I am listening to a book right now titled the The Geography of bliss “One Grumps Search for the Happiest Places in the World”. As a student of life and in essence a man in search for happiness I have been really enjoying the insights that Eric Weiner (the author of the book) has put forth. In fact while doing the incline press at the gym I was so inspired I had to grab a paper towel and try to procure a pen from the front desk staff. Anyway an idea I found wonderfully inspirational was an idea set forth by the people of Bhutan, and idea that a measure of the country’s success is better calculated through their guiding principle of Gross National Happiness (GNH). I liken this to a holistic approach to what a nations/cultures/peoples collective goals are for society as a whole. It also, in many ways, is a measure of a nations success in terms of an emotional scale versus solely a financial one. This is in direct comparisons to Americans measure of the Gross Domestic Product, or of course the S&P 500. Wouldn’t it be great if my sidebar widget could display a scale of happiness in terms of a society’s emotional state?
This idea had me thinking all day and night. Because, I think many of the problems we have encountered recently in the financial, educational, or even healthcare sector represent a fundamental shift in our thinking. Just as Gross Domestic Product is a calculation of each “INDVIDUALS” productivity, so goes our nation. We calculate our success based on financial terms, output, productivity, income. As noted in Weiner’s book, this differs greatly from a country which strives to reach Gross national Happiness. As in it’s name the “concept of GNH claims to be based on the premise that true development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development occur side by side to complement and reinforce each other.” The idea is motivated by the notion that subjective measures like well-being are more relevant and important than more objective measures like consumption. I just picture the Obama administration releasing this report during a congressional meeting. Can you imagine what the republicans would have to say about that one. I can “socialism”.
The idea of gross national happiness, is an idea that involves everyone working to help everyone else out. The idea that the concerns of our neighbors are equally our concerns. And understanding that our lives circumstances are truly in part nature and nurture. It is a measure of our capability to love our neighbor not just our neighbors house which is a great deal now that it is being foreclosed upon. It may seem selfless, and non capitalistic, but isn’t happiness experienced “Grossly” (for lack of a better term) something that raises our individual happiness scale?
The 20 happiest nations in the World are:
1. Denmark
2. Switzerland
3. Austria
4. Iceland
5. The Bahamas
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Bhutan
9. Brunei
10. Canada
11. Ireland
12. Luxembourg
13. Costa Rica
14. Malta
15. The Netherlands
16. Antigua and Barbuda
17. Malaysia
18. New Zealand
19. Norway
20. The Seychelles
Other notable results include:
23. USA
35. Germany
41. UK
62. France
82. China
90. Japan
125. India
167. Russia
The three least happy countries were:
176. Democratic Republic of the Congo
177. Zimbabwe
178. Burundi
In my next post I am going to try to comment on the 7 developmental areas of a nations mental and emotional health as defined by GNH and compare this to elements of GDP, then I will be breaking down my own index of happiness based on the University of Leicester index scale for happiness and well being, can’t wait to see where I fit in on the world map!