Gross National Happiness
p2pnet offbeat news | Politics:- Here’s an innovative political concept —- Gross National Happiness instead of Gross National Product.
The general idea is: happiness should come before all else, and it’s being seriously promoted in tiny Bhutan.
Obviously, it won’t go down well in North America.
About 300 scholars, politicians, monks, journalists, youth, bureaucrats, and economists from around the world are gathered in Bangkok this week to, “discuss and give new depth to Gross National Happiness,” a possible answer to, “some of the negative global trends today,” says Bhutan’s Kuensel Online.
“Dozens of papers are being presented on topics ranging from philosophy and spiritual thought to folk tales to statistics and indicators to measure GNH,” says the story.
“Bhutan is represented by 20 participants and 18 youth, who visited northern Thailand for a cultural exchange programme of songs, dances, and prayers with people from the countries of the Mekong region.
“It is important to note that a considerable space exists between the inspirational ideal of GNH and the every day decisions of policymakers,” Bhutanese prime minister, Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji.
He also observes, ‘good democratic governance remains dependent on the quality of those in power and their ability to meet the needs of citizens’.”
That won’t go down well in North America either.
But, “As we sit in an international conference, Bhutanese participants are acutely conscious that we are not going out to preach Gross National Happiness,” says a Kuensel editorial, going on:
“We are not out there to solve the world’s problems. As much as Bhutan is praised for its enlightened development approach, we are not yet in a position to offer the alternative development paradigm that the world is seeking.
“We are out there to learn from others so that we are better able to deal with our own problems. As GNH reaches a wider circle of scholars and thinkers, it does not mean that we are enlightening more people. It means that we are getting better feedback.
“We want, and we need, to make GNH a success in Bhutan. In the end, GNH is what makes us different from other societies, from other countries. And, as His Majesty also said, failure is not an option for Bhutan.”
Bhutan is, “one of the most isolated and least developed nations in the world,” says the Wikipedia.
Nonetheless, “it has been described as the happiest least developed country on earth. Foreign influences and tourism are heavily regulated by the government to preserve the country’s traditional culture and national identity.”
Also See:
Kuensel Online – The world needs Gross National Happiness, November 28, 2007
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November 29th, 2007 at 6:57 am
maybe there is hope for North America (or at least Canada): same conference took place in Halifax (Nova Scotia) in 2005.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1119278811215_3/?hub=Health
November 29th, 2007 at 7:42 am
I am thrilled that this conference is taking place. As a positive psychologist I have been battling 15 years to help women and girls in the United States have the courage and know how to stop internalizing the materialistic, looks oriented messages of our culture that in most cases can only led to frustration and personal disappointments! Happiness as a gross national product is a profound spiritual idea that is good for all of us and can only lead to more productive people who can live out their dreams and purpose.
Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, author of THE ENCHANTED SELF, A Positive Therapy