Unhappy

America ranks 19th in the world in terms of happiness, behind Belgium. 

Belgium.

Jeffrey Sachs, an economist, suggests that the reason America is getting less happy (the trend is bad) is because of addiction. Now, addiction is a HUGE problem in America, but I would argue that addiction is simply the symptom of people's unhappiness. People use alcohol, opiates and other substances to dull whatever pain they are feeling.  Yes, it makes them less happy in the long run, and it does contribute to the unhappiness of those around them.

But I don't think it's a root cause.

One common denominator of unhappiness is relative deprivation.  If you are doing OK, but you don't think you are doing as well as a lot of other people, you can feel unhappy, even though you are objectively fine.  By most objective measures, the world is a much better place than it was the year I was born. (Climate notwithstanding.) But it feels worse.  We are doing pretty well as a family, but when I think about how we will afford to pay for our kids' college...I get worried. 

One hundred years ago, people died from infections and fevers, slavery was still a thing, women had zero rights...things sucked for a lot of people.  But you didn't know how relatively worse off you were than Vanderbilt.

I suppose the internet is part of all this, too, frankly.