From Robert Whitcomb's "Digital Diary,'' in GoLocal24.com:
WalletHub has come out with an interesting ranking of the states by their degree of happiness. The five most unhappy were the deep Red, pro-Trump states of, ranked in order of misery: West Virginia, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas. Given theirpolitics, social services and demography, I doubt they’ll be much happier any time soon. The happiest? The top five are: Minnesota (Scandinavian-style civic system and courtesy?); Utah (hard-working, honest, strong-family and charitable Mormons? community spirit?); Hawaii (climate and beauty?); California (lots of sun? dynamic?), and Nebraska (friendly, civic-minded, salt of the earth Corn Huskers?).
For the New England states: New Hampshire was 10th(honest and civic-minded? entrepreneurial? nice scenery?); Vermont 13th (honest and civic-minded? scenery? low jobless rate?); Connecticut 18th(rich folks? pretty towns?); Massachusetts 19th (high energy? innovative?); Maine 25th (natural beauty but economically poor for the region), and Rhode Island 33rd(Decades of slow economy? (unfairly) low self-image? ). Readers can plug in their own explanations.
Of course, as I’ve written, all such rankings are to varying degrees dubious because they’re all comparing apples and oranges. Perhaps what’s most significant is what the creation of such rankings says about our insecurities.
