I think in some ways we are responsible for our own happiness, but it is true that places like Scandinavia report higher rates of happier citizens. I think it's a complicated question, but I think if my healthcare and education were paid for I'd be pretty happy too, heh.

I think that we have unrealistic expectations and that leads to unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Today many people think that they should be happy all the time and that they should never have to experience discomfort. This results in the inability to cope with realatively minor problems and unhappiness even under very pleasant circumstances.

The US is the only nation in the world that ever put the "pursuit of happiness" in any official document, as a tenet of belief. It's in the Declaration of Independence. It's not a "right", it's a pursuit, an action.
"Happiness" is a concept that is wholly subjective. It means different things to different people.
It is absolutely up to each individual to define, and find, that happiness for themselves.
If they don't know what it is, or how to find it, that's no one else's fault but their own.
Personally, I think it can only be found from within. Those who try to find it outside themselves usually end up disappointed and disillusioned. That's when the blame-game starts.

The American culture and structure leads to unhappiness and neurosis. So along comes this happiness cult who are all unhappy with shit-grins and reading self-help books, attending lectures on how to be happy. The best way is move out of the country. I lived abroad 6 years and when I returned here I had adjustment disorder.

We're conditioned to believe that happiness exists outside ourselves: the next relationship, the next belief system, the next new product, etc., will make us complete. So we're continually disappointed when this doesn't happen. It's built into our social and economic system. The good news we can choose to reject it and find our own way.

I think the way we elect our politicians leads to massive inequality in our society. The wealthiest have increased their wealth exponentially over the past decades. They use their wealth to buy politicians who vote for what they want, in the form of tax cuts, low wages,and jobs overseas. Unions were broken under Reagan,so the worker has no one to fight for them. This is a social and political structure that lead to unhappiness among many. Our health care is expensive and unaffordable for most. One trip to the hospital can lead to bankruptcy. Elderly people choose between life saving medicine or food because they can't afford both. Yeah our social and political structure leads to unhappiness and fear.

No I don't think the structure of American society lends to unhappiness. The problem as I see it is that our two party system, leaves the choice of candidates to two parties, and these become the only options for the voters. You may call that a democratic choice, but I have a hard time seeing it that way.
Consider the last Presidential Election. I did not want either candidate, but if you wanted to have a say in how you would be governed for the next 4 years you had no choice but to vote. Many people did not want Trump, even among those who voted for him, and the same is true of Hillary.

The system is flawed, and very much tilted towards the rich, who own the field and there is very little we can do about it.

I think unhappiness is up to the individual. I am a living example that you can do whatever you want to do in life. You don't have to be cued in to social issues, if you don't want to. I know a few people who could care less (though, for the first time they are actually making comments about politics because of the trumpling) about politics. The go about their life in a very microcosm of existence that makes them happy. Ugh. I keep losing cohesiveness because I am dying of the flu (hand on forehead)...ooohhhhh...

The basic structure of modern civilization causes unhappiness

I think it does, but much less than it used to. The world is trying to improve and right now we're not done. Crime rates have decreased, many diseases cured, and a plethora of inventions make life easier. It's easy to see what's wrong now, but go back several decades and you would be afraid of polio, have to wait several weeks for a response to a letter, and live in ignorance of the amazing achievements of science. Now you are vaccinated as a child, send texts to keep in touch, and get to watch a billionaire send his favorite car into space. Definitely improvements to make and no reason to ignore those problems, but I think it's easy to forget how much we've accomplished.

Hell yes. It's marketed to us continuously. Fear and doubt sells and it sells regardless of your socioeconomic status.

We are too materialistic as a society. Pursuit of "things" does not lead to happiness. Everything I read and experience indicates that meaningful relationships and experiences are more rewarding.

The founding principals and philosophy of the US are good but I don't believe that as a country we have yet to truly live up to them. Right now people are so caught up with the accumulation of material things, wealth, and power that it has become detrimental not only to the individual but to the society at large. People who have the most never seem to have enough and are the most afraid of loosing even a little bit of it. As a result they are willing to do great harm to the greater part of our society in order to keep what they have and take more. So as things stand right now things are structured in a way that not only causes unhappiness but are harmful as well.

Much of the world is "Americanised" In Oz we may as well be am extra state in some ways.
I find the industrial culture of recent centuries very alienating. I prefer a more direct connection between what I do and what I need. Eg I was a banker, 2 hours a day in traffic, 8 hours a day in a cubicle, get paid, go to supermarket and whatever.
I was a hippy for 10 years,feed the chooks, collect eggs, chop wood, cook meals, catch fish, harvest fruit and vegetables, much more satisfying.

I think the aware among us realize we're surrounded by sociopaths and planet gobblers and, unfortunately, it takes its toll.

Huh. Okay. Let's first establish that our entire governmental structure is based on our economy. No money, no budget, no government. So, big, robust economy, lots of money coming in. Okay? Now, cash flow is the life blood of our kind of economy. I need you to buy stuff or everything grinds to a halt. So, in order for us to have a vibrant economy, we all must keep spending. Buy! Buy! BUY! If you don't... if enough of us don't, or can't, we're fucked. So we are encouraged, told, DRIVEN to buy! And this will make you happy. Only, it won't. It will PLEASE you... which is a dopamine reaction in your brain and it is fleeting. Want another dopamine-cookie, monkey? Go buy something. The sexier (societally, not actually sexually) the bigger your cookie. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. But that isn't happiness. Happiness is a serotonin reaction. That's more about love and family. Stuff that doesn't drive an economy. So, that being played out, my answer is, yes, the structure, which is nothing more than blind, ravenous consumerism, does serve to make us all unhappy. My tuppence, for what it's worth.

depression is prevalent on all societies, maybe more so in those with shorter days and overcast skies. Sunlight tends to help for some reason. I am sure it was common in our ancestors but leaving the safety of the cave and the ever present danger of being eaten by a lion may have put it on a back burner, that and the constant hunt for food and warmth.

It creates wage slavery..which leads to both..which leads to anger..then the pitchforks come out..then the oligarchy gets destroyed..then, not sure cause I've never lived without those bastards..

I also mentioned the wealthiest Fanburger. Did I say anything about all rich people. Get your facts straight

I guess Fan burger likes to resort to insults instead of facts. He knows nothing of how the wealthiest manipulate the system in their favor. No one including me has anything against the rich as long as they don't rig the system against everyone else.

I think that societal norms in general cause unhappiness- at least for those who don't conform to them. This, to me, would seem to be the case all over the world, from the US to Scandinavia to the Middle East. The cool thing about the US, though, is that you are free to reject the societal norms. You may be socially ostracized, but you won't be thrown in prison or anything

Absolutely, we are driven by consumerism. The main goal is to create a feeling of need and lack in our lives to fuel the fire and make us buy. Like it or not, the wealth and possessions one accumulates is how our culture defines success.

I don't know about "the structure of American society" but I really suspect advertisement makes people less happy. It's a constant unavoidable drum beat of "you need!... you need!... you need!...".
That can't be good for any one.

I’m unhappy and dissatisfied. I think it is structured as such, and more.

the nature of humans does for me even myself on retrospect.