Explaining High Happiness in Latin America: This paper explains why people in Latin America are happier than expected for their economic situation, pointing to strong personal relationships as a key factor. These close connections boost life satisfaction and well-being more than income.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-024-00817-9
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The wording of this implying people look from out the outside in just baffled that people are happy but not rich is wild to me.
The second you hit Mexico all the way down family and community take on a whole different meaning. Central and South America have its issues but social connections absolutely isn’t one of them
Doesn’t Latin America also have a higher than average level of mental health problems?
EDIT:Â https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanam/article/PIIS2667-193X(24)00044-9/fulltext#:~:text=While%20the%20prevalence%20of%20depression,a%20regional%20prevalence%20of%2012%25.
So… Solidarity.
Is it any wonder why the capitalism-apologists will have you think it’s a communist thing?
Imagine what we could do if we had strong economics AND solidarity. When we’re all rugged individuals, we’re so much easier to pick off one by one.
Turns out everyone slowly being turned into a single alienated consumer is bad for happiness.
Not shocked.
Grew up in a family with one sister, divorced parents, and tough relationships with all of them. My Mexican friends were all just straight up confused when I talked about my family life. There’s definitely different societal expectations in Mexico/Central America than there are in a lot of places in the states.