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Myanmar/Burma. Of course, there are some
politically volatile people there who (not surprisingly) don't like the government, but in general, they are the most contented people I've ever encountered.
The people in the rural parts of south China are also wonderfully mellow and laid back. I would add the southern lowland part of Laos, and the Himalayas---Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim.
Except for those caught up in urban chaos, ordinary people all over the world seem pretty contented to me, but in east Asia, they seem to have a special relationship with the realities of life.
Outside the Orient, I found the Iranians to be very gentle souls.
But the one place, above all, would be Newfoundland. Indescribably wonderful people.
I know Latin American countries, in many cases, have their share of problems. But I have to say that as far as general lifestyle of the populace, they tend to be (traditionally) more relaxed and not so enslaved to their workplace, which I feel makes a huge difference in being content. They tend to work so that they can live; we tend to live so that we can work. I loved the time I spent in Peru mainly for that reason... and that I was able to get out of our often militant linguistic vacuum for a time.
I agree that people who live simply often appear to be more contented.
I certainly don't believe high income equals more happiness.
And in some places, lower expectations can contribute to inner peace.
Also, with certain nations, perhaps the way of life is to "be" rather than constantly analyze/fuss over one's self.
However, I have met a wide variety of folks, and I still think that around the globe, people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.
I've met happy indigenous Guatemalans who were barely above subsistence level, but I've also met very happy middle class French, as well as friendly, gregarious Greeks of varying socio-economic levels.
Contentment comes from within.
I think there is a certain category of happiness you find in groups of people who have very close and specific relationships to the land they live on, or the landscapes which surround them. For example, Sri Lanka is a small island that has just gone through several decades of brutal warfare, including suicide bombings, massacres, and it also has quite a bit of poverty, but for the most part, Sri Lankans seem to love their country and love living in their country's environment.
I asked some impoverished people living in a hilly tea plantation area whether they'd like to leave Sri Lanka for some other place where they could make more money, and they laughed. They told stories about relatives who had gone to Canada or India or Malaysia to do exactly that, and how they couldn't find the same spices and herbs over there, or they were living in cramped apartments with no views of the hills, or how it was too cold. Some had even gone to the west for a while then returned to Sri Lanka.
There is a sense of trauma that happens when people are dislocated from the landscape where their cultural and culinary customs developed. If you live in a place where you "know" the land, and know the landscape, and know the weather patterns, and the taste of the water, and you know the taste of the peppers and fruits and roots and leaves that your earth produces, and your family and friends live in the area, you'll probably have a very satisfying life even if you are very poor.
I think there are deep-rooted biological reasons for this. I also think this is why people often request to be buried back where they were born, even if this is no longer where their families live.
Since this is a debate forum, I will try to kick things off.
Of the observations posted already, how many of you came to your conclusion -that the rural people in such-and-such country are very contented- because you are fluent in their native tongue and, thus, could spend many hours talking with them about their lives. Also, how many of you have worked a significant amount of time amongst them (several years, say)? Worked as opposed to vacationed.
My experience is that the poor, rural folk are mostly resigned to their fates, thus less likely to show surface signs of discontentment. But if given the chance, they reveal themselves as yearning for a better life as much as anyone else.
Finally, how many of you subscribe to Rousseau's myth of the noble savage?
there is only one person that I have met that was ever glaringly obviously content to me, and it was one man I knew thru my work. He was the most kind and understand guy I have ever met.
When I was going thru a very stressful period in my life, he talked to me and told me when I get upset I should chant the: Nam-myoho-renge-kyo chant.
I'm appreciating all your thoughtful postings...this is something I've been pondering for a long while.
No, I don't endorse or believe in the noble savage, I do think it's the sense of belonging and contributing and deep vibrant connections that lead toward contentment...
Contentment does come from within, but first I think our basic needs must be met such as shelter and food...maybe our richness and peace come from those family and social connections...
So often, one reads a headline about someone that went way off on a violent crime and it's said, "Well, I didn't really know him very well, he always kept to himself.."
Contentment does come from within, but first I think our basic needs must be met such as shelter and food...maybe our richness and peace come from those family and social connections...
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There are very few people in the world who do not have the basic shelter and nutrition requirements. Traveling the back country in the third world, riding on the backs of trucks, it is unusual to see homelessness and malnutrition. People ih general are gentle and polite and soft-spoken and generous. It is, as you say, important to them that they have their family and social connections.
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