Are you happy?
Posted on July 13, 2006 - Filed Under Adult swim
The New Economics Foundation, a British think tank, has just conducted and released the results of a worldwide survey they call the ‘Happy Planet Index.’ Turns out, perhaps counterintuitively, that those nations which are the heaviest consumers of the Earth’s resources are not made up of the world’s happiest people.
It’s always nice when someone comes out with something validating the way you look at the world. I truly believe money does not make people happy. Provided one has what they need and is able to enjoy themselves to a reasonable level, the money part is taken care of. But that’s not what most people in this nation believe. We seem to think that money is the end-all. The result? The constant pursuit causes us nearly constant stress, puts distance between family members (because people have to go where the job
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It is me again, I must agree with you on our misuse of the planet earth As a avid reader of historysince I was nine I also know about human nature per se. We have made many advances in sorts, read Pasteur and Lister. The very simple life only made for sorrow. I welcome you to join me in graveyards(yes, they were called that back them and you know the reasom) Please come with me to Albion and different places. Humankind will never advance enough to stomp out the greed of those in control. all we havehave to hope for is that we safeguard our families as the peasants could not.
I think you might be misinterpreting what I mean. There’s issues on the table here. First, as the survey points to, there are countries in the world where widespread consumption is not present and many of the trappings of Western culture are not available. Sure, advances have led to ‘better’ health care, safer conditions, i.e. better sanitation, cleaner food production, etc., and a supposedly greater quality of life. However, if these people are asked the same questions we are and their scores are higher, it raises some serious questions about how we judge the quality of life. Maybe some of these advances are not as good for us as we think they are. Secondly, living a simple life in the Western world doesn’t mean denying oneself access to the basics mentioned above. What it does mean is not buying into the materialism and hyper-consumerism mindset. It means not believing ‘I deserve this new thing’ simply because it’s something I want. It means thinking about how to make Earth friendly purchases, such as purchasing used items rather than buying brand new. It’s kind of like the idea of eating to live instead living to eat; simple life minded people purchase the things they need and some of the things they want but don’t indulge for the pure pleasure of doing so. There’s a great degree of difference between the inability to consume and electing not to.