The most unhappy people in the world. Who is he - the luckiest man in the world? Hiroshima and Nagasaki - aftermath
Croatian Frane Selak often had accidents, where he inevitably had to die, but somehow managed to survive. He received his first experience of this kind in January 1962: Selak was on a train when the train derailed and crashed into an icy river. Killed 17 passengers, and the lucky one got off with a broken arm, minor scratches and bruises.
Then he fell out of the plane, when the door unexpectedly opened during the flight, escaped when the bus in which he was traveling turned over and fell into the river, survived two car accidents ... Once Frane literally jumped out of his car at the last second, at which, while driving, the gas tank caught fire, and the car exploded. Surprisingly, this person is still alive.
In 2003, Selak won a million dollars in the Croatian lottery. Well, perhaps, he deserved such good luck: because of everything that happened to him, Selak can be called both the most unlucky and the most successful person alive at the same time.
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In chapter
Russian citizens have two strong convictions. First, they are the most unhappy. Second, they don't have enough money to be happy. An American sociologist has proven that the first statement is true, but the second is not. However, there is some good news. Our grief can be helped if there is a desire.
For 30 years, under the leadership of the University of Michigan professor Ronald Inglehart, the World Values Survey (WVS) was conducted. Within its framework, scientists study civil society in hundreds of countries around the world. People are asked how happy they are, and the sociocultural values they hold are also explored. Every year, the WVS publishes the "happiness index", which is very popular in the world media. Russia traditionally ranks last in this index. Our citizens feel as miserable as the people of impoverished Nigeria and war-ravaged Iraq.
The most unfortunate people on Earth live in Russia. This is already a scientifically established fact.“Russia is a unique case. Here the level of happiness is much lower than it should be under the current state of affairs, ”says Ronald Inglehart. According to him, incredible pessimism was revealed back in the days of the USSR: in 1981, his group conducted a pilot study in the Tambov region. The results were shocking.
“The level of happiness depends on the level of income - in rich countries happy people more. But in the Tambov region the level of unhappiness was recorded at the level of India and Nigeria, which were much poorer, ”says Inglehart.
Since 1991, in Russia, the level of happiness has been measured every five years. The results amazed the scientist so much that from next year he will lead the grant opening here. Russian government Laboratory for Comparative Social Research.
“Your country is a very interesting case,” the scientist admits. “Although, of course, I would not wish anyone to be the object of such interest - after all, this is the same as a doctor’s interest in a unique disease”.
The "social doctor" Inglehart knows what he says: judging by the results of measurements, Russia has fallen from a low level of happiness in 1991 to a completely impossible level. Moreover, such a speed and depth of the fall has never been recorded - even in countries affected by war, epidemics and famine.
But this was not enough - by 1996, the level of happiness fell even more. And more ... A slight increase was recorded only in 2006. By this time, the country was bathed in petrodollars, holidays in foreign resorts became commonplace for Russians, and Russian prices were a shock to stingy foreigners. At the same time, the Russian citizens had as much happiness as the Albanians.
Inglehart explains the Russian phenomenon by the stagnation and then the collapse of the USSR, the lack of democracy, etc., but generally admits that the answer is not complete. Still, the collapse of communism affected other countries, and even the former Soviet republics, many countries have experienced much more misery and poverty, and there is no such pessimism among their citizens. In essence, Inglehart came to our country to search for the reasons for the phenomenal unhappiness of Russians.
One of the explanations is the sociocultural values of Russians. In 2006, WVS made a kind of cultural map of the world. All studied countries (and this is 90% of the world's population) were distributed along two coordinate axes. One concerns cultural values: traditional versus modern. Roughly speaking - "All for one" or "Everyone for himself." The second measures motivation: the values of survival - the values of self-realization. Again, continuing the generalization: "Better to live on your knees" or "Better to die while standing."
The results are as follows. The Scandinavians felt that it was better to die standing, but every man for himself. The English-speaking world also preferred to die standing, but about everyone doubted for himself. Japanese and residents South-East Asia, professing Confucianism, decided that everyone, of course, is for himself, but it is not at all necessary to die while standing. The inhabitants of Catholic Europe parted with the Confucians in only one thing: they are not sure that everyone is for himself. Proud inhabitants Latin America, of course, answered that they were ready to die standing, but all for one. Residents of Africa and South Asians are ready to live on their knees, but again all for one. In post-Soviet countries, citizens preferred to live on their knees, but every man for himself.
Russia here turned out to be the most "advanced" - even the inhabitants of Africa are not ready to endure like the Russians, and comparable individualism was found only among the Bulgarians and Belarusians. It is clear that in a world where “everyone dies alone” and “you die today, and I will die tomorrow”, it is difficult to be happy.
The second explanation lies in the discovery made by Ronald Inglehart's group. It turned out that the saying “happiness is not in money” is absolutely true. True, only from a certain level of income: when the country's GDP per capita exceeds 5 thousand dollars a year. Up to this point, improving the well-being of citizens makes them happier. Moreover, with a GDP below 2 thousand dollars a year, this is the only thing that can bring them happiness. If the level of GDP exceeds 15 thousand dollars per capita, then money cannot make citizens happy. “Bill Gates is hardly much happier than the average American,” Inglehart explains.
Russia belongs to the countries where GDP per capita is about 15 thousand dollars. Therefore, we do not become happier when the price of oil rises. “Greater prosperity only helps people to be happy in poor countries,” Inglehart explains. - If we were talking about countries such as Nigeria or India, I would advise their governments to raise their economies. But already from the countries of the level of Portugal with the increase in income, happiness grows slowly or does not grow at all. "
So, Russia is much more than an increase in salaries and even pensions will be helped by greater equity in the distribution of income. "The greater the inequality in a country, the more miserable the people are," says Inglehart. He also notes the need for democracy. But not so much in politics, rather in Everyday life... “A person who has freedom of choice is confident that he can change his life for the better, and this makes him happier,” says the scientist. And freedom of choice is not only and even not so much the election of authorities as the opportunity to choose a place of residence, education, work, medical care etc. That is, we need transport accessibility for all regions, a reform of education and medicine, a reform of the registration system and many other reforms.
Finally, there is another factor that generally has little dependence on the authorities, but which is a good indicator of the level of happiness: tolerance. “Societies that are tolerant of people of other races, nationalities, religions, gender preferences, and so on are happier,” says Inglehart. "And the best indicator of the level of happiness is the attitude towards a woman." This sign was noticed by the American writer Robert Heinlein even before the scientist. The health of a society can be judged by its attitude towards women, the hero of his most famous novel, Friday, teaches. A society that humiliates women is painful.
However, one cannot ignore the peculiarity of Russian citizens, which the economist Yevgeny Yasin calls “ high level impoverishment ". This phenomenon, one might say, is historical and is reflected in the very saying about the Kazan orphan, which, as is known from Russian history, received rich gifts from Ivan the Terrible for complaints. “It is already written in our brains: bend down, do not protrude, this is still with Tatar-Mongol yoke is going, "says psychologist Valery Gostev. It is still profitable to be poor in Russia - here Russian citizens give answers that amaze honest American scientists. However, this benefit is questionable.
First, it makes it difficult to see the real problems. The writer Varlam Shalamov in his famous "Kolyma stories" wrote how the prisoners, in order to go to the "hospital", feigned illness, not noticing that they were already terminally ill. We are not crying about what sociologists say. Russian society All social and even family ties are “atomized”, and people complain that they do not have enough money, or even that their neighbor has more money.
Secondly, it is not for nothing that the same American psychologists believe that in order to become happy, one must first smile. "Pose of the mourner" sooner or later leads to the fact that a person really begins to believe in his misfortunes.
Result? Already in the first study in the Tambov region in 1981, Inglehart found an increase in alcoholism and an increase in male mortality - what is now recognized as a weapon of murder of the nation. Note that we are talking about 1981, not 1991. That is, the "damned democrats" have nothing to do with it. At first, we thickened the colors a little so that there was something to drink for. Then they believed themselves and added. Then reality confirmed our innocence (and how could it be otherwise, because no one doubted the worst) - well, how can you not get drunk here. Then ... And then it may be too late: the heart of society, like the heart of a person, can not stand it, the scientist warns. Pessimism kills.
Perhaps it was the authorities' awareness of this danger that caused Inglehart's group to be the only one in the social sciences to win a grant from the Russian government. The scientist himself admits that he is ready to give advice on the results of the research. “I don’t want a country with so many nuclear weapons, was cornered and filled with unhappy people, ”he simply explains his interest in the project. Our interest is much higher, so it is worth listening carefully to the advice of a scientist. And to begin with, try to at least learn to smile.
A resident of Croatia who considers himself the luckiest person in the world - he managed to come out safe and sound from seven major disasters- and hit the jackpot in the lottery. And he decided to play the lottery for the first time in the last forty years.
Frane Selak, 74, who won £ 600,000, said: “Now I will enjoy my life. I feel reborn. I know God has been watching me all these years. "
Seven disasters of Frane Selak:
Train and ice river
The first time a Croat was really lucky was in 1962, when the train on which he was traveling from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik derailed and fell into an icy river, Ananova reports.
Then seventeen people drowned, and with them Frane Selak almost died. He managed to swim ashore, receiving severe hypothermia, shock, bruises and a broken arm.
Airplane and haystack
A year later, he fell out of a DC-8 airplane between Zagreb and Ridzheka - during the flight, the plane's door suddenly opened. As a result of this disaster, 19 people died. Selak landed on a haystack and escaped with shock, bruises and cuts.
Bus and river
In 1966, the bus in which he was traveling to the city of Split banked and fell into the river. Four people were killed. Selak swam ashore, receiving cuts, bruises, and this time even more shock.
Burning car
Catastrophe number four happened to a Croat in 1970. The car in which he was driving on the highway suddenly caught fire. Selak managed to get out of the car a few seconds before the gas tank exploded.
After this incident, his friend began to call the lucky Croat "Lucky". “He told me then,” Selak says. “You can look at everything that happens to you from two sides. Either you are the unluckiest person in the world, or the luckiest. " I preferred the latter. "
Hair and faulty pump
Three years later, Frane Selak suddenly lost almost all the hair on his head. A leaky fuel pump sprayed gasoline directly onto the red-hot engine of his car, fanning the flames through the breather.
Accident
In 1995, Frane Selak's sixth disaster occurred. On one of the streets of Zagreb, he was accidentally hit by a bus. The lucky Croat, and this time got off with a "slight fright" - he received minor bruises and an inevitable shock.
UN Truck and Mountain Gorge
The following year, Selak was traveling in his car in the mountains when, suddenly, breaking a bend, he saw a UN truck heading straight for him. His Skoda crashed into a roadside fence, broke through it and hung on the edge of a cliff. Selak jumped out of the car at the last moment. After a short flight, he landed on a tree, from where he was able to trace the flight into a mountain gorge of his car, which exploded 90 meters below him.
Frane Selak married four times unsuccessfully. After winning the lottery, he philosophically notes: "I suppose my marriages were also disasters." With the money he won, Selak decided to buy a house, a car, and a speedboat. After that, he marries his beloved, who is 20 years younger than him.
All these people are really the most unlucky people in the world! You just can't believe that all these accidents could happen to them.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi
Was in Hiroshima on a business trip on August 6, 1945. While exiting the tram, less than 3 kilometers from the Japanese, a nuclear explosion occurred. He survived and returned to his hometown of Nagasaki, on which another bomb was dropped a few days later! He survived again and death came for him already in 2010.
John Lin, aka "Calamity"
Englishman John Lin got into trouble so often that he was nicknamed "Disaster". In total, he suffered 16 major accidents including falling from a cart when he immediately fell under the wheels of a car. He also fell from a tree and broke his arm, survived a lightning strike, was in a mine during a collapse, was hit by a stone fired from a catapult. He survived a bus accident, drowned in a swamp, after which he, as a child, underwent gastric lavage and disinfection.
Roy Sullivan
The odds of being struck by lightning are 1 in 3000. Roy Sullivan has been struck by lightning a total of 7 times in his life, the chances of surviving in such cases are zero. Once, lightning struck him along with his wife. But with all this, Roy lived to a decent 71 years old.
Costis Mitsotakis
In 2012, all residents of a Spanish village purchased lottery tickets, which were distributed by the local housewives' association. As it turned out, every single inhabitant of the village of Sodeto won. This is £ 600 million. And only one person did not share the general fun - Kostis Mitsotakis. Surprisingly, out of 70 houses in the village, only Mitsotakis's house was bypassed by distributors. Naturally, even the girl left him after that.
Ann Hodges
Meteorites usually burn up in the Earth's atmosphere and never reach the surface. And if they do, then several times a year and then somewhere in the desert or over the ocean. But only once in the history of mankind a meteorite hit a person. This happened in 1954, when American Ann Hodges lay down to take a nap on the couch and, breaking through the roof, hurt her thigh.
Melanie Martinez
Received the title of America's most unlucky woman after a hurricane took away her fourth house in the past 50 years. Her homes were destroyed by Hurricane Betsy (1965), Juan (1985), George (1998), and Katrina (2005). The last and fifth in a row on Melanie's home was in 2012 the most powerful hurricane "Isaac".
Violet Jessop
She was a flight attendant on the Titanic when it sank. But even before that, she was working for the "big brother" of the Titanic Olympic in 1911, when he collided with another ship and sank. Then in 1916 she served as a nurse on Britannica when he sank too! She survived all three incidents and lived until 1971.
John Wade Agan
A 47-year-old man who was robbed at gunpoint while driving his taxi and was locked in his own trunk. He was stabbed in the chest by a butcher knife in 2008. He also claims that in 2009 he was bitten by two snakes at the same time. In 2011, he got into the news after being struck by lightning while talking on a landline phone at his home in Florida.
Henry Seiland
Thought I had escaped death. After Seiland broke up with his girlfriend in 1883, she committed suicide. Her brother decided to kill Henry. But the bullet fired from the gun only grazed Henry's face and got stuck in a tree that grew nearby. Years later, he decided to cut down the tree. Henry used dynamite to accomplish the task. As a result of the explosion, a bullet fired from a tree and hit him right in the head, killing him on the spot.
English couple Jason and Jenny Lawrence
Were attacked by terrorists more than heroes of famous militants. On 11 September they visited shopping center in NYC. Many residents and tourists were injured that day as a result of the terrorist attack, Jason and Jenny were among them. Four years later, on 7 July 2005, they found themselves in London during the worst terrorist attack in British history. Several bombs went off in the subway, killing more than 50 people, but that's not all. Three years later, they went on vacation again, this time to the exotic Indian city of Mumbai. At this time, riots broke out there with the use of weapons, as a result of which many people died. The couple continued their vacation as if nothing had happened.
Dede Coswar, "Man-tree"
Dede Coswara, from the Indonesian island of Java, started having problems after falling and cutting his knee at the age of 15. Soon, warts appeared on his body, which spread to his arms and legs. He was very unlucky, because his body underwent such terrible changes as a result of immunodeficiency. Surgeons cut off 13 pounds of warts once, but they all grew back.
Wilmer McLean
The civil war in the United States of America, in the literal sense, took place in front of this man. At Wilmer McLean's farm, the first battle of Bull Run took place, and a year later the second. A total of 20,000 people died on its lands. He decided to flee the war and moved to Virginia, but she followed him. One of the last battles also took place on the territory of McLean's new property and even a truce was signed in his living room!
Eric Norrie
Made headlines when a shark bit off two of his legs in 2013. But this was not the first time he had cheated death. Eric was previously struck by lightning and survived a rattlesnake bite!
Robert Todd Lincoln
He personally knew several US presidents, and three of them did not die of natural causes. Robert Lincoln was the eldest son of the legendary President Lincoln. On April 14, 1865, 22-year-old Robert was unlucky enough to be present at the murder of his father by actor John Booth at the Ford Theater. On July 2, 1881, President James Garfield was assassinated in front of him. After a while, the next president, William McKinley, was also shot and Robert witnessed this murder. After that, Lincoln permanently refused public service.
Joan Rogers
Maybe the most unfortunate loser of all time. Here is a short list of the terrible things that happened to her: she fell off a cruise ship, drowned in a swamp, was struck twice by lightning, once her pantyhose pinched her legs so hard that they caused nerve damage, now she cannot wear shoes. Joan was also hit on the head with a bat, strangled and robbed.
The idea of the article was born after I had already compiled two TOPs of lucky people, you can read about this and. Well, let's get started?
It's hard to imagine an ordinary person, who would never find himself in an unpleasant or even funny situation in his life. This is quite natural. But there are also those who are in this position throughout their lives. Yes, some people manage to attract trouble everywhere. Bad luck is just their middle name. And nothing can be done about it.
Below, your attention is provided a list of the five most unlucky people on our planet who were or are at the moment.
An ordinary resident of a small Greek town somehow distinguished himself from all the other inhabitants of his city. The name of this man is Kostis Mitsotakis, by his occupation he is a director.
The incident happened in locality Sodeto. There was a lottery drawing, where the prize fund was a record high amount of money. And this man became the only resident of the town who did not win a single cent. And all due to the fact that his house was not accidentally noticed by those who sold lottery tickets.
They did not notice the only house in the city. As a result, all other residents (70 families) became owners of a part of the prize, since all purchased tickets turned out to be winning. Such a sad and curious incident happened to a man.
TOP-4: The only person hit by a meteorite
Even more than Kostis was the usual housewife named Annie, who dozed on the couch after dinner. As usual, at this time, she and her husband had dinner and she, having cleared the table, lay down to rest.
By chance, at this time, a meteorite was approaching the Earth, which split into three pieces. One of these parts landed directly on the peacefully sleeping woman. He hit her thigh and scared her badly. Fortunately, she was not particularly affected.
Purely theoretically, there is nothing strange in this, if it were not for the fact that before that, cosmic bodies had never yet fallen into people. At the moment, Mrs. Hodges is the only person who has been hit by a meteorite.
But after the victim recovered from the shock, her troubles associated with this incident did not end. Immediately, a huge number of people appeared who tried to take possession of the pebble.
Naturally, Annie and her husband wanted to keep it. heavenly body like a memory. But the local authorities began to claim him, as well as the mistress of the house, the roof of which was damaged by a falling body from space and other lovers of profit. After several courts and scandals, the family couple gave the meteorite to the possession of the Alabama Natural History Museum.
TOP-3: The person who attracts lightning
If with the previous participants of this top bad cases happened one time, then with the owner of the middle position as many as seven times. That is how many lightning strikes he received in his life and survived all of them. The name of this "lucky one" is Roy Sullivan.
The first time it happened to him was in the observation tower, at the workplace. He received subsequent discharges in various places and under various circumstances. Once, lightning struck him even in the middle of the building. And one more time, along with Sullivan, his wife received a shake-up. They then, just together on a wire of steel, hung out the washed things.
After the first cases, the man became circumspect and started taking a bottle of water with him everywhere. He did this in order to quickly extinguish the fire on himself, if necessary. Because he was convinced that clouds were always gathering over him, wherever he went.
His prejudices can be justified and even understood. Indeed, according to science, the chance of being struck by lightning is 3000 to 1. And seven strikes are already an inexplicable phenomenon. The most curious thing is that Roy died due to suicide. He committed suicide at an advanced age because of unrequited love.
TOP-2: A woman on a ship - unfortunately, especially if this woman is Violet Jessop
A woman who finds herself on this stage of the rating confirms the saying that women bring misfortune to ships. She already had time to make sure of this in full. The fact is that she stayed during the last flights on the Olympic, Britannic and Titanic. And she survived all three of the greatest shipwrecks. That's who three times Hugh Williams.
It all started with the fact that a young girl Violetta Jessop got a job on the largest cruise ship "Olympic", she was a maid. On her first voyage, she became an eyewitness to how the liner went to the bottom, after a collision with a cruiser.
She was among the rescued, and with her the captain of the sunken ship. After that, the two of them got a job on the Titanic, in the same positions that they held earlier. This time, the largest ship hit an iceberg and also sank to the bottom.
This time the captain did not leave his ship. But the maid was back in the lifeboat. A little later, during the First World War, the woman got a job on the large hospital ship "Britannica". And very soon the ship ran into a mine hidden under the water. He sank very quickly and almost dragged the boat with the rescued people behind him. But, Violetta was not taken aback and jumped out of the boat. Thus she was saved again.
Soon she was picked up by a sailing ship nearby. This incident did not affect the interests of the favorite shipwreck in any way. She continued to work for the rest of her life as an attendant on a wide variety of ships. She died of heart problems in old age.
TOP-1: Hurricane Woman
And the top losers in life is completed by a woman who attracts hurricanes. The fact is that during her life she was left without a roof over her head several times due to the strongest hurricanes. After Melanie Martinez lost her fifth home to the disaster, she was titled "the most unlucky woman in the United States."
Watching her life big number fellow citizens who sincerely sympathize with her. After hurricanes tore off four of her roofs, a solid television show drew attention to her misfortune. The owners of this program took pity on the victim and built a new home for her at their own expense.
But Melanie did not have time to rejoice for long. Just three months later, after settling in a brand new house, he was taken away by the strong hurricane Isaac. Although the woman was genuinely upset, this did not surprise her in the least. She is already used to this and takes it for granted.
While writing this article, the thought occurred to me that these people are not so unhappy. After all, they saved the most precious thing - their lives. Isn't that the most important thing? Friends, take care of yourself and your loved ones. Subscribe to the blog news to be among the first to read new and interesting articles. Share the article with your friends in in social networks I am sure they will be interested in it.
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