A straightforward lie

[fpb]

It is my experience that Thatcherites, neo-liberists et hoc genus omne are pretty free and easy with data. Since they assume that statistics cannot but support their views, their interpretation of events and numbers tends to be, shall we say, loose. But does anything justify this semi-paragraph from the National Review?

While go-go capitalist countries like the United States, Australia, and the UK, and economically dynamic Scandinavian free-traders like Denmark and Sweden rank highest on happiness surveys, the economically sclerotic nations of “Old Europe” — such as Belgium, Austria, Germany, and France — are relegated to second-tier, “less happy” status. Worse still, France lurks at the bottom of the “less happy” nations, doing barely better than the relatively “unhappy” Italians.

"Economically dynamic Scandinavian free traders." Think about it. After a monstrosity of that kind, even to suggest that Italians and French might be "unhappy" for reasons not directly related to the joys of unfettered free enterprise (such as, say, being in the front line of an avalanche of immigration which is poisoning social relations all over the country) is a comparatively minor matter. This is a man who lives in dreamland.

Comments

[fpb.livejournal.com]

My dear G., I can concede all the rest, but not the matter of immigration. Pardon me for telling you that I am Italian and you are not. Immigration in Italy is an ongoing catastrophe. It is surrounding our cities with shacks that are growing into whole third world favelas. It has brought the scum of the earth to our streets, and crime is out of control. A couple of weeks ago, the Chinese mafia rioted in the centre of Milan because they did not like the police checking on their sweatshops and illegal trades. Street crime is at nightmare levels, and prostitution makes the roads unsafe at night. And it is growing worse day by day. Five years ago, nobody thought that we would see shack districts around Rome in our lifetimes - the country had spent half a century eradicating them. And I now hear of scenes in Rome that I can hardly credit, such as whole markets set up by Arab traders in the middle of busy streets and suddenly removing themselves and vanishing as soon as someone sets up a cry - "I carabinieri!" If you tell me that this major social disaster, implying a mortal danger to the relaxed and pleasing way of life for which Italy was justly famous, has nothing to do with societal happiness, I must tell you, as I told Wilkinson, that you are living on the Moon. Luckily I do not believe that you even imagine anything so ridiculous.

[goreism.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it does have effects, even large effects, on reported subjective happiness; but it doesn't explain all the variation in happiness scores. That is, some of the variation persists even when controlling for immigration, and is partially explained by variations in average income. Wilkinson's website has a good bibliography.

Of course, I share your concern at the growth of shantytowns in Italy... but I'll have to leave off my comments here, because I just had a really lousy day that ended with my breaking my ankle. >_

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Oh God, that's dreadful. Please look after yourself. And may I express my thanks that, in such a situation, you found the time for something as unimportant as answering and informing me?