Maybe the Germans are just not happy because the U.S. has been occupying their country for 67 years. I know I wouldn't be happy if the Chinese had military bases here for the better part of a century.

I think it's not only the germans but most of Europe. Poor system, soon to be really poor people and not too much to live for from day to day. It would make just about anyone unhappy!

It is the stress of this ever messed up, insecure world where you can have enough, but enough is not good enough. To be truly considered successful, you need to have perfect grades in high school, excel in several extracurricular activities such as soccer and lacrosse, and then go deep in debt with student loans for college to get a bachelor's degree that may or may not help you get a good job. In most cultures, you must also be married by a certain age, have children, and be able to financially provide for your family very, very well. This includes a large house in a nice neighborhood with a good school district in the suburbs of a major city. You get a corporate job at which you slave day in and day out, answering the Blackberry at 2 AM because you have no other choice. You get up at 4:30 AM, are out the door by 6:00 AM so that you can make the 2 hour commute to your thankless job in the city. You work an 11 hour day, make the 2 hour commute home, and arrive just in time to heat up your Boston Market dinner, eat, watch some mindless reality show TV while VPN'd into work with your laptop, and then go to bed with the Blackberry at your side.

Memorial Day is coming up - so not only do you have three conference calls with the office in Japan and a report that is due by Tuesday, but you have to drive your family to the beach as well - or you are not a good father!

The Lexapro, Paxil, or Zoloft will only cover over the problem for so long. Then you burn out and fall apart. Unhappiness...

Structural change, such as the Eurozone integration, takes time, but the Germans should have the smarts to do the trick. It takes time. Longer time when it's structural change.

Ohmygoodness Will! You described my previous life perfectly! (We must know each other lol !) My husband and I took a break from all the " perfection" I only work part-time and he works from home now. We are finally fuddling ( finding + muddling) our way toward happiness. We now have family dinners together and play ball with the boys afterward. You have to have a strong will to just say NO to the crazy culture of consumerism. Will, if your post describes you ---quit your job find and job where you can work from home immediately!!!!

I suspect it's more cultural than anything. I lived in Germany for a couple of years and found them to be very reserved and somewhat dour. More outgoing peoples tend to be happier, or at least nicer. I've also noticed the crappier your country is, the nicer you are. Germany is beautiful and spotless, whereas the Philippines are a trash heap, but Filipinos are a very friendly people.

Will, what you describe is America, not Germany. A house in a nice neighborhood, a good school district? Have you ever looked at the map and realized the size of Germany? People are happy if they can rent a decent apartment. The kids go to school wherever they want, you don't have to live in that district, the commute to work is an hour at the most. So no, all that is America's problem and I agree with you 100 percent that it really IS one. It just doesn't apply to Germany.

Mein Gott. If I lived in the same country with Martina Gedeck I'd have every reason to be happy.

The germans are coming out of 20 yrs of paying for a commie mess, not the EU wants them to pay for the socialist mess. I'd be depressed too.

I'd be pretty depressed also if everything I had to show for my hard work was being gifted to lazy Greeks who don't want to face the music.

Agree Robert: The Germans try so hard, produce so much then are told they have to give a huge chunk of it to people whose daily business activity is shirking, lying and cheating. And of the amount they get to keep they are told it could be lost if a small bunch of the lazy non-productive types cause a general collapse. A classic threat scenario of give us your wealth or we'll cause trouble. Interestingly, even though Greek's rioted and burned cars and businesses, they are not as unhappy as the Germans. This may be because whatever they get they didn't build it themselves and so nothing is at risk. Whether they get 100% of what they want from the Germans or 10% of what they want from the Germans in the end, they got it from the Germans at no cost to themselves. A little threat and tantrum and bang, free money comes your way. This explains a lot about the welfare and dependency mentalities and why the Greeks don't feel so depressed and the Germans do. Seems natural .

I lived in Germany for a number of years and remain friends with many. Although Germany has been prosperous for decades, it's crowded. It has a population of 80 million and the size of Montana. Germans also lead lives filled with regulations. They call it "ordnung". Everyone seems to get on everyone else's nerves at one point...one reason why most Germans want to spend their vacations elsewhere. Unlike Japan, Germany has fully come to terms with its past...and it still weighs heavily on the national psych. Yeah, many Germans can be dour, but for the most part, they are a well educated, reliable and resourceful people. If the poll had asked "are you content," most would have said yes.

MAINZ, Germany -- Only one-in-six Germans can recall a moment in which they felt truly happy, according to a new survey.

I think I would feel the same way if I lived in a country where I knew I couldn't pull chocks and move to a different geographic region and try something new. Where the government provides for almost everything. We are very lucky here in the US to have such a large country with a very diverse climate from one end to the other. The American dream is still alive but it is dulled by government intrusion and regulation.

In comparison to Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, etc. - Germans are like top athletes. You work/train hard for a competition and perform very well, but once it is done, you look forward to the next one. Compared to others you are of course trimmed and fit, and many might envy you for something you already achieved, which they are still struggling to get there. But Germans don't like to get happy about ONE achievement and rest/relax then. It's a different mentality, and anyone of you who's a competitive athlete will understand what I'm talking about. You never rest, you always want to get better, you always want to improve and get more perfection into your skills/achievements, etc.

If you live among Germans, if you speak fluently their language and you then understand them, you'll surely won't write articles like this which has a negative touch to it, or it shows simply a sign of lack of understanding about those facts you intend to write about. ;-)

@LM

I see, so Germans still have a superiority complex and a drive toward perfectionism. They are not unhappy - they are just too busy being successful and better than everyone else to show how happy they are.

OTOH, despite the dysfunction of Greece, Greeks still believe in their heart that everyone envies them. (I am married into a Greek family.)

Italians tend to have that same, "We are proud of our heritage! Now get out of our neighborhood!" thing going on.

Spaniards - I know that a lot of racial tension still exists in South America between those of white Spanish descent and those of native descent. Apparently, the white Spaniards feel they are somehow better than the dark skinned, high cheek bones natives they once dominated.

Hence, if you go to any country and ask people of that country what the greatest country in the world is, there is a pretty good chance (unless it is Cuba or the Sudan) that they will say, "My country!"

couldn't agree more-20 yrs in the US and I still often feel apologetic for something neither I nor my parents did.

Let it go...................

NFIL : I so appreciate your introspective comment. That type of sensitivity is a good thing in so many ways but can weigh so heavily when it causes such guilt.

The germs should feel bad. A whole generation were murderers with only a small amount of resistance. The current generation has to face a society, for the most part, that wants to wipe the memory of their atrocities from history.

Today's germs are still a lot better off than those whose families suffered at the hands of the previous generation.

So David,

then you should feel bad and guilty about a lot of what americans did in the past, shouldn't you? Even though you had nothing to do with it (Hiroshima comes to mind, indians, slavery.......) You should feel bad about that.

Well said justthe fax! David 231988whatever needs to realize that the largest ethnic group in the US are Germans, and as was the case with several of my German family members we were also the largest ethnic group from the US fighting the great wars in Europe and Japan as well. In fact everyone needs to remember that the 5 star general in command of all our liberating forces was in fact a man of German descent named Eisenhower! Germs, as you so ignorantly stated have done some terrible things in the past and yet are responsible for many of mankind's greatest acheivments in the arts and sciences as well.

my moms family is "native american indian" as you say and they aren't any happier than the rest of us...and many deal with severe poverty and alcoholism. This ideal native life---is a myth.

Which Native Americans say that quote? They have different races and tribes and languages.

I think that quote is from the Hollywood Indian, not the real one. Still a good sentiment, though.

which is why some buried their dead on platforms 8 feet above ground.

BHO Spoke Highly of Out of Control Spending??? Uh, yeaahh, BEEN PERFECTING THe art for 3+ Years now. Oh, I forgot...THAT is the spirit of President George W. Bush inside BHusseins' BODY that was doing all that spending. Wow NOTHING NEW HERE.....You win funniest post of the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The President spoke yeaterday about how growth of the fed gov grew at it's smallest rate during his term since the 50's.

Repubelickers are kind of like Goebbels. Repeat the lie enough and people will believe it. It's been the GOP that has grown govt and deficits historically since WW2, then Dems have to fix it.

What the Schadenfreude are you talking about.

The economic conquest of Europe is making the Nazi state happy as they can be, for a soulless people.

They "lost" WW2, but in 2012 they rule Europe. Such a shame. The germs should have been treated the same way as the populations of the countries they occupied rather than propping them up to become the strongest economy.

I think you meant to type 'Germans'

i'm moving there! Beer all around!

Or, Budscheisser, Pabst Blue Burp, or the crap you drink, that has to be eaten like a slurpy water cone. Find a life, have you ever been beyond Hootin' Holler, WV.

And this follows 20 yrs of dealing with the economic mess the commies left in east germany. Seeing a pattern yet?

Great Grand Parents. Get a clue. My own great grand father was a member of the 32nd Tennessee Infantry. They lost too. Germans are a hard working, studious bunch. They like their country clean and orderly. That they don't understand 'happiness' could be because they don't know what it is? For some, it is not being hungry. For some it is not being in a war zone. For humans of all sorts, happiness is a relative term.

Consider American poor people. The are far richer than most of the people in the world but are defined as poor because of comparisons to people who have more than they do. True poverty means wondering if you or your children will survive through the week.

Once one lives in something of an ideal situation, the comparisons disappear and happiness becomes difficult. It is an odd human trait.

Ignorance is bliss eh?

You are really one of them my friend. Ignorant and a German kind of... Keep trying everything but God, the real God, and you will end asking for what is missing...

Yes you are right!!! they are all that. But they are NOT HAPPY. They know how to look happy but inside of them they aren't. Success is not synonym of happiness.

How would you know what they are inside. Stupid comment!

i can not agree more. But many people in our wold are trying to mimic that... success without real love for others make you selfish, taker and the center of your own universe, your own god.

carlos316------your description is accurate---the most annoying was arrogance and selfishness. it seemed they were going thru life play acting. make believe people playing by the old country rules. none of them had developed long term friendships, all three divorced 3 times and 2 of them have no children. they had me believing there was something wrong with me. when i finally got away i was able to stand back and see what was really happening. he was trying to make me into a good german wife. a german ""stepford wife ""------germans follow rules -not much for individual free thinking.

If this is true then the U.S. has started numerous more wars and tries to occupy these for years to come. It is amazing that many of these people commenting here are quite obnoxious and for the matter the whole U.K. living the wars more then the Germans. Fact is that Germany since world war II has been an example to the world, trying to solve problems instead of bombing them, providing financial aid to many countries without asking for return and played a major role in bringing the cold war to an end. Fact is also that Germans are more thoughful, have more art and culture brought to this world then many other countries and I believe its about time to stop this calling of "Nazis" at any time. We are 60 years after the war and times have changed.

Times have changed, sadly, hateful germs really haven't. They just have to accept that their murderous rampage ended.

Again with the germs-Germans

says one member of the chewing gum language

you know bisam is a German...regular Americans don't know that Germans all say we talk like we are chewing gum.

I am. So?

I do not understand this description. In what way do we talk as if we are chewing gum? Is it that you think we move our mouths excessivey, or is it the sound of our speech? (Not offended, merely curious.)