ELIZABETH BUCHINGER

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THIS WONDERFUL LIFE

It is often said that money cannot buy happiness. It does, however, take a bite out of financial anxiety, a condition that seems to be blooming into a full-scale global pandemic.
And now there’s a little science to back up the money-happiness connection. A study that had been charting national happiness statistics worldwide since 1981 determined that financial prosperity and democratic government combined to make citizens happier.
CNN reported on the study: “Researchers at the University of Michigan said Denmark’s prosperity, stability and democratic government placed the country at the top of the rankings,
with Colombia, Canada, Puerto Rico and Iceland all in the top 10.”
The U.S. came in at 16, out of the 97 countries studied, and Zimbabwe came in last. So while you’re celebrating America’s birthday, get yourself one of those big foam hands with a #16 on it, and chant, “We’re 16, we’re 16!”
Every morning, as I drive 27 fuel-burning, carbon-footprint-spreading miles to work, I listen to National Public Radio’s daily account of just how bad things are. School districts face rising food bills and reshuffle their menu plans to economize.
Some schools – those with fullservice kitchens – are eschewing the frozen and pre-made
stuff for meals prepared from scratch at a much lower cost.
Stocks, consumer confidence and housing starts keep falling, while college tuitions, foreclosures
and blood pressures keep rising.
Fuel is so expensive that even the government is responding: Some state and local governments are moving to four-day work weeks, and the Pentagon is sweating armorpiercing bullets over the cost of keeping jets in the air, tanks on the ground and ships in the water.
It looks bad. But if there is one thing I’ve learned from The Greatest Generation, including
my grandmother (who continues to improve, thanks for asking), it’s that bemoaning your condition won’t put food on the table. Sometimes good, old-fashioned hard work won’t
put much on the table, either.
That’s why there were so many downright rollicking songs that came out of the Great Depression. When you can’t eat, sometimes it helps to distract your mouth by singing.
“Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries.”
“We’re in the Money.”
“Happy Days Are Here Again.”
You can call it denial or irony or a plain old self-deception, but those songs have a common
thread of looking on the bright side of things, laughing willfully in the face of uncertainty
and wresting happiness from the jaws of despair.
I’ve decided to start looking on the bright side of the morning newscasts. For example, being 16th in world happiness is pretty darned good. At least we’re not in Zimbabwe, where their
leader bullied his opposition and his supporters in the election, threatened violence, gave
democracy the finger and stole the presidency.
Yay.
And that whole price of food thing? Maybe we can finally solve our national obesity crisis.
Good for us.

And economic collapse might not be such a bad thing. Families will have to move in together, just like in my grandmother’s youth. We’ll all be so much closer. And, with lay-offs and such, we’ll get to spend much more time with family. Aren’t we always saying we wish we could spend more time with the kids?
Problem solved.
Now for that fuel price thing. Hmmm. That’s a tough one. Our country is really dependent
on fuel, so one way or another we really have to buy it, no matter how much it costs. So
where’s the silver lining? I’ve got it – if you were smart enough to be born into a family whose wealth is derived largely from the oil industry, this is a total win for you!
Score!

Elizabeth Trever Buchinger has a lot of what it takes to get along. She can be reached at VillageWordsmith@gmail.com.

Labels: Columns, Elizabeth Buchinger, Glimmerglass, This Wonderful Life