Every year, a United Nations-backed organization publishes a report that ranks countries based on “happiness”. The rankings themselves are based on Gallup surveys of a few thousand participants in each country who are asked to personally rate their lives on a scale of 0 to 10. This “life evaluation”, in other words, is someone’s stated personal opinion of how content they are with their life at that particular point in time. That information is then coupled with some other factors and presented in the annual World Happiness Report.

But critics have pointed out glaring contradictions, blind spots and biases, including a seeming inclination towards rich Western nations – the Global North – that ignores centuries of colonial exploitation that enabled them to gather that wealth.

Depressed but happy?

Most of 2023’s “happiest countries” are in Europe. Finland, for example, holds the top spot as the world’s happiest country – as it has for the past six years.

But the country also has some of the highest rates of antidepressant use in Europe. The same is true for Sweden, which ranks sixth, and Iceland, which ranks second – and has the highest reported antidepressant use in all of Europe.

Meanwhile, India ranks 126th – extremely low – on the World Happiness Report, but places much, much higher in a separate poll, which also factors in variables like work-life balance. Another competing report, known as the Global Happiness Report, ranked China as the world’s happiest country.

A homeless man sleeps against the wall of a building along 14th Street in downtown Denver, Colorado, US, as temperatures soar on Friday, August 4, 2023 [David Zalubowski/AP Photo]

Rich but unequal?

While the happiness rankings are based on responses to a single question, the actual World Happiness Report itself is an in-depth analysis that explains the rankings with the help of other data points. One of these data points is gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

Researchers have noticed a correlation: countries with high GDP per capita are often the ones that rank highest on the happiness rankings. The top 20 countries on the list, after all, are largely Western countries with high economic indicators, leading many to conclude that GDP per capita is the most important factor in determining a country’s overall happiness.

But GDP per capita does not take into account income inequality. It is simply the total value of goods and services generated per year in a country, divided by the total population. It tells us nothing about who gets a country’s wealth and who does not, nor how much of it is concentrated in the hands of the few.

The United States, which ranks 15th on the happiness index, has significantly more income inequality than just about any other developed nation, according to one of the world’s most widely cited measures of income inequality. It’s a country where some 38 million Americans live in poverty – officially – and nearly 60 percent of the population lives paycheque to paycheque.

Members of Black Lives Matter and residents hold a protest in the City Hall of Paterson, New Jersey, US, on March 28, 2023 [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]

Whose happiness?

Gallup’s website says they poll “the entire civilian, non-institutionalised adult population of the country” for the data that feeds the happiness report.

But that excludes populations who live in institutions like prisons, nursing homes and senior centres, to name a few. What’s more, the researchers don’t survey civilians in areas they believe are unsafe (ie, “where the safety of the interviewing staff is threatened”). It’s unclear how many population centres that may exclude – especially in deeply unequal societies, or in countries with significant imprisoned populations, like the US and Brazil, where a disproportionate share of inmates are Black.

Then there’s the issue of cultural bias, a common critique of the happiness report. The basic idea is stated quite clearly in a 2023 study: “How can one conclude that wellbeing is higher in country A than country B when wellbeing is being measured according to the way people in country A think about wellbeing?” The problem with the happiness report, these researchers say, is that asking people to rate how happy or satisfied they are is akin to viewing the issue through a Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic – or “WEIRD” – lens, which they describe as much more individualistic and achievement-oriented.

To put it simply, asking someone, “How satisfied are you with your life?” may, in fact, be asking them to think about happiness as it relates to their individual life achievements rather than other factors such as their interpersonal relations and social harmony. One poll shows that “interdependent happiness”, rooted in one’s interpersonal relations with family and peers, is a stronger factor in determining “happiness” – a common response in polling data from Japan, Nigeria and Poland. How different might the world happiness ranking look if the main question was, “Do you feel loved and cared for?” or “Do you feel like you belong?”

Portraits of people killed during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin hang on a wall on July 5, 2023 [File: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]

Stolen happiness?

The happiness report also lacks perspective on how the happiness of one group may be inextricably linked to the unhappiness of another. The United Kingdom is ranked the world’s 17th happiest country, but the country’s prosperity was built in part on the centuries-long colonial exploitation of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean sugar trade and the plundering of India.

Belgium is the 19th happiest, but it extracted enormous wealth – and inflicted incredible suffering – through its colonisation of what is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Meanwhile, India, the Caribbean nations and African countries are largely ranked quite low on the happiness report.

Or take the fact that this year, Israel ranks fourth, while Palestinians rank 95 spots lower. Palestinians have been forcibly removed from their homeland by settler colonialists both before and after 1948, a day Palestinians remember as the “Nakba”, or the catastrophe. They have since lived under military occupation and a regime that practises what multiple international human rights groups describe as a system of apartheid run by the Israeli government.

So what do the World Happiness Report’s rankings actually tell us? Is it a hierarchy of people who openly proclaim they are satisfied with their lives, based on a Western conception of “satisfaction”? Is it a ranking of countries with high GDP per capita? Or is it a ranking of wealthy countries that got rich by exploiting others?

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“Today I apologize” Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, speaking at a nationally televised speech at the Dutch National Archives on Monday.

“For centuries the Dutch state and its representatives have enabled and stimulated slavery and have profited from it.

“It is true that nobody alive today bears any personal guilt for slavery…(however) the Dutch state bears responsibility for the immense suffering that has been done to those that were enslaved and their descendants.”

The apology comes amid a wider reconsideration of the country’s colonial past, including efforts to return looted art.

The prospect of an apology on a December afternoon in The Hague had been met with resistance from groups who say it should have come from King Willem-Alexander, in former colony Suriname, on July 1, 2023 – the 160th anniversary of Dutch abolition.

Dutch slave-trading history

“It takes two to tango – apologies have to be received,” said Roy Kaikusi Groenberg of the Honor and Recovery Foundation, a Dutch Afro-Surinamese organization.

He said it felt wrong that activists who are descendants of slaves have struggled for years to change the national discussion but had not been sufficiently consulted.

“The way the government is handling this, it’s coming across as a neo-colonial belch,” he said.

Rutte acknowledged a clumsy handling of the runup to the announcement and said the Dutch government is sending representatives to Suriname, as well as Caribbean islands that remain part of the kingdom of the Netherlands with varying degrees of autonomy: Curacao, Sint Maarten, Aruba, Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius.

The Dutch first became involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the late 1500s but did not become a major trader until the mid-1600s when they seized Portuguese fortresses along Africa’s west coast and plantations in northeastern Brazil.

Eventually, the Dutch West India Company became the largest trans-Atlantic slave trader, with hundreds of thousands of people branded and forced to work in plantations in Suriname and other colonies.

Dutch slavery continued until 1863.

A Dutch government-appointed board issued a report last year saying that “today’s institutional racism cannot be seen separately from centuries of slavery and colonialism.”

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Not every game can be a six-goal thriller, but most viewers were probably expecting a few more highlights from a meeting between two top-20-ranked teams at Doha’s Al Thumama Stadium on Monday.

The Netherlands edged an evenly matched, fluid first half, despite Ismaila Sarr sending in a cracking curling shot for Senegal in the 24th minute that was deflected wide.

But the game slowed in a largely pedestrian second half before a flurry of late chances preceded an 85th-minute goal from Cody Gakpo.

The number 8 did well to get to Barcelona starlet Frenkie de Jong’s enticing cross ahead of Senegal’s keeper, Edouard Mendy, and nod the ball into the net.

Substitute Memphis Depay played a pivotal late cameo for the Netherlands 
[Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

Substitute Davy Klaassen added a second in the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time after Mendy failed to gather a shot.

Senegal struggled without the influence of star forward Sadio Mane although Sarr, moved across to the left, shone as he attempted to make up for the absence of their injured talisman.

While the African champions came close on occasions, they met stiff resistance in the shape of Netherlands goalkeeper Andries Noppert, who made a flurry of strong saves in his first game for the national team.

Dutch fans said they were happy with the result but acknowledged the overall performance left a lot to be desired.

“I thought it would be easy but it wasn’t,” Ron Tubee, a fan, told Al Jazeera at the Al Thumama Stadium.

“Senegal were very good, very fast, strong and disciplined,” he added.

The orange-shirted Dutch fans had been subdued until the late strikes secured 
victory for their side 
[Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

Fellow Oranje supporter Peter Tobben agreed.

“It was a match of few clear-cut chances … it was very close and they [Senegal] didn’t deserve to lose. Our first half performance was slow,” Tobben told Al Jazeera.

Big things were expected of the Dutch in this tournament, particularly after their absence from Russia in 2018.

After overcoming their first and possibly most difficult pre-knockout phase test, they are well poised to qualify as winners from a group that also features hosts Qatar and South American side Ecuador.

Captain Virgil Van Dijk said there was plenty of room for improvement as the tournament progresses.

“We won, but we also know that we can and must do better,” Van Dijk told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

“Going forward, we sometimes tried to force things, and we too often left ourselves exposed to Senegal’s counter-attacks,” he added.

“That is an area in which we will need to improve.”

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In 2018, more than a quarter of all trips were made by bike; a sharp contrast to the UK, France, and Ireland, where that figure drops to less than 5 percent of trips.

For journeys under 7.5 km, that figure rises to more than a third.

So, how did the Netherlands become home to 23 million bikes and roads which have been redesigned to accommodate them?

The birth of a cycling nation

By the 1970s, the cities of the Netherlands were, like most cities in Europe, clogged with cars.

A rapid rise in car ownership meant that by 1970, there were 100 cars per 500 inhabitants.

Dutch streets, many constructed during medieval times, were not designed for this kind of traffic, and the results were deadly.

In 1971, more than 3,000 people were killed by vehicles, and almost 500 of these fatalities were children.

This sparked a movement called Stop de Kindermoord (Stop the Child Murder).

The public backlash against such high fatality rates also coincided with the oil crisis of 1973, when some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, cut oil production and embargoed exports to certain countries.

When combined together, these two events were enough to persuade the Dutch government to put its car-centric urban planning days behind it.

Bike-centric planning: Cars are guests

Perhaps the most important action the Dutch government has taken to encourage people into the saddle is the creation of many miles of bike lanes.

Today, the Netherlands has more than 35,000 km of cycle paths; for context, the country’s road network is only 140,000 km.

But the Netherlands didn’t stop there, the country also has a series of roads used by cars and bikes where bikes have priority.

On many of these streets, you’ll find signs stating “fietsstraat auto te gast,” meaning cars are guests.

Dutch roundabouts are another example of where urban planning has become more bike and pedestrian focussed.

Around 60 percent of roundabouts in Dutch cities have a physically separated circular cycle track that runs around the roundabout intersecting its exits.

In most urban areas, bikes are given the right of way, with cars expected to stop. Many junctions have also been redesigned to help reduce the risk posed to cyclists.

Dozens of bikes are parked outside a train station in the Netherlands.Canva

Depending on the speed limit on a road before a junction, bike lanes are either meant to come closer to traffic to improve visibility or curve away, allowing cars to turn before they cross a bike lane.

Where bike lanes have the right of way, such as when vehicles turn off the main road into a side street, these lanes should be raised according to guidelines.

As well as having designed cities and roads which help cyclists from point A to B safely, authorities have also invested in bike parking.

In 2019, the Dutch city of Utrecht became home to the world’s biggest multistorey bike park, with enough room for 12,500 bikes.

The country has also worked to allow a smooth transition between different forms of transport, with most train stations now having bike parks.

On top of this, some trains even have a special bike carriage or bike spaces within carriages.

Benefits of being a cycling nation

Once you dive into the benefits of cycling, it’s easy to see why countries around the world are rushing to replicate Dutch success.

A 2016 study in the UK on the value of cycling found that it was not only beneficial to cyclists but also improved productivity, had a positive societal impact, and lowered health-related costs for the state.

A recent report by Decisio estimated the social export value of Dutch cycling is between €1.2 to €3.8 billion per year.

Bike manufacturing, sales, maintenance and rental together account for 13,000 full-time jobs in the country.

The Netherlands shows no interest in hitting the breaks on its cycling ambition any time soon.

At the end of last month, the Dutch Secretary of State for Infrastructure and Water Management wrote to parliament setting out her goal of getting an extra 100,000 people commuting by bicycle over the next two and a half years.

The department is also currently reviewing plans on how it might get bikes to the more than 200,000 children and young people who cannot afford one.

Hope for other countries

While the Netherlands might be the front runner, other countries and cities have shown that bikes can be quickly adopted.

In Seville, Spain, the number of trips being made on bikes rose from under 7,000 in 2006 to more than 70,000 in 2011.

Copying Dutch techniques, the city turned many car park spaces and converted them into raised and separated bike lanes.

Seville now has a whole network of cycle lanes, the first 80 km of which cost less than €20 million to construct.

The rapid expansion of temporary cycle lanes around the world during the pandemic shows that the Netherlands might not be as special as we think it is.

With enough political will, anywhere could become the next Netherlands.

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Dutch health authorities said the 13 cases of the variant were found among people on two flights from South Africa to Amsterdam on Friday.

Authorities had tested all of the more than 600 passengers on those two flights and had found 61 coronavirus cases, going on to test those for the new variant.

“It is not unlikely more cases will appear in the Netherlands,” Health Minister Hugo de Jonge told a news conference in Rotterdam. “This could possibly be the tip of the iceberg.”

The discovery of Omicron, dubbed a “variant of concern” last week by the World Health Organization, has caused worry around the world that it could resist vaccinations and prolong the nearly two-year COVID-19 pandemic.

First discovered in South Africa, it has now been detected in Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Botswana, Israel, Australia and Hong Kong.

Omicron is potentially more contagious than previous variants, although experts do not know yet if it will cause more or less severe COVID-19 compared to other strains.

Many countries have imposed travel bans or curbs on southern Africa to try to stem the spread. Financial markets dived on Friday as investors worried that the variant could stall a global recovery. Oil prices tumbled by about $10 a barrel.

Most Gulf stock markets ended lower on Sunday, with the Saudi and Dubai indexes suffering their biggest single-day fall in nearly two years.

In new cases detected on Sunday, Denmark said it had registered two cases in travelers from South Africa, while officials in Australia said two passengers who arrived in Sydney from southern Africa had tested positive for the variant.

Austria was investigating a suspected case and in France Health Minister Olivier Veran said the variant was probably already circulating there.

The top U.S. infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, said Americans should be prepared to fight the spread of the new variant, but it is too soon to say what actions are needed, including possible mandates or lockdowns.

In Britain, where two linked cases of Omicron identified on Saturday were connected to travel to southern Africa, the government announced measures to try to contain the spread, including stricter testing rules for people arriving in the country and requiring mask-wearing in some settings.

British health minister Sajid Javid said on Sunday he expected to receive advice imminently on whether the government can broaden a program of providing booster shots to fully vaccinated people, to try to weaken the impact of the variant.

Zhong Nanshan, a Chinese respiratory disease expert, said it could take some time to reach a conclusion on the harmfulness of the new variant, state television reported on Sunday.

VACCINE DISPARITIES

Although epidemiologists say travel curbs may be too late to stop Omicron from circulating, many countries – including the United States, Brazil, Canada, European Union nations, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Thailand – have announced bans or restrictions on travel from South Africa and other southern African nations.

More countries imposed such curbs on Sunday, including Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

The South African government has denounced the travel measures as unfair and potentially harmful to its economy, saying it is being punished for its scientific ability to identify coronavirus variants early.

Mexico’s deputy health secretary, Hugo Lopez Gatell, said travel restrictions are of little use, calling measures taken by some countries “disproportionate”.

“It (Omicron) has not been shown to be more virulent or to evade the immune response induced by vaccines. They affect the economy and well-being of people,” he said on Saturday.

Omicron has emerged as many countries in Europe are already battling a surge in COVID-19 infections, with some reintroducing restrictions on social activity to try to stop the spread.

The new variant has also thrown a spotlight on huge disparities in vaccination rates around the globe. Even as many developed countries are giving third-dose boosters, less than 7% of people in poorer countries have received their first COVID-19 shot, according to medical and human rights groups.

Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Vaccine Alliance that with the WHO co-leads the COVAX initiative to push for equitable distribution of vaccines, said this was essential to ward off the emergence of more coronavirus variants.

“While we still need to know more about Omicron, we do know that as long as large portions of the world’s population are unvaccinated, variants will continue to appear, and the pandemic will continue to be prolonged,” he told Reuters on Saturday.

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Germany reported the bird flu outbreak at a goose farm last week while commercial farms across the Netherlands were ordered to keep all poultry inside after an outbreak at a farm in the central province of Flevoland.

Namibia’s veterinary services directorate said it had with immediate effect suspended the import and in-transit movement of live poultry, birds, raw poultry products, live ostriches and ostrich products from the two countries.

It said consignments of poultry products packed from Oct. 1 in Germany and Oct. 5 in the Netherlands would be rejected and returned or destroyed at a cost to the importer.

The risk to humans from the disease is considered low, but previous outbreaks among farm birds have resulted in extensive slaughtering programs to contain the spread.

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The Netherlands, Belgium and Austria on Sunday banned flights from the U.K. and Germany considered limiting such flights to make sure that a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England does not establish a strong foothold on the continent.

The Netherlands banned flights from the U.K. for at least the rest of the year while Belgium issued a flight ban for 24 hours starting at midnight and also halted train links to Britain, including the Eurostar. German officials were considering “serious options” regarding incoming flights from the U.K., but have not yet taken action.

Austria said it would also halt flights from the U.K. but there were no immediate details on the timing of the ban, the Austrian news agency APA reported. The Czech Republic, meanwhile, imposed stricter quarantine measures from people arriving from the U.K.

The five EU governments say their response comes in reaction to tougher measures imposed Saturday in London and surrounding areas by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He immediately put those regions into a new Tier 4 level of restrictions, saying that a fast-moving new variant of the virus that is 70% more transmissible than existing strains appears to be driving the rapid spread of new infections in London and southern England.

“There’s no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,” Johnson said, or that vaccines will be less effective against it.

Italy also plans to suspend flights to and from the U.K. over concerns about the new coronavirus strain, its Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio announced Sunday afternoon local time.

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