Latin Americans Are Happiest People

One wonders how reliable these polls are, even if conducted by Gallup. But, if it’s true that “seven of the world’s 10 countries with the most upbeat attitudes are in Latin America,” it’s not unreasonable to ask if the historical Catholic cultures of these nations — and the Philippines, which also ranked high — have something to do with it. In the dogmatic sense, there’s not a Catholic word in the article at MyFoxDC.com, but the concluding paragraphs bring a little homespun wisdom that resonates with Catholicity, from a lady named Maria, no less:

In Paraguay, tied with Panama as the most-positive country while doing far worse than Panama by objective measures, street vendor Maria Solis said tough economic conditions were no reason to despair.

“Life is short and there are no reasons to be sad because even if we were rich, there would still be problems,” she said while selling herbs used for making tea. “We have to laugh at ourselves.”