Between scandinavian countries and the Northeast of USA and Canada...

[HeatyHeathen]

Which do you guys think would be a better living alternative for a twenty something person to live, entertainment and job fulfillment wise ?

I know this may sound like a no brainer but let's consider that I wont have problems with my job qualifications and no worries about living to pay paychecks, since I'm planning this as a long term endeavor where I'll apply myself to fellowship or transfer programs from my uni here in my country to other unis abroad.

Having this out of the way, which of these two regions would be more interesting for a young bloke like me to live ?

I don't know if people are exageratting or not, but I've heard living in Scandinavian countries gets soul crushing with time but at the same time I feel drawn to them because of the culture and the fact that I'm a currently closeted heathen who wants to, maybe in the near future, study the Norse religions in loco.

On the flipside, the Toronto-NY regions don't seem to have any major heathen groups, at least that Im aware of, but offer a huge plethora of cultural and entertainment scenes.

So, what do you think of it ?

 

[epronovost]

The happiest country on Earth right now would be Finland, followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Netherland. Canada ends up at the 9th rank while the US is the 19th. The last rank, the 156th, is occupied by South Sudan. The ranking does shift from year to year, but the overall score remains fairly stable.

World Happiness Report - Wikipedia

PS: the main indicators were the following: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and trust in others.

 

[Valjean]

Are you looking to relocate permanently?

 

[Estro Felino]

Ask @Amanaki

 

[Stanyon]

NY is overrated, do you really consider CATS as culture or entertainment?

 

[HeatyHeathen]

The happiest country on Earth right now would be Finland, followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Netherland. Canada ends up at the 9th rank while the US is the 19th. The last rank, the 156th, is occupied by South Sudan. The ranking does shift from year to year, but the overall score remains fairly stable.

World Happiness Report - Wikipedia

PS: the main indicators were the following: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and trust in others.

Yeah, but the problem is that statistics can be VERY misleading. What they define as "happiness" is a series of indexes that have to do with social and professional mobility and material quality of life. Have you never asked yourself how on earth do the Scandinavian countries are the happiest on those lists yet have the most amount of suicides on all developed countries ?

 

[HeatyHeathen]

NY is overrated, do you really consider CATS as culture or entertainment?

HAHAHA, I consider that type of thing as neither, but you gotta remember that NY is much more than just the Broadway. There are music scene places, art galleries, you name it. I too don't like most "Liberal Approved Culture" but the thing with cities like NY is that theres much more than just it.

 

[HeatyHeathen]

Are you looking to relocate permanently?

Yes, I do. Permanently moving to the US is a secondary option, though. Dont take it the wrong way: there are many things I appreciate in the USA but what puts it in second place is the almost complete lack of government assistance in consideration with the relatively low income per middle class person. I know that you're founded on a more libertarian approach, but I sincerely think this type of hard set model is becoming VERY stale with our globalised post-modern economy.

I just CANT stand knowing that I'll be paying taxes just to fund an army while I won't even have to right to rest calmly in a hospital bed because of the bills.

 

[HeatyHeathen]

Ask @Amanaki

Is he a permanent resident in the regions I mentioned ? What is his profession ?

 

[epronovost]

Yeah, but the problem is that statistics can be VERY misleading. What they define as "happiness" is a series of indexes that have to do with social and professional mobility and material quality of life. Have you never asked yourself how on earth do the Scandinavian countries are the happiest on those lists yet have the most amount of suicides on all developed countries ?

They don't. When adjusted for age and gender, Norway ranks at the 74th rank in terms of suicide, Denmark 89th, Sweeden 51th, Finland 32sd, Iceland 40th, Canada is 72sd while the US is 34th. The place with the highest suicide rate is Guyana, followed by Lesotho and Russia. The European country with the highest suicide rates (should you not consider Russia purely European) is Lithuania at rank 4. it's important to note though that the ranking get's very tight very quickly. The difference between Finland and the US is of 0.1 suicide per 100 000. which isn't exactly significant. The average global suicide rate ajusted by age and gender is of about 10.5 suicides per 100 000 person which is about the rate of Canada.

Suicide rates need to be adjusted to gender and age. Older people commit more suicides than younger ones for a variety of reasons with health issues being the biggest factor right up there with substance abuse. Men also die by suicide much more often than women too. Note that in many non-Western or East Asian country, suicide is highly taboo due to religious or cultural prohibition against such a practice and that as a result, a lot of suicides might actually be passed as accidental deaths instead to avoid repercussion. This is especially true for suicides amongst elderly people. In some country, assisted medical suicide is also legal like it's the case in Belgium or certain Province of Canada. This tend to drive suicide up. So any stats about suicide needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but the stats we currently have are still a very good place to start looking into to get a basic idea.

List of countries by suicide rate - Wikipedia

 

[HeatyHeathen]

They don't. When adjusted for age and gender, Norway ranks at the 74th rank in terms of suicide, Denmark 89th, Sweeden 51th, Finland 32sd, Iceland 40th, Canada is 72sd while the US is 34th. The place with the highest suicide rate is Guyana, followed by Lesotho and Russia. The European country with the highest suicide rates (should you not consider Russia purely European) is Lithuania at rank 4. it's important to note though that the ranking get's very tight very quickly. The difference between Finland and the US is of 0.1 suicide per 100 000. which isn't exactly significant. The average global suicide rate ajusted by age and gender is of about 10.5 suicides per 100 000 person which is about the rate of Canada.

Suicide rates need to be adjusted to gender and age. Older people commit more suicides than younger ones for a variety of reasons with health issues being the biggest factor right up there with substance abuse. Men also die by suicide much more often than women too. Note that in many non-Western or East Asian country, suicide is highly taboo due to religious or cultural prohibition against such a practice and that as a result, a lot of suicides might actually be passed as accidental deaths instead to avoid repercussion. This is especially true for suicides amongst elderly people. In some country, assisted medical suicide is also legal like it's the case in Belgium or certain Province of Canada. This tend to drive suicide up. So any stats about suicide needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but the stats we currently have are still a very good place to start looking into to get a basic idea.

List of countries by suicide rate - Wikipedia

Thats interesting, thanks for the correction. I'll consider this when planning myself.