As we look forward to what we seek to accomplish at the beginning of this new decade, isn't now a good time to advocate a different type of framework for living, a new prosperity, one that is simply more evolved in its vision and can lead to a greater sense of subjective well-being?
In Bhutan, the emphasis on an economy that serves its culture based on spiritual values rather than material gain has long been the basis for the quality of life of the Bhutanese people.
His Majesty the King of Bhutan said in 2008 that a society that measures its wealth in terms of Gross National Happiness (or GNH) rather than Gross Domestic Product (or GDP) is one in which the happiness and well-being of all sentient beings are the ultimate purpose of governance. He believes that happiness is an indicator of good development and good society and that national development happens when material and spiritual development occur side by side, to complement and reinforce each other.
Like Matthieu Ricard, the meditator and scientist who helped us explore the nature of happiness in his book "Happiness: Life's Most Important Skill," the field of positive psychology, founded by Martin Seligman and originally coined "Authentic Happiness," endeavors to make sense of this often elusive but increasingly popular term by breaking it down into three separate lives: the pleasurable life, the engaged life and the meaningful life. The extraordinary rise of positive psychology is a testament to our global and unified quest to better understand what it takes to be happy.
In 2009 the "Positive Psychology" course at Harvard University was the most oversubscribed course for all first-semester students. When our country's brightest seek to measure quantitatively and understand elementally how to lead a happy life, then we begin to see the relevance of the tiny Himalayan kingdom's Gross National Happiness ideology. It shines a poignant light on the importance of considering a society's happiness in the planning documents that guide the economic development of any country.
Neoclassical economics have long quantified "happiness" through measurements in consumption and profits. Yet we now find ourselves in a "post-plenty" economy, one that lends itself to a new, less consumer-orientated mentality. The growing shift in people's orientation away from material gain and toward genuine happiness is a powerful indicator that the old way of measuring progress and wealth is no longer relevant.
Bhutan's attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than GDP can be of great inspiration in this moment to our culture, and certainly to our children, who, as the Dalai Lama commonly says, are "the world's most precious resource."
A study carried out at the University of British Columbia by Mark Holder, Ben Coleman and Judi Wallace suggests that to make children happier, we need to encourage them to develop a strong sense of personal worth, and that children who feel that their lives have meaning and value and who develop deep, high-quality relationships are happier.
Treating happiness as a socioeconomic development metric that becomes more intimately ingrained in our economic worldview will go a long way toward creating a sustainable future for our children, not to mention updating our own framework for living toward a more harmonious way of being.
In a world where the systems that used to be stable are changing rapidly, the fact that we are designing meaningful, psychological and social indicators that can assess standards of living highlights the shifting policies and practices toward the pursuit of genuine happiness.
In 2009 President Nicholas Sarkozy honored this approach by announcing that France would start to measure well-being, as did the Office for National Statistics in the U.K. with its decision to start developing methods to measure "general well-being."
What we measure affects what we do, and GDP certainly doesn't measure those things that make life meaningful. It doesn't measure our sense of purpose at work, the quality of our relationships, the health of our children, or our commitment to institutions that add value to people's lives and thus their output.
Honoring the power of networks and communities and the values that sustain them will be increasingly important to our new economic prosperity as the nature of business changes and the value of entrepenurial endeavors helps reinvigorate the economy.
By changing policy at the national level, we change patterns of behavior toward those that reflect the true needs and wants of most people.
We have to thank Bhutan for its wisdom: Gross National Happiness seems like an idea whose time has arrived. For those of us who are willing to listen, though the rules may be slow to change, the journey is destined to be rewarding.
Amy Tardio: Moving On and Moving Up in the World
Patricia Rust: Why Are We Here?
Robert Kennedy's criticism of GND/GDP still holds true: that, "...the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."
As I discussed in today's blog, in general GDP alternatives like the the Gross National Happiness or Genuine Progress Indicator have failed to make it into mainstream economics analysis or business reporting as we are still inundated with GDP reports and the narrow set of information it provides. Perhaps this will change if we can develop metrics that are robust, objective and can catch the attention of the public and media.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-steven-friedman/whose-life-is-better-my-g_b_855446.html
A radical shift of individual consciousness is necessary to radically shift our collective priorities.
So many things would have to be re-examined, in particular, our food supply, our education system, our healthcare system, among many others. I believe there is an ever increasing emergent yearning for spiritually conscious activism and I look forward to seeing it grow.
Love and light,
Toni
www.offthegridmpls.blogspot.com
Kathleen
www.QuintessentialYouDesign.com
There are various approaches and measures being introduced / tested. As far as I know, they are mostly as general as the GNP they are trying to replace, and so are not yet very useful in guiding specific policy for improving things. There is work to do. I have been working on an alternative measure of value of built environment, that would be a part of an overall quality of life measure, that would pinpoint specific features of the environment responsible for people's assessment positive or negative. (I can attach a pdf of a draft paper to an email address to interested people; let me know at abbeboulah@yahoo.com).
What if it meant- GASP- less consumption?
What if people wanted to spend more time with loved ones?
Who would produce all of the newest Golly Gee Whiz widgets?
The Buddha said, “Monks, know that people who have many desires intensely seek for fame and gain; therefore they suffer a great deal. Those who have few desires do not seek for fame and gain and are free from them, so they are without such troubles. Having few desires is itself worthwhile. It is even more so, as it creates various merits. Those who have few desires need not flatter to gain others’ favor. Those who have few desires are not pulled by their sense organs. They have a serene mind and do not worry, because they are satisfied with what they have and do not have a sense of lack. Those who have few desires experience nirvana. This is called ‘few desires.’”
http://www.mro.org/mr/archive/26-3/articles/Eight%20Awakenings.html
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