This is all BS!!!! Anybody who has lived in a Western Country can testify.

Kenyans and I think Africans in general have a superficial suffering from lack of material things that they complain about everyday. Go about anywhere in town and hear people talk about shida ya pesa, maisha ngumu and insecurity and poverty and hustling. They are really suffering but the reason why I call it superficial is if you hang around the same people for five more minutes and see where the conversation goes; some funny story about a neighbour, drinking or kulaing happy or the discussion is soon about some silly things that people will generally laugh about. Go to any Kenyan pub, market, school, or even a matatu or bus and you will find some laughter and an easy go feeling even in the midst of complaining about maisha ngumu.

On the other hand hang around some wazungus for a while and you will not fail to notice a deep seated permanent coldness even in the midst of plenty. A misery so deep it cannot be cured. Kenyans and other poor Africans suffer from lack of things that can be bought; food, a better house, car etc but it is not a misery of the soul. They are in my opinion more pissed off than unhappy about things and this wears off rather easily. Wazungus however are in a constant state of disatisfaction and misery. Have you ever seen a mzungu laughing uncontrolably ama ovyo ovyo at nothing. They sometimes do laugh but it is rehersed and short. They have a sense of insecurity that makes them absolutely incapable of laughing at themselves. Wazungus are deeply concerned about how they appear to others and you will not fail to find manufactured scenes of exuberance and happy feelings. They can put up a show not just of fake smiles but fake laughters and glamour as well. How many people who have studied in a Western Country hanged out with a college 'friend' and had a good time one evening and then the same guy acted like he had never seen you the next day? And they dare talk about happiness?? These people know nothing about happiness!! It is not anything that can be bought with money. Don't confuse complaining with unhappiness or wealth with happiness.

I do not know anything about Denmark but I know something about the US which supposedly ranks way up higher than Kenya. There is no place on earth with more miserable people that I know of. The pressure to keep up with the Jones, the TV adverts that constantly remind you of what you don't have creates a society of souless busy bodies in endless pursuit of happiness that they never seem to catch up with. They buy the nicest cars and houses and gadgets. They take expensive vacations but the only joy they derive from these are the few minutes it takes to tell this to any stranger who will listen. You will not have known an American for one day before they have told you about their beatiful wife, house, car and the wonderful vacation they had. The higher the dollar price of anything the greater the expected gratification but they buy things only to throw them away. It is shocking to drive around places where people live and just see what people throw away. And this is not just in rich neighbourhoods but in even the so called projects. The TV, Billboards, Internet, Radio, Magazines etc are all there to tell people how miserable they are until they buy at least one more thing that will make them happy. So they buy it and show it off but the TV doesn't shut up, it tells them of something else which they all rush to buy again, then another, then another ad infitum. Meanwhile the misery persists. Take a walk with the train of people who walk from Kibera to Industrial Area every day and listen to the stories they talk about and feel their mood. They are poor and they complain but they joke around and laugh. They are not miserable. I actually think that part of the reason we are underdeveloped is we are not too unhappy about whatever conditions we find ourselves in.

@ kusadikika

I completely agree with you. Africans are the happiest people and yet let these wazungus to convince us that somehow we are failures even in happiness. Ohhh the arrogance!!!!

I used to work at the airport international departures, and I would routinely analyse all the passengers of different nationalities and honestly, without exception, Africans were the noisiest, happiest bunch who laughed the most. The rule of thumb, as I discovered, was, the paler the skin, the colder the hearts. Those wazungus never laughed, or seemed joyful despite their obvoius wealth. Africans are rich in spirit. Down with the Forbes List and the traitor who put it up!

This is the post of the YEAR.

...Kusandikika...no one can say it better!!! I work with guys from the so called happiest nations and have never seen people so dull...
...Remember when Obama visited England and Berlusconi shouted 'Obama, Obama...' in a photo session just to grab his attention...and the queen told Berlusconi, 'Do you have to shout like that..." Hio ndio maisha yao...so cold and damn serious like the world is coming to an end in the next few seconds...
...have seen guys queing for 6 hours to buy Iphone 4...and damn...those queing have Iphone 1,2,3, Ipod, Ipod touch etc...

My point is 'equating happiness with materials is completely missing the point...'

Kusadikika,

I wonder how they measure such stuff.How do you measure whether someone is thriving or not?

But maybe we shouldn't blame them.We too have our ignorance of other people's lives. For instance, we think that Kenyans living in remote and arid areas are less happy than we are yet these people have very easy lives when compared with urbanites