Gross National Happiness

[passpatoo]

Something I came across that a good little socialist such as myself would like to see spread, at the very least, in this country.

I know that there are a few posters here that will scoff and say that it will never work; however, I point to two things that dispute that: (i) It is already in practice (as mentioned in the article) in Bhutan. (ii) Canada already has a very high level of volunteerism, public service etc.


The problem with using GNP, as is being talked about more and more often, is that it does lack a measure of the final intended result. Simply, happiness.



Measuring the national well-being

Bhutan challenges the conventional yardstick for measuring economic development and growth, the quantitative measure of gross national product (GNP). Bhutan has introduced and is working with the holistic, multidimensional measure of gross national happiness (GNH). According to the Royal Government of Bhutan, "Gross national happiness comprises four pillars: economic self-reliance, environmental preservation, cultural promotion, and good governance. These four goals are mutually linked, complementary, and consistent. They embody national values, aesthetics, and spiritual traditions."


source: http://worldandi.com/subscribers/feature_detail.asp?num=24298

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Gross National Happin

I read about this before, Passpatoo. It's an excellent idea. The preoccupation of using wealth and only wealth as a measure of success is a scourge on the world. It encourages all of our worst instincts while suppressing our best instincts.

Thanks for the link.

 

[Twila]

RE: Gross National Happin

Oh. That sounds lovely!

We have some people here who regularily practice "random acts of Kindness" I was hoping that would spread.

 

[peapod]

You know that is kinda strange twila, there is a world that actually exists on "ramdom acts of kindness" its an amazing place, it a world unto itself. I spent two years in it, I became obessed with.
Its genealogy.
There is a underground all over the world, you end up finding out you are from alot of different places, but people in these places that are doing genealogy do the most amazing " acts of kindness"

I had someone I did not even know go to the cemetary in Sherbrooke Novia Scotia and send me photographs of my ancestors graves. People that will go and search records that you cannot get to. Careful tho its a big dark pit and chances of ever getting out are slim. But it is filled with random acts of kindness by thousands of people around the world.

 

[passpatoo]

I had forgotten about the Random acts of kindness folks when I first came across this article. I've only ever seen short news pieces on them handing out hugs on street corners around christmas time. I didn't realise it was such a large and wide spread movement.

Since I posted this yesterday, I remembered a movie I saw not to long ago, "Pay it Forward". While my wife and I didn't originally get our idea from the movie, it did however capture our philosophy of repaying the great amount of assistance we have recieved from people over the years. Only recently have our lives become stable enough to start giving back. By now we have moved around the province a few times and so have those that have helped us in our years of need. So we have made the concious decision to do our best to repay our debt to third parties.

Remember that shampoo comercial from a few years back. "I told to friends. And they told two friends. And so on, and so on....."

 

[peapod]

I love that signature passpatto. 8)

 

[Karlin]

This is really hitting "the nail on the head".

National Happiness describes what people actually WANT of life. This is the goal, the grail, of what humanity aspires to. What is stopping us from achieveing that goal of Happiness? Its like we are programmed for materialism, as a way to keep the structure intact for the benefit of the Elites.

We have been convinced, perhaps rightly so up until recently, that life is hard and we must be tough, uncomprimising, and that government's objective and duty is mostly to build massive security around ourselves. We have also a financial ideal about security, a belief that money is all we need. 9-11 showed us it isn't true, and that shook up the Elites a bit, so they strike out on a massive security spending spree.

Do you see the folly in all this 'security and money' thing? Its a distraction from what we really want of life.This feels like we are waiting for the moment to arrive, like we have to beat this one last enemy and then we can go home...but it isn't "real", its arranged this way. Otherwise, we are READY to move into the higher standard of culture - a goal of happiness that will replace the goal of materialism, something we never thought should be the priority in life but was made a priority through media, advertising, and other social engineering projects of the Elites.

Dont we all just want get along? Isn't it better to stop pissing them off so we don't need to fight? most of the violence and violent people have been "arranged" to keep the current path going strong. Its all about oil and money and global domination.

We CAN do this. Its not about Left and Right politics, its about humanity and compassion, things that have allways given us the greatest rewards in life. Left and Right are just two ways of materialist capitalism, just as U.S. Dems and Reps both represent the "military industrial complex" and not the will of the great American People - a majority of them are ready to begin the march towards Gross National Happiness!

Karlin

 

[peapod]

I take it than you head is not filled with straw 8)

 

[passpatoo]

Karlin:

I like what you have to say here, but obviously we are a long way from your (and my) dream. Even within myself, I can't help but to see monetary wealth as my means to happiness even though I can and do reason to myself that money is only the tool towards being able to do the things that I want to do. A consequence, I suppose, of being raised with that logic and living in a world so deeply rooted in economics.

I question your comment regarding left and right wing politics being two ways of materialist capitalism. Certainly this is specifically true; however, I picture the left wing politics as being closer to our vision of happiness but still recognising that economics is the tool towards the end goal and not the end goal itself. Right wing politics, to me seems to embrace the opposite.


Pea:

Thanks, I've been a big fan of Sagan since I was a young lad.