9/26 week reading: the debate

• there were many statistics that showed that the richer countries were the happier
• many facets of everyday life were seen with more satisfaction among the citizens of the richer countries
• however, there were also examples that showed how quality beat quantity
• ex: people would rather be the commoners in the land of the rich than the richest of the poor
• changing the question asked to the people being surveyed kept the results essentially the same
• ex: Japan did this and although its people were becoming happier, the surveys indicated otherwise