Lure of Bhutanese happiness index

[Mr. G]

The Prime Minister of Bhutan L.J.Y Thinley, during his recent visit to Bangladesh, gave a lecture on Gross National Happiness in Dhaka University. He described people in today's world as "economic animals" and characterised development activities as tools for materialistic growth. He said that societies were doing little to make people happy.

The prime minister was not pointing a finger at any particular country but to all persons whose purpose in life is only to create wealth and damn the finer aspects of life. Countries are being ranked on the basis of wealth (Gross National Product) so created. Bhutan, however, employs a set of indices each year to determine the state of happiness of her people. To the Bhutanese leadership happiness is an end in itself.

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[Huseng]

Bhutan is intelligent for not following the European, American, Indian or East Asian models of development.

[Astus]

It certainly sounds more challenging to make people happy than to get them a proper salary. Not that any of that are generally achieved by most countries.

[Blue Garuda]

Happiness has one wonderful quality - we are in a position to give it to others freely again and again and will never be poorer for doing so.

[Mr. G]

This book goes a little more in depth I've heard. I've yet to read it though:

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World

[Huseng]

It certainly sounds more challenging to make people happy than to get them a proper salary. Not that any of that are generally achieved by most countries.

In any case, consumerism and destruction of the environment is not good for the happiness of people (or animals).

East Asian cities in general will happily rip apart their environment, plaster cement all over it, build McDonalds everywhere and call it progress, meanwhile their suicide rates sky rocket.

Bhutan is very intelligent for not doing this.