Personally, I'd settle in a nation that is both green and happy. I would like to settle in a nation that respects Mother Earth. I would like to settle in a nation where residents can not be more satisfied than those who are right now. Unfortunately, there are very few nations in the world that can boast of being so. Rapid industrialization and urbanization in some way has a negative effect on our environment. Somehow, this may have had its effect on life satisfaction of residents.
Costa Rica is definitely worth the two adjectives. In the most recent Happy Planet Index (HPI), created by the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica reported that the most satisfied with their lives. This is in contrast with the United States at position 114 of the 143 countries included in the index. What is notable is that Americans make a per capita footprint of more than four times higher than their counterparts in Costa Rica.Costa Ricans also reported to live longer than Americans.
Most countries in the top of the rankings come from Latin America, followed by Africa.Netherlands, for its part, is the nation's highest-ranking Western in the list, achieving the same satisfaction rating than the U.S., but only has less than half the per capita ecological footprint.
This should be something to keep in mind. Why are the regions that are less developed more satisfied with their lives? The old way of thinking tells us to be further developed to more happy with the rapid industrialization. But this kind of thinking seems to have failed to deliver this target in a long and happy life. In fact, it may be much less.
It is a "developed" life enough to give us a full life? Obviously not. Costa Rica has shown us that much anymore. It seems that all we need is a good perspective on life, lower life expectancy, and respect for nature. This may well be a recipe for a healthy full life.
THE HAPPY PLANET INDEX
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