In two words, social democracy. There’s a reason that European countries, Australia, Canada, and similar places all rank so much higher than the US and it isn’t a mystery.
You’re happier when you don’t have to worry about paying for healthcare.
You’re happier when your regulators aren’t fully captured by industry.
You’re happier when all sides of government are functional and debating policy, rather than one side trying to burn everything to the ground.
You’re happier when women have reproductive rights.
You’re happier when minorities are protected throughout the country.
You’re happier when there are social safety nets for drug abuse, poverty, mental health, and unemployment.
You’re happier when police are modest in number and not trying to beat you to death.
You’re happier when government institutions are well functioning and working to improve things at the national, regional, and civic levels.
You’re happier if the government is working to solve big problems like climate change.
It’s not about saunas and meditation or whatever (though those things are nice too). It’s about a society that functions for its people.
This is not to say all the countries I listed above do all these things perfectly, but the more of them you can check off the list, the happier everyone will be. The US seems to believe that only wealth makes you happy even if you’re sitting on that wealth in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
