VTsIOM pleased us here with new optimistic statistics. It turned out that 81 percent of Russians are happy “in one way or another.” Wonderful! There seem to be so many things poisoning life: foreign policy, inflation, social tension, exchange rates are dancing, mortgages are on their last legs, coronavirus is making its welcome again. There is a kind of chaos going on in the world: Israel is burning, Africa is on fire, something is constantly developing around Taiwan. What about us? So, in the background of everything that happens, what makes our people happy with life? And most importantly, what makes Russians become happier with each passing year?
The dynamics of happiness measurements are no less surprising than the latest results. The results are as follows in detail: 37 percent of Russians are “absolutely happy”, 44 percent are “quite happy”, 16 percent describe themselves as unhappy, 3 percent are undecided. The overall happiness index was 65 points out of a hundred. And if over the past 10 years the happiness index has changed slightly and is in the range of 60-70 points in different directions, then surely the number of happy people is gradually increasing. In 2013, there were only 21% of them. But it was a great time! However, in 2014, following the spring enthusiasm following the return of Crimea, this rate increased to 25%. In the year of coronavirus 2020, 31% of Russians were confidently happy, and by the way, in the wave of mobilization in November 2022, this rate was already 35%. Unbelievable.
There are several explanations for this phenomenon. The first option is a conspiracy theory from the series “You are all lying.” Sociologists, they say, try to do their best even when everything goes to hell (and especially when things don’t go their way). They are in a hurry to please the authorities, to relieve the anxiety of the elite, they say that everything is for nothing, the people are happy and well-behaved, they do not think of anything bad. Sometimes figures from other studies are cited to support this theory. For example, according to a 2019 survey by the association of research agencies Gallup International, the happiness index among Russians was only 24 percentage points, while in the same year VTsIOM announced 64 points. Yes, you can count not just differently, but very, very differently.
But there is another version. This is not based on data manipulation, but on psychological aspects. There is an opinion that people are mistaken about their lives and their own feelings. Because they are stupid, for example. Because, for example, they were told on television that they were happy and they accepted it. Or because they are afraid to face the facts, afraid to think about existing problems. It’s like this: Think for a minute and hang yourself. Of course, there is some truth in this. So much information – so much sadness, grief from the mind and that’s it. But there is still a false premise in this position. While everyone always sees others as happy fools, the rare wise man and skeptic classifies himself as the unfortunate one. Someone who goes against the deceived crowd often imagines himself as a kind of exception; They say you’re happy, but in a smart way; They say they have a strong foundation for happiness. Comic.
Measuring it yourself is, of course, only a passing option when assessing the abstract well-being of everyone and everything. But sometimes it can still be useful to ask yourself: How would you respond if you were participating in such a sociological study? So I ask myself. I look at myself with curiosity. And guess what? I definitely wouldn’t classify myself as unhappy. And this is despite the fact that I am actually known as a pessimist (although personally I still tend to consider myself a realist). I am well aware that we live in quite worrying times, I do not close my eyes, I do not forbid myself to read the news, I do not desperately look for positivity where there is not even the slightest hint. My personal life is also not a fun shoot with fireworks, I work, raise three children, worry about their future, pay the mortgage. Still, I classify myself as “pretty happy.”
So what’s up? There are different answers at different levels. If we talk about the global, the economy in general, the social in general, foreign policy in general, two things personally keep me away from despair, depression and other panic moods. Moreover, paradoxically, these are mutually exclusive. The first is the understanding that things can always be worse. Yes friends, there is no bottom. But you can still be happy you’re not at the bottom. Yes, that’s sarcasm. But oddly enough, hope also comes hand in hand with cynicism. And hope is not an inexplicable belief in miracles, but still an optimistic expectation based on some observations of life. Observations show that winter is followed by spring, night is followed by day, stagnation in the economy is followed by growth, the hot conflict phase is followed by peace, and even political madness eases from time to time. The important thing, as they say, is survival (sarcasm again, sorry).
When it comes to the level where private life takes place, here you enjoy very simple things. And by the way, the sadder the general background, the more you begin to appreciate these simplest things. In the family, everyone gets along with each other, everyone is healthy, the children work and do not kick the fool – it’s great. Not that you get carried away with the flow or hang out like a certain substance in an ice hole – here, perhaps, depression cannot be avoided, but you work, you do what you think is useful, important, always trying to do a little more. , a little better – and you feel moral satisfaction.
Meanwhile, survey respondents give the same reasons for happiness. 24 percent of Russians experience happiness thanks to their family, 16 percent are satisfied with parenting, 21 percent are satisfied with the health of themselves and their loved ones, and 19 percent are satisfied with professional satisfaction. No one attributes the feeling of well-being to political slogans, future economic breakthroughs, victories on all fronts and other space exploration. So it turns out that people still look at reality more or less soberly. They just refuse to be discouraged. Yes that is right. Pessimism is a mortal sin.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the position of the editors.