national happiness index

national happiness index

Wisdom from a mysterious country

Does economic growth mean that people are happier? GDP per capita in the United States has tripled in 50 years, but violent crime has also tripled, and the number of people who do not socialize with their neighbors has quadrupled. In addition, urban traffic jams and travel difficulties have become intractable problems. Studies have pointed out that a quarter of Americans are unhappy and depressed.

The GDP of many newly industrialized countries has grown rapidly, but at the same time, the emission of pollutants from many industries has also rapidly increased, and the ecological environment of human settlements has been greatly threatened. Let's imagine that we have to pay a large economic and social price for the diseases caused by coal-fired air pollution and other emissions. Therefore, simple rapid economic growth cannot guarantee that national happiness will continue to increase. Of course, the diagnosis of "happiness" should not be based on GDP alone. So, can we find a measure of people's happiness?

On the southern slopes of the Himalayas lies a small and mysterious country, the Kingdom of Bhutan, whose king Jigme Singh Wangchuck has great wisdom. As early as the 1970s, when the mainstream Western development model put GDP growth at the center, the king of Bhutan saw a paradox of the mainstream model: although the economy grew, people's income levels rose, and material needs were met, it was not necessarily an increase in happiness. Instead, it was the destruction of the environment, the increasing pressure of people's work, and the rising crime rate... GDP is not the same as happiness. He believes that the "basic problem of life is how to maintain a balance between material life and spiritual life." Under the guidance of this governing philosophy, King Wangchuck proposed and implemented the "Happiness Project", and also creatively proposed the concept of "Gross National Happiness" (GNH) or the National Happiness Index.

Gross National Happiness consists of four components: protection of the environment and resources, equitable and sustainable economic development, preservation of traditional culture, and good governance system. The development goal of the Kingdom of Bhutan is to pursue growth in Gross National Happiness. We know,TMGMforeign exchangeBhutan is a developing country, but in order to protect the precious resources bestowed by nature, instead of using forests as a bright spot to promote GDP growth, it has implemented the most determined environmental protection measures at the expense of economic growth. In Bhutan, whether on public or private land, trees cannot be felled without special government approval.

Bhutan's only 46,000 square kilometers of land area, more than a quarter of the area has been opened up as a national park. In order to prevent foreign tourists from having a negative impact on the natural environment, culture and the way of life of the local people, the Bhutanese government implements a low-traffic and high-efficiency tourism policy. Strict restrictions are imposed on the entry and exit times and stay time of foreign tourists, and tourists are also charged environmental protection fees. Since there is no influx of tourists, Bhutan has not had excessive tourism resource development. There are no man-made landscapes, and everything remains in its original state. The scenery is particularly beautiful. It is known as "the last Shangri-La", and it is also known as the country of forests, the country of flowers, and the country of dragons.

In order to pursue equitable development, Bhutan provides free domestic education, medical care and other social services to the whole people. In order to preserve traditional culture, people must wear traditional clothes to go to work and school, and buildings must conform to traditional styles. Bhutan's social security is good, the crime rate is extremely low, people rarely lock the door when they go out, and locks and keys are almost useless in Bhutan. The result of the government's pursuit of gross national happiness is that most people feel happy. In the 2007 "World Happiness Map" survey, Bhutan's happiness index ranked 8th in the world, with 97% of people feeling happy and satisfied. This is a great irony to many economic powers. The "Bhutan Model" has also attracted the attention of the world, and the concept of Bhutan's national happiness index is also quietly expanding to the world.

Can the National Happiness Index replace GDP?

We know that national happiness is a subjective concept, and it is difficult for different countries to measure it with unified standards. At present, the formulation of the national happiness index of various countries is still in the process of continuous exploration. Some experts and scholars in our country also suggest that social harmony, justice and fairness, safety and security, cultural values, environmental protection and other factors should be comprehensively considered to compile a national happiness accounting indicator system in our country, so as to monitor the situation of national economic and social operation and understand people's life satisfaction. As an integral part of the performance appraisal standards for government officials.

At the International Conference on "National Happiness Index" held in Canada, experts used the concept of "National Happiness Index" to establish four new standards for measuring national wealth: to establish sustainable and balanced social and economic development; to maintain a good natural environment; people of all countries should integrate into globalization without losing their individual characteristics, and to protect and promote culture; to establish a good government. Kahneman, a Nobel laureate in the United States, and Alan Krueger, a professor at Princeton University, describe national happiness from the happiness experience of micro-individuals, and compile the National Happiness Index, trying to make the National Happiness Index, like GDP, a measure of a country's development level.

More and more researchers are beginning to realize that the Gross National Happiness Index does not necessarily increase in tandem with the Gross National Product. Of course, in the early stages of economic development, there is a convergence between the acquisition of foreign exchange economic gains and the satisfaction of pleasure, but in many cases, the increase in GDP may hide the decline in people's welfare, because good health and a happy mood are difficult to be reflected in a single number. So for people's quality of life, the Gross National Happiness Index is more important than the Gross National Product.

The National Happiness Index is a standard for measuring public happiness, a "barometer" of social operation and people's living conditions, and a "wind vane" of social development and people's support. Its perspective is more comprehensive and holistic. While we should pay attention to economic development, we should take the National Happiness Index as a necessary supplement to GDP indicators, making it an important basis for examining the degree of harmonious social development and making social policy adjustments. Especially under the ravages of the US financial tsunami, the call for "exceeding GDP" is growing. We need to use the National Happiness Index to endow development with richer connotations and guide the government to shift the focus of public policy from pursuing economic growth to pursuing the establishment and maintenance of healthy, fair and just macro-institutional arrangements.