Rethinking quality of life in the era of climate crisis

What happens to perceived quality of life when a society’s value system shifts toward undermining that which makes life on earth sustainable?

Once again, the United States has failed to make it into the top 10 of the world’s happiest countries.

Since 2012, the United Nations releases annual survey results comparing how people in different countries rate their overall quality of life. The data are obtained through a World Gallup Poll and published every March in the World Happiness Report (WHR). This year, America ranked 15^th.

The survey assesses quality of life on a 0-to-11-point scale where 0 equates with the worst possible life and 11 is the best possible. America’s best showing (11^th place) was in 2012, and its worst (19^th) was in 2019. “Happiness” and “quality of life” are used interchangeably in the WHR.

Finland ranked #1 in happiness the last six years, with the Scandinavian countries and Switzerland claiming the top 3+ spots every year.

People may conceptualize aspects …