this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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The most finnish gif in the "tori"
Also a fairly high suicide rate. Self-selection for happiness?
It's been looked at closer before, but the questionnaire doesn't really ask "how happy are you" it's more "how dissatisfied are you".
Finnish welfare policies mean people here tend to have less complaints. That doesn't mean none, but when it come to a lot of common problems (which the questionnaire specifically targets) like unemployment, healthcare, education, homelessness, debt, we have policies in place that mean they aren't something people generally worry about. Individual people to whom it might be relevant, do.
And that's not to say the policies are flawless and there aren't traps that will screw you... What they do do, is provide a real sense of security that means people don't live their lives in fear of losing what they have. We can be unafraid that some sickness or accident will come along and completely ruin our lives.
I don't personally know anyone who has been ruined by an injury, losing their job or debt. Set back, or had their lives changed, sure. But not ruined. Someone losing their job, their healthcare because of that, then their home due to the debt, and falling to drugs at the end of their rope, is something most people only ever hear about.
Those problems do exist, but Finnish society is such that you almost always have some options. Stuff that ruins lives in other countries, is an inconvenience here. The threshold for random chance ruining your life is much lower.
That said, I would not rate us the happiest. As already mentioned, suicide rates are high. That's because the policies make sure you're alive, and whenever possible, able to work.
What they don't do, almost ever, is make sure you're happy. If you are miserable, that's entirely on individuals to solve. Mental care is not what it should be, and for some it is straight up harmful to engage with the public system if they need help. The state is pretty good and not killing people, except by coldly making sure you're alive, homed and employed, even as you fall apart inside.
The sad ones off themselves, goes the old joke
Also, related article:
Overall populations who live furtherest north or south and in more rural areas TEND to have more suicides world wide and in the US .
Compared to who? US has a higher rate than we do
I know people often joke about the suicides weeding out unhappy ones but it's not common enough to make a difference, even if we had a higher suicide rate.
Compared to roughly 140 other countries. The US has a very high suicide rate, they’re a huge outlier because of gun ownership.
It’s not even the fault of the culture either, it’s mostly due to the darkness throughout the winter.
Well, there is the elephant in the room when it comes to suicides. Many are murders.
Lol for a second I thought the icons at the top of your phone screen were the labels for the columns. Very confusing few moments.
Very high level of alcoholism, and a lot of darkness due to being so far north and with half the country above the arctic circle. Those are both very strong drivers of depression and suicide rates.
Time to repeat that Ismo joke, "oh, is it just me then?"
Would you have a video link to share for this skit ?
Turns out it wasnt a bit, it was just a interview answer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ajzJeeFArA
at 2min 50s
Perkele
Eating breakfast or dinner Or snack lunch in the hall Finland, Finland, Finland Finland has it all
it's not a celebration to be shit among shittier
Wtf!?
The far right government is running things to the ground
How so? I haven't had good international news in some time, this used to be the sort of thing I would have read about.
This gives a bit of a primer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpo_cabinet
I'll see if there's some collection of all the austerity shittification
Edit this is truthful https://feps-europe.eu/finlands-far-right-government-runs-down-the-welfare-state/
And a slop-assisted list of some of the most known:
- Limited political strikes to 24 hours and increased fines for unauthorized work stoppages.
- Lowered the legal threshold for dismissing employees and expanded local bargaining, undermining national collective agreements.
- Introduced an unpaid first day of sick leave, penalizing low-wage workers.
- Cut housing allowances and unemployment benefits, including the removal of child supplements.
- Froze many social welfare benefits, decoupling them from inflation and reducing purchasing power.
- Substantially cut funding for social, mental health, and peace-building NGOs.
- Required work-based immigrants to leave Finland if they cannot find a new job within three months of unemployment.
- Halved the refugee quota, tightened family reunification rules, and extended the citizenship residency requirement to eight years.
- Raised the general Value Added Tax (VAT) to 25.5%, driving up the cost of consumer goods.
- Enforced strict healthcare budget limits, leading to local health station closures and hospital network consolidation.
- Oversaw a continued climb in the national debt alongside a wave of bankruptcies in the construction sector.
- Contributed to a highly polarized climate, sparking massive strikes over austerity measures and controversies involving coalition ministers.
And the highest score in European unemployment rates!
As an unemployed student, can confirm. Anyone with low income is fucked. And there's a lot of us.