Jamaica is the 9th most miserable country in the world? So says the right-leaning Cato Institute, which compiles an annual Misery Index (headed by Johns Hopkins Professor Steve Hanke). The Index accounts for purely economical measures such as Gross Domestic Product, unemployment rates, inflation and lending rates. UWO Sociologist Dr. Orville Taylor points out the flaws in this compilation:

“They don’t have any other measurements such as freedom of movement, freedom of expression, and those types of sociological variables. It shows the bankruptcy of economic theory in explaining social life,” he told The Gleaner yesterday. Some of these elements such as unemployment are things that have to be understood more deeply. For example, unemployment may be unreliable because of how it is measured and reported,” Taylor added.

I tend to agree with Dr. Taylor, but the misery associated with not having the means to support oneself and one’s family cannot be underestimated. Neither can a strong sense of faith, which Jamaica definitely has, and which Cato’s Index does not account for. One thing that is remarkable about Jamaicans is their faith and belief that everything will be alright. Most seem to lack that existential anxiety common to the North and Western nations.

The countries that are apparently more miserable than Jamaica are as follows: Venzuala, argentina, Syria, Ukraine, Iran, Brazil, Sao Tome and Principe and Serbia. The least miserable countries are: Brunei, Switzerland, China, Taiwan, Japan.