The Geography of Bliss

too. I take an informal poll around the table. Overall, how
happy are you these days The results are in: solid eights
and nines all around, and a seven from the American. The
Swiss at the table look surprised, as if they’re thinking,
“Hmmm. Maybe we are happy. Who knew”
“So, now that we’ve determined you are indeed happy,
what is the source of Swiss happiness” I ask.
“Cleanliness,” says Dieter. “Have you seen our public
toilets They are very clean.” At first, I think he’s joking but
quickly rule out that possibility, since the Swiss do not joke.
About anything. Ever.
He’s right. Swiss toilets are indeed clean. I wonder if
Ruut Veenhoven and his colleagues have done any studies
correlating a nation’s happiness and the cleanliness of its
toilets. I bet the results would be enlightening.
Not only are the toilets clean in Switzerland, everything
else is, too. In some countries, it would be suicidal to drink
the tap water. In Switzerland, it is fashionable to do so.
Zurich even boasts about the quality of its tap water to
tourists.
There are no potholes on Swiss roads. Everything works.
Switzerland is a highly functional society, and while that
may not be a source of joy or even happiness, it eliminates
a lot of the reasons to be unhappy.
So appealing is the image of Switzerland as an affluent,
clean, and well-run society that other countries fancy
themselves the Switzerland of their particular region.
Singapore is the Switzerland of Asia, Costa Rica the
Switzerland of Central America. But here I am in what can