Homogenous Countries: Not

Robert Samuelson repeats a mistake in yesterday's Post column, on measuring happiness in countries:

On the most comprehensive list, the United States ranks 11th out of 156 countries. Here are the top 10 and their populations: Denmark, 5.6 million; Finland, 5.4 million; Norway, 5 million; Netherlands, 16.7 million; Canada, 34.8 million; Switzerland, 7.9 million; Sweden, 9.5 million; New Zealand, 4.4 million; Australia, 22.9 million; and Ireland, 4.6 million.
All these countries share one common characteristic: They’re small in population and, except Canada and Australia, land mass. Small countries enjoy an advantage in the happiness derby. They’re more likely to have homogeneous populations with fewer ethnic, religious and geographic conflicts.

The fact is that at least six of the ten "homogenous" countries have multiple official languages according to the CIA world factbook  (Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand,  Ireland, Finland and Switzerland).

The mistake, which I think is common, is a reminder it's easier to think you are complex while others are simpl.