The Geography Of Bliss

In the book The Geography of Bliss from Eric Weiner, through the first four chapters Weiner visits the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bhutan and Qatar to discover the factors that makes these countries happy. People in both the Netherlands and Switzerland are provided healthcare and education, since both are socially-minded European countries. But one, the Netherlands, has a loose lifestyle, while Switzerland has strict social rules. In the other two countries, Bhutan and Qatar, one focuses too much on happiness development but nearly abandons its economic development. On the other hand, Qatar focuses more on the latter. So which country is the happiness in these fours. My observation from Weiner’s perspective on these four countries has brought me to the conclusion that, happiness is a balance between the possession of physical properties and the mentality of the people.
According to Weiner, Dutch happiness comes from their tolerance. To be exact, it’s their legalization of drug and prostitute. As Weiner describes his experience, when he tried Moroccan hash, “smoking hash legally in Rotterdam is not nearly as much fun as doing it illicitly in your college dorm …show more content…
The country promotes happiness over economic production, which is a good approach to the country’s overall happiness. The idea behind it, is described in an article, “Gross national happiness and health: lessons from Bhutan”. It states, “Happiness, health and well-being are closely related. Good health is often considered the single most important determinant of well-being; conversely, adverse health changes have lasting and negative effects on well-being”. If we could agree that, having the basic needs is one starting point to happiness, so having a healthy life is an important step. The GNH, does not ignore economic growth but rather try to develop the country’s economic in order to ensure the health of the