Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.Most Happy Nation
The French say they're happy -- in a manner of speaking. Despite 12% unemployment, a faltering franc and the highest number of AIDS cases in Europe, an opinion poll in the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur found that 88% of French people claim to be happy. Huh? It turns out that the French are just happy not to be unhappy: relief at holding a job and not being infected with AIDS is what makes them smile.
The French, of course, take the question seriously. Each day during August, the newspaper Liberation devoted a full page to leading pontificators on the art of...
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