[extropy-chat] Why Australians will never be prosperous

[BillK]

On 7/8/05, Emlyn wrote:
> "The results show that the proportion of Australians who
> indicate they are totally satisfied with life overall declines as
> income increases; 21 per cent
> of those in the lowest income group say they are totally satisfied
> while only 13 per cent of
> those in the highest income group feel the same way. Overall life
> satisfaction is little
> affected by differences in wealth."
> 

One of the best known quality of life surveys is the annual Economist review.
<http://www.economist.com/theworldin/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3372495&d=2005>

pdf file for more detail:
<http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf>

They say that there are many more factors than money in giving people
life satisfaction. In general, within a country more money will make
people happier, but not that much. Double your income doesn't come
near twice as happy!

For example, the UK ranks 29th in the world - well below its rank on
income per person and bottom among the EU countries. Social and family
breakdown is high, offsetting the impact of high incomes and low
unemployment.

Australia ranks 6th in the world and all the countries above have
colder climates. So the beach and barbie lifestyle sounds best to me.
;)

BillK