Personally, I would like to 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 the residents cannot be any more satisfied than where they are right now. Sadly, there are only very few nations in the world that can claim to be so. Rapid industrialization and urbanization has somehow made a negative effect on our environment. Somehow, this may have had its effect on life satisfaction among the residents.
Costa Rica definitely deserves those two adjectives. In the most recent Happy Planet Index (HPI) created by the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rican reported to be the most satisfied with their lives. This is in contrast with the United States' 114th position out of the 143 countries included in the Index. What's noticeable is that Americans make a per-capita ecological footprint more than four times larger than their Costa Rican counterparts. Costa Ricans also reported to live longer than Americans.
Most of the countries on top of the ratings come from Latin America, followed by Africa. Netherlands, meanwhile, is the highest-ranking Western nation in the list, achieving the same satisfaction rating than the US, but only having less than half per-capita ecological footprint.
This should be something that we must consider. Why are regions that are considered to be less developed more satisfied with their lives? The old way of thinking tells us that we should be more developed in order to get happier, thus the rapid industrialization. But this kind of thinking seems to have failed delivering that goal of a long, happy life. In fact, it may be far from it.
Is a "developed" life enough to give us a full life? Obviously not. Costa Rica has shown us that much already. It seems that the only things that we need are a good outlook in life, lower life expectations, and respect for nature. This may well be the recipe for a healthier, fuller life.
