Is the United States Less Happy?

You point out that the United States is no longer one of the happiest countries; it's fallen out of a list of the top 10. You ask, you know why that is. Happiness has been studied by psychologists all around the world.

Then they show that, uh, the most important influence on happiness is, uh, community. That basically, if you have your basics covered—basic education, your health, care environment, being healthy—that past that basic level, the most important thing is community.

And so, in the United States, unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, these, um, in a variety of communities, it varies of course by community, but these, um, have become more important issues. In fact, health and happiness are connected, and the United States, um, has a lower life expectancy by about five years than Canadians or countries of a similar income.

Because of that, um, that tension, that fighting between each other, and so I think that if you think about what you can do for happiness, uh, for your own happiness and also to contribute to happiness, you'll find that love, caring, community—these are important things. And of course, I always recommend meditation to give you that equanimity to approach life well.