No need to work hard for economic success?

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Look at this, what the heck? Why are the laziest countries the well developed ones? Or is it because the countries are well-developed that people can afford to be lazy? Or maybe this article doesn't address intellectual laziness? It seems to only address laziness in a physical sense. So nerds and dorks are considered "lazy".
http://money.ca.msn.com/savings-debt/ga ... d=23756433

The article talks only about physical laziness.

It makes good sense to me. Living in a developed country means access to nearly constant utilities. There is always running water so no exercise to be had hauling water...anywhere. There is always electricity so many labor saving devices can be running. The labor saved is almost always physical. A steady supply of well-kept power tools and heavy machinery means that even jobs that are physical (like construction) are less physical in a developed country than they are in a less-developed country that has access to far less gas powered or electrical equipment.

The elevators always work so no need for climbing many flights of stairs.

Roads are well kept and cars are plentiful so need for walking or biking. In developed countries where cars are not so plentiful and gas is very expensive, there is dependable and well maintained public transportation which also takes the place of walking or biking.

Then there are the entertainment choices. Much of the developed world has easy access to TV- and a reliable supply of electricity to run that TV. The long-term outcome of that has been that people in the developed world tend as a whole to play less sports themselves but instead to get their sports-fix from watching other people play on TV. There are still TVs and televised sports in less developed countries but tyhe TVs are farther apart and people are less likely to have a car or public transportation to get to a TV in a public place. The whole world watched the World Cup. But I bet that the people in less developed countries had to walk or bike to see it on TV.

Less access to TV, computer and computer game entertainment means people are more likely in general to get their entertainment in more physical ways. They are more likely to play sports themselves instead of just watching it on TV. Less TV/computer also leaves more time for dancing and strolling. I know that there is an awful lot of dancing in developed countries. But it seems to be mostly young people. But in less developed countries, people don't give up dancing as an entertainment just because they got older. And dancing burns an awful lot of calories.

Sounds like its a bad thing in terms of people's health. Also, notice how Japan was not on the list. It is a developed country but they are somehow not as lazy. Even among developed countries, they have one of the highest life expectancy while the US has one of the lowest (around 78 years, I think. Most developed countries like Canada has already passed 80 while Japan is around 83). And the US tops the laziness list.

It is interesting that Japan didn't make the list. They seem to have more labor saving gadgets than anybody else in the world. They are also so immersed in the latest tech that I'm surprised they didn't get laziness points for computer game use or internet use. And how can people who make that much anime not log a lot of screen time watching it?? That one is a puzzle. I would love to know what strenuous activities they are doing often enough to keep them off the list even though they have so many labor saving gadgets and entertainment technology.

I am not suprised that the U.S. topped the list. There is just so much TV that I'm not surprised people spend too much time watching it. I live in the U.S. and on my various visits to Europe and the U.K., I have noticed that there isn't much on TV (at least not in my hotels) and that seems to motivate people to get out of the house to find something fun to do.