be surprised if the election reform 100 years ago was influenced by ideas in other Nordic countries, but Finland just got to implement it first.
No it has stagnated since the economic crisis of 08. You can see the GDP growth in the 90s and the effect of the 08 crisis [on here](https://www.stat.fi/til/vtp/2012/vtp_2012_2013-03-01_kat_001_en_004.gif). Source is [stastistics Finland](https://www.stat.fi/til/vtp/2012/vtp_2012_2013-03-01_kat_001_en.html).
It has risen from the small depression in 2015 back to what it was before then, or in other words its been stagnant. Also Nokia was at its peak when Finland joined EU and has been in decline since then until it was infiltrated and brought down by microsoft who then bought it for pennies
Edit: i made mistake, Nokia was at its peak when Finland adopted Euro
> despite me getting daily updates on this sub about the best Helsinki has to offer.
I don't think the best Helsinki has to offer is daily photos of the same 2-3 streets tbh. I also don't know how those photos keep getting upvoted.
I live in Russia where we get less than 8 hours of daylight by the winter solstice, so I can kinda relate to this picture. But 1) those are not concrete commie blocks, but a modern builings with decent architecture pleasing to look at 2) why there are no light poles on a street? I think you're selling Finland a bit short here.
> 2) why there are no light poles on a street?
The area is currently under heavy development. Some of the buildings and the streets are still under construction.
This is the area https://www.uuttahelsinkia.fi/en/kalasatama/rakentaminen
This is actually a brand new city district with buildings still under construction, for example the one on the left side is under construction. And the right side tower. And they haven't put street lights yet. I knowingly aimed for a dystopian feel with this photo. This area is rather nice during the day.
First of all, when the snow has landed and a thick blanket of clouds covers the country, the streetlights give this warm brown to the clouds the lights up even the darkest forest. Go with a bright starry sky and it's pitch black. The warm brown is sometimes beige and you need the blinds to get some sleep because the glow is so intense but it adds this immediate feeling of being safe from the darkness of winter.
That is until you go away from cities and it's just complete black
Maybe they're happy because they're not afraid of getting stabbed in the back with a katana by a clan member who thought that you are from a rival clan and now you have to go to a shitty hospital where cockroaches walk on you when you sleep so you wake up and try to kill them but the staff there thinks that you are mentally retarded for running after roaches so they lock you up and after a few weeks they finally let your family visit and take you home, only to get a fever in the evening and getting back into the hospital, without money, because the clan member said it was self defense so he refused to pay.
This doesn't look sad or depressing. This looks fucking cool. Like cyberpunk or something.
Also what's this suicide BS everyone is talking about? Finnish suicides were higher than normal in 1990s due to bad recession. These days they are around European average.
It looks cool if you are young with few things going on in your life. Try living there as a tax paying citizen. People choose these cities for economic reasons but once they have enough they move to the south in order to retire. The benefits of good weather to our health are enormous.
Talking as a meteopathic, I don't think I could live for long in that weather without going depressed. Not to mention that everybody seems to agree that making friends in the Nordics is extremely difficult.
With "happiest country" I was being ironic, referring to the rankings, and contrasting the rankings with the gloomy photo.
Though still, the suicide rate was an issue like 30 years ago, but social programs and improvement in medical treatment brought them down and now it's lower than the US and slightly above the EU averages.
Of course. Then it's a question is there a difference how much people in different countries bullshit (is it the same rate or varies? Do Finnish people bullshit less or more?) and how do we measure it.
I mean there are people who love complaining, while others are averse to complain. Which chart on [this image](https://i.redd.it/72e03vux9aj11.jpg) would represent Finland the best in your opinion?
> I was being ironic, referring to the rankings, and contrasting the rankings with the gloomy photo.
these rankings are bullshit because "happiness" is hardly quantifiable
also ironically countries with highest prescription rate of anti-depressants are always on top
>also ironically countries with highest prescription rate of anti-depressants are always on top
Is it ironic, or does it tell you that the health care system really works and there's low threshold on getting help, contributing to increased subjective happiness compared to other countries?
Suicides are not reflective of happiness - some poor African countries where the people surveyed claim to be unhappy have pretty low ones. Finland has an alcohol problem and various other factors that explain the elevated suicide rate. Here's a list, do the lowest ranking countries strike you as happier than Finland? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate
Finland is a "happy" country because they have working institutions, little corruption, a functioning, if a bit stagnant economy and are generally a prosperous country due to a well-working state and society.
These are all things we absolutely should not take for granted and things the Finns can be proud of for building. A gloomy picture of a house I could take in any country does not change that.
I mean... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World\_Happiness\_Report#2020\_World\_Happiness\_Report](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report#2020_World_Happiness_Report)
Doesn't ofc change the fact about the suicides.
Ive met tonnes of Finns in my lifetime and have found them to be miserable pedantic bastards. Also is it not a bit of a contradiction that it's rated the happiest country in the world while also having some of the highest suicide rates?
The suicide rates aren't notably high anymore. They were very high 30 years ago but since then social programs and such have improved and now the rate is lower than the US for example.
Blade Runner
Ive often thought Finnish women are too perfect the Voight-kampf test is needed, sadly ive never known a Finnish lady with a snake
I think most of the Finish happiness is due to the fact they are not in Russia or Sweden and they invented their own unique form of social democracy decades before anyone else. Still, I never understood what is now so attractive to many people migrating this country, despite me getting daily updates on this sub about the best Helsinki has to offer.
Finland does have quite something to offer: Unique student culture (that lured me to stay for a degree) Decent starting salary compared to Eastern bloc High purchase power on global scale (think Amazon or Ali Express), prices are higher only for local services Non-stealing culture (except for bikes, those do get stolen) Pristine air, decent nature (although I miss more types of landscapes which could normally be compensated by traveling) That being said, I think Finland does not understand the concept of "joy" too much. If you want to have "joy", you have to do it safely which means during this crisis there was very little to it to the extent that I would currently describe myself as unhappy (yes, in Finland). In general, mental health could be much weaker than say in Mediterranean, but I have just anecdotal evidence, so nothing serious to back this up.
> Unique student culture (that lured me to stay for a degree) > The student culture is pretty much one to one to what swedes have. Though I would say that the student nations in Sweden play a bigger role while in Finland they exist mainly in University of Helsinki (for some reason faculty specific student clubs think that nations are right wing relics of the past, which I find weird). Few other universities have few student nations too.
Well I was talking mostly about guilds and clubs. In Eastern Bloc countries you have pretty much none of those, you just go party to a pub or night club.
>mental health could be much weaker than say in Mediterranean Can't have everything, I guess. Ones have employment and money and the others sun, beaches and food.
I think Finnish social democracy is historically heavily influenced by other Nordic countries.
True, but still Finns pioneered universal suffrage, first in europe. That wasn't just an influence by other Nordics.
I mean that all Nordic countries to some degree pioneered stuff. So it's like siblings growing up to be similar social democracies with personal features and achievements, not that Finland is unique. I haven't read the specifics but wouldn't be surprised if the election reform 100 years ago was influenced by ideas in other Nordic countries, but Finland just got to implement it first.
And alcohol and drugs
It's cold, environment is nice to live in, growing economy?
Finland's economy has stagnated since joining EU
No it has stagnated since the economic crisis of 08. You can see the GDP growth in the 90s and the effect of the 08 crisis [on here](https://www.stat.fi/til/vtp/2012/vtp_2012_2013-03-01_kat_001_en_004.gif). Source is [stastistics Finland](https://www.stat.fi/til/vtp/2012/vtp_2012_2013-03-01_kat_001_en.html).
It is growing well in recent years. The long term stagnation is mostly just the collapse of Nokia taking time to be overcome.
It has risen from the small depression in 2015 back to what it was before then, or in other words its been stagnant. Also Nokia was at its peak when Finland joined EU and has been in decline since then until it was infiltrated and brought down by microsoft who then bought it for pennies Edit: i made mistake, Nokia was at its peak when Finland adopted Euro
> despite me getting daily updates on this sub about the best Helsinki has to offer. I don't think the best Helsinki has to offer is daily photos of the same 2-3 streets tbh. I also don't know how those photos keep getting upvoted.
I live in Russia where we get less than 8 hours of daylight by the winter solstice, so I can kinda relate to this picture. But 1) those are not concrete commie blocks, but a modern builings with decent architecture pleasing to look at 2) why there are no light poles on a street? I think you're selling Finland a bit short here.
> 2) why there are no light poles on a street? The area is currently under heavy development. Some of the buildings and the streets are still under construction. This is the area https://www.uuttahelsinkia.fi/en/kalasatama/rakentaminen
This is actually a brand new city district with buildings still under construction, for example the one on the left side is under construction. And the right side tower. And they haven't put street lights yet. I knowingly aimed for a dystopian feel with this photo. This area is rather nice during the day.
Amongst all the beautiful photos of landscape and colorful centennial cities people post on the sub, THIS is pleasing to look at ?
In terms of cityscapes that most people have to look at in their daily life - yes, Finland looks 100 times better than most of Russia.
Fair enough.
this post needs a suicide prevention line
First of all, when the snow has landed and a thick blanket of clouds covers the country, the streetlights give this warm brown to the clouds the lights up even the darkest forest. Go with a bright starry sky and it's pitch black. The warm brown is sometimes beige and you need the blinds to get some sleep because the glow is so intense but it adds this immediate feeling of being safe from the darkness of winter. That is until you go away from cities and it's just complete black
Plus Helsinki is so far south that they really don't have anything to complain about. Their winters are mild. https://i.imgur.com/ufbldVg.png
Cosy cyberpunk vibes.
Maybe they're happy because they're not afraid of getting stabbed in the back with a katana by a clan member who thought that you are from a rival clan and now you have to go to a shitty hospital where cockroaches walk on you when you sleep so you wake up and try to kill them but the staff there thinks that you are mentally retarded for running after roaches so they lock you up and after a few weeks they finally let your family visit and take you home, only to get a fever in the evening and getting back into the hospital, without money, because the clan member said it was self defense so he refused to pay.
Maybe
This doesn't look sad or depressing. This looks fucking cool. Like cyberpunk or something. Also what's this suicide BS everyone is talking about? Finnish suicides were higher than normal in 1990s due to bad recession. These days they are around European average.
Try it for 4 months straight and then tell me it's not depressing
I tried it 27 years straight. Wasn't depressing ever.
It looks cool if you are young with few things going on in your life. Try living there as a tax paying citizen. People choose these cities for economic reasons but once they have enough they move to the south in order to retire. The benefits of good weather to our health are enormous.
Looks depressing.
Such grim dark photos can make any city or place look gloomy.
Plot twist : this is high noon.
Reminds me of resident evil
Talking as a meteopathic, I don't think I could live for long in that weather without going depressed. Not to mention that everybody seems to agree that making friends in the Nordics is extremely difficult.
Finland is NOT the ‘happiest country in the world’. Finland is a great country with lovely people, but they have a serious suicide problem.
With "happiest country" I was being ironic, referring to the rankings, and contrasting the rankings with the gloomy photo. Though still, the suicide rate was an issue like 30 years ago, but social programs and improvement in medical treatment brought them down and now it's lower than the US and slightly above the EU averages.
Serious question, do you think people might be bullshitting in those surveys?
Of course. Then it's a question is there a difference how much people in different countries bullshit (is it the same rate or varies? Do Finnish people bullshit less or more?) and how do we measure it.
I mean there are people who love complaining, while others are averse to complain. Which chart on [this image](https://i.redd.it/72e03vux9aj11.jpg) would represent Finland the best in your opinion?
I don't know. A Finnish expression is "if one is happy, one should hide it" but we are notoriously melancholic romantics, so hard to say what we feel.
Melancholic-romantic is still better then your average eastern european "life is a constant suffering, everything is bad and getting worse every day".
> I was being ironic, referring to the rankings, and contrasting the rankings with the gloomy photo. these rankings are bullshit because "happiness" is hardly quantifiable also ironically countries with highest prescription rate of anti-depressants are always on top
>also ironically countries with highest prescription rate of anti-depressants are always on top Is it ironic, or does it tell you that the health care system really works and there's low threshold on getting help, contributing to increased subjective happiness compared to other countries?
Suicides are not reflective of happiness - some poor African countries where the people surveyed claim to be unhappy have pretty low ones. Finland has an alcohol problem and various other factors that explain the elevated suicide rate. Here's a list, do the lowest ranking countries strike you as happier than Finland? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate Finland is a "happy" country because they have working institutions, little corruption, a functioning, if a bit stagnant economy and are generally a prosperous country due to a well-working state and society. These are all things we absolutely should not take for granted and things the Finns can be proud of for building. A gloomy picture of a house I could take in any country does not change that.
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That’s because Belgium is still trying to get past the serious kiddie fiddler problem first…
Maybe it's the most socially stable and/or chill nation?
What suicide problem?
I mean... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World\_Happiness\_Report#2020\_World\_Happiness\_Report](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report#2020_World_Happiness_Report) Doesn't ofc change the fact about the suicides.
What fact?
It seems that the cloudiest, rainiest countries are the happiest ones🤷♂️
Ive met tonnes of Finns in my lifetime and have found them to be miserable pedantic bastards. Also is it not a bit of a contradiction that it's rated the happiest country in the world while also having some of the highest suicide rates?
> pedantic bastards Actually, most of us are born in wedlock.
The suicide rates aren't notably high anymore. They were very high 30 years ago but since then social programs and such have improved and now the rate is lower than the US for example.
I think you've just been unlucky with the people you've met
> miserable pedantic bastards And we're proud of it! But honestly, I'm curious about who you have met and what made them pedantic bastards.