“Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top,” the World Happiness Report asks people from 140 countries every year. “The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?”
Released every year on or around March 20, the United Nations’ official International Day of Happiness, the World Happiness Report is “is the world’s foremost publication on global wellbeing and how to improve it,” published by “the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network,” and the organization’s editorial board. Among the data shared, which includes everything from “how sharing meals supports happiness and social connections” to “how prosocial behaviour reduces deaths of despair” and more, there are also annual rankings of the happiest countries in the world. This number is compiled based on polled residents’ perceptions on their country’s levels of inequality, social support, freedom, and more.
This year, based on answers given by its residents, Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year. On the aforementioned ladder, Finns ranked themselves a collective 7.736 out of 10, based on data collected over the last three years, a number that’s gone up by .347 since the first report was ever issued in 2012. According to the BBC, Finns’ happiness is affected by the high quality of its social care systems and the way its residents regularly access nature. Indeed, the top four countries ranked–Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden–are all known for similar strengths.
Northern Lights bands above Vuopajanniemi, Finlandcommons.wikimedia.org
A study conducted by The New York Times in 2023, however, noted that the strengths of Finns’ happiness actually has a lot more to do with their perceptions of what happiness is. Interviewing University of Eastern Finland professor Arto O. Salonen, a scholar of Finnish well-being, the Times found “Finns derive satisfaction from leading sustainable lives and perceive financial success as being able to identify and meet basic needs.” Or, as they quote Salonen, “when you know what is enough, you are happy.”
Finns’ happiness is also related to the national concept of sisu, which as much advocates for a surmounting of adversity as it makes for a difficulty in asking for help, according to a Finnish researcher of sisu queried by the BBC. So, as the Times shares, with the understanding of Finland’s aforementioned benefits can also come a feeling of pressure, according to a young person the publication surveyed. “We are also scared to say that we are discontent with anything, because we know that we have it so much better than other people,” student Clara Paasimaki told the Times.
July sunset in Finland
Photo by Miikka Luotio on Unsplash
By comparison, this year the United States ranks 24th, the lowest the country has seen in the World Happiness Report’s 13 years of analysis. While the GDP per capita is on the higher side, ranked four out of 140, the perception of freedom is ranked much lower, at 115 out of 140. Generally speaking, as a nation the U.S. has no problem sharing its displeasure–it’s actually a large part of why the country exists at all, if you think about it.
The Associated Press ran a story on the World Happiness Report this week, and in it they shared a quote from Gallup CEO John Clifton. “Happiness isn’t just about wealth or growth,” he said. “It’s about trust, connection and knowing people have your back.” When we think about the general state of unrest across America has experienced in the last five years in relation to these ideas, it’s easy to understand why we might land on the list where we do, too.
But out of 140, 24’s certainly not bad. Just something to think about for the future.
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Victoria Claflin Woodhull, the first woman to run for president of the United States in 1872rce Harvard Art Museum/Fogg Museum, Historical Photographs and Special Visual Collections Department, Fine Arts Library via 
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Female shopper looking for help
21 products that are gaslighting us into thinking they’re essential when they’re not
Some things in life are actually necessary—clean water, decent healthcare, basic human decency. But then there are the things that feel like they’re gaslighting us. The things we’re told we can’t live without, even though we survived just fine before they existed. Things like "smart" fridges, lawn fertilizer services, and yes—whole body deodorant.
Recently, our sister-site Upworthy asked their Facebook audience the question: What's a product or service that feels like it's gaslighting all of us into thinking it's necessary? More than 8,000 responses poured in. The answers were passionate, funny, and surprisingly unified.
Here are 21 products, services, and systems people called out for pretending to be essential—when they might actually be optional, overpriced, or flat-out invented.
1. Whole body deodorant
"Take a shower," said Shannon H.
“How did we ever manage all those years without it!! 😂😵💫” added Karen R.
Others noted it may help people with medical conditions—but for the average person, it's definitely a marketing creation.
2. Health insurance
It topped the list. Erica L. explained: “My doctor prescribes, the pharmacist issues meds, nurses care for people, surgeons do surgery—Health Insurance stands between health care and patients and says no, exclusively on whether they think it’s financially effective to treat you.”
Important note: Health insurance can provide life-saving access for many—but what people are frustrated by here is the profit-first system, not care itself.
3. The wedding industry
Multiple people slammed the high cost of modern weddings.
JoElla B. put it plainly: “We spend too much time and money planning one day, and not enough thought on how to blend two lives in a mutually beneficial one.”
Others called out expensive dresses, venues, and pressure to perform for social media.
4. Bottled water
Carole D. said: “Water in plastic bottles! Get a cup!”
While bottled water has value in emergencies, it’s often just filtered tap water—sold for profit in plastic.
5. Baby product overload
“Most baby products,” wrote Kelli O. “They really aren’t as needy and complicated as companies want us to think.”
6. Fabric softener
“It’s bad for clothes, bad for the Earth, bad for the wallet, and totally unnecessary,” said Gail H.
Some experts agree—many softeners contain chemicals that can reduce fabric lifespan and irritate skin.
7. Smart appliances
“Adding ‘phone controls’ to every appliance instead of making them last as long as they used to,” wrote Sherry S.
When your fridge needs a software update, something’s gone off the rails.
8. Makeup and anti-aging products
“Anything anti-aging,” said Melissa T., “Please just let me age into the gargoyle I was meant to become.”
Others questioned products designed to “fix” eyelashes, eyebrows, pores, and graying hair.
April S. added, “Products that women are convinced they MUST have in order to be ‘beautiful’ and therefore ‘loved.’”
9. Cosmetic surgery
Ron P. called out the industry as a whole. And while body autonomy matters, many commenters questioned whether insecurities are being commodified and sold back to us.
10. Ticketmaster and “convenience fees”
“Let’s go back to waiting in line at a record store,” wrote Nicole C.
Zaida B. added: “Convenience fee for online purchases—then charging $10 more at the actual event.”
11. Engagement rings
James P. didn’t mince words: “Engagement rings.”
The diamond industry has long been criticized for manufactured scarcity and marketing-fueled necessity.
12. Lawn chemicals and services
“Plant native grasses and you don’t have the pests or need for constant watering,” wrote Jamie B.
Environmental groups have raised similar concerns over runoff and unnecessary pesticide use.
13. AI and generative tech
“This stuff squeezes the lifeblood and individuality out of the human experience,” said Teresa L.
Saskia D. and others echoed skepticism about its necessity, even as many of us are being pushed to use it.
14. Funeral services
Amy W. shared: “My parents both have already paid to have themselves cremated and are very adamant that they do not want anything big done for them. In their words, ‘I won’t care, I’m dead.’”
Of course, some families find comfort in tradition—but the cost and pressure can feel overwhelming and predatory.
15. Rinse and repeat
Amy D. nailed it: “It’s just to sell more. Not even sure you need it at all.”
16. Credit Card Surcharges
Shawn S. took aim at the extra fees popping up at checkout: “That is the cost of doing business and shouldn’t be the burden of the purchaser.”
Many questioned why customers are increasingly being asked to pay extra simply for the convenience of using a card.
17. Constant phone upgrades
“Apple are notorious for releasing the same shit every year,” said Steph S.
Diana H. added, “Needing to upgrade our phones so frequently.”
Built-in obsolescence and marketing cycles drive most of the demand.
18. Vitamins and supplements
“If I took every supplement they say I NEED I wouldn’t need food. Nor could I afford it,” said Tausha L.
19. Fake pockets on women’s pants
Jessica W. said, “I have to buy men’s pants for work because women’s pants would just get torn up too fast!”
Form over function, and then they charge more for it.
20. Disposable everything
“The ‘convenience’ of disposable everything,” said Rick R.
It’s killing the planet—and draining wallets.
21. Tipping
“I’m sick of supplementing for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage,” wrote Susan V.
Tipping culture has evolved into something far removed from its original intent, and for many, it now feels like a burden shifted onto the customer.
The bigger picture
People aren’t saying all these things should vanish tomorrow. But when we start seeing convenience sold as necessity, and insecurity turned into billion-dollar markets, it's worth asking: who benefits from all of this?
And more importantly—who pays?
This article originally appeared earlier this year.