81% Want the Government to Make Them Happier not Richer
Did you know that there is one country in the world which doesn’t measure its national wealth in GDP (gross domestic product) but in GNH, Gross National Happiness ?
This country is Bhutan, a landlocked country in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains and bordering on India and Tibet.
A british study done by researchers at the university of Leicester in 2006 has mapped the world for happiness (the World Map of Happiness) and came to the conclusion that Bhutan is the happiest nation in Asia (and 8th happiest in the world).
The term Gross National Happiness (GNH) was coined in 1972 by the former King of Bhutan who wanted to help Bhutan enter the age of modernization by focusing more on positive contributions to well-being rather than the traditional concept of economic growth with its known cost on the environment and the increasing loss of meaning for the individual.
Grounded in Buddhist ideals, the GNH concept suggests that development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development occur side by side to complement and reinforce each other, providing meaning and growth for people.
The four pillars of GNH are the promotion of sustainable development, preservation and promotion of cultural values/integrity, conservation of the natural environment and establishment of good governance.
Maybe there is something we can learn from Bhutan ! According to a BBC survey 81% of Britain’s population would rather the government make them happier than richer.
What do we do with the riches anyway if they don’t make us happy, right ? There are plenty of studies by now which show that beyond covering the basics (a shelter, clothes to cover our body and enough food to survive) more money does not make us happier. So why do we – and more importantly our governments – still strive to become wealthier in monetary terms, using GDP as a measurement of our progress ?
Harvard Professor Tal Ben Shahar coined the phrase: “Happiness is the new currency”. Indeed, isn’t happiness the ultimate currency ? Isn’t the really wealthy person the one who has the most happiness regardless of whether his is rich or poor in our modern definitions ?
Why don’t we bypass the money part and jump straight to our end end goal: greater well-being for all of us.
There are now validated measurement systems to measure this seemingly elusive concept of happiness, so we no longer need to worry about not being able to quantify our progress.
I would love to hear your thoughts !
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June 10th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
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