Taylor Moskalyk – 500296291
Professor Maurer
CGEO 108, Sec. November 27, 2011
“Giving Happiness a Number: A look at Gross National Happiness as an overall strategy”
It seems nowadays that the world is moving in one direction, with the west taking the driver’s seat, Europe riding shotgun, and the rest of the world sitting in the back with Africa, the crying infant in need of a diaper change. But there is one Country that seems to be going against the grain; putting greater significance on things humanity seems to forget from time to time, like human well-being and the environment. Sandwiched in between China and India is a small country called Bhutan, a country that takes a different approach when looking at the well-being of its citizens. In 1972, 17 year-old Jigme Singye Wangchuck became the 4th Dragon Emperor of Bhutan, and implemented a new system that structures an economy around the happiness of its population. Gross National Happiness (GNH) is the sadly unorthodox alternative to GDP, based on Buddhist beliefs; it puts value in the happiness, not money when valuing a country. It is the only country in the world that uses this system of measurement. Although this system has the best intentions for the people and its surrounding environment, it is not the best overall strategy because it doesn’t adequately incorporate economic growth, which is very important to a country’s well-being. At first glance it seems like a truly distinct, altruistic approach to GDP but it would not be applicable to the entire world because of its ambiguity in the basic measurement of happiness. Right now Bhutan seems to be moving upstream, but because of the powerful influence of western society, Bhutan’s values may stray and ultimately lead their utopian society into the same direction as the rest of the world.
Happiness is a key ingredient to well-being. How do you define/attain happiness? There are many definitions, all relativity close to one another, but at the same time, all subjective. Psychology, religion, and philosophy all approach the definition and attainment of such an infinite concept in their own way. But where does happiness come from? The definition used in this paper is: Happiness is what you feel when you want to happen happens (Gupta). One conclusion you can draw from this is that happiness is fueled by desire, and when those desires are meant one can take joy from them and feel happy. When our desires are not met we feel unhappiness; the absence of happiness. By this logic, if no one desires anything then no unhappiness can be felt, and if no unhappiness can be felt, then all one feels is perpetual happiness. This is where Buddhism stems from: lack of desire. The paradox of happiness is that one can only be unhappy when searching for happiness. When J.S. Wangchuck succeeded his father, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, as King in 1972, he took a good look at the world and disagreed with the ideologies that the world (mainly the West) held. Since the Bhutanese primarily practice Buddhism, (“Central Intelligence Agency”) and put value into things that were inconsistent with Western ideas, and much of the rest of the world, King Wangchuck saw a need for change in his country and consequently, Gross National Happiness (GNH) was born. This method, instead of measuring the economy to obtain the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), measures the happiness among his people across the entire country, putting happiness first and foremost, and basing all decisions on the well-being of the country, not economy. Which brings us to the question: If Happiness is so subjective and problematic to define, how do you measure such a thing? This is the crux of the problem. Since happiness would be hard to define, unhappiness would be even harder to fix. Corrective policy measures would be less effective than the monetary and fiscal policies a country has for GDP because without consistent, documented, and effective policies in place, there could be many unwanted, indirect consequences.
Like any leader, when King J.S. Wangchuck took power he had to decide what policy’s to implement to maximize the happiness of his nation. The strategy used to achieve this goal is called “middle-path strategy” addressing the four-sources of GNH: economic development, good governance, ecological preservation and cultural preservation. He decided that things like relationships, cultural life/heritage, security, living standards and religious aspects are factors for achieving happiness, and giving the Bhutanese a strong sense of values and identity. But good intentions isn’t good enough, those aspects - especially better living standards - all cost money. Without enough money, there will be inadequate living standards, poor education, and a damper on Bhutanese culture which would lead to a lack of community.
Sometime in 2006 a man named Adrian White, an analytic social psychologist at the University of Leicester, created the world’s first world map of happiness called the “Satisfaction with Life Index” (“Wikipedia”). It showed alternatives to traditional measurements, such as GDP, work and can be a viable source of information. This index uses three indicators to measure happiness: health, wealth, and basic education. The most fascinating part of this list is the rank of Bhutan among other countries. A country where Happiness is the number one priority, it ranked 8th with 7 other countries in front (and with Canada ranking a close 10th) (“Wikipedia”). How it this possible that a country with such a low GDP can be held in the same regard as Denmark, Austria and Canada? It is because of the religious beliefs that have been instilled in the people.
The main focus of Bhutanese culture does not put much value in material possessions, and thus not need the economic backing that some countries have. This will change due to the increased pressures from Globalization; mainly Western culture. In June 1999, television and internet ban was lifted in Bhutan, ‘making it the last nation in the world to turn on television’ (Scott-Clark and Levy). This lit the fuse that would eventually bring the collapse of their Buddhist ideals. For the sake of argument, let’s assume because of the way that GNH works with religious values, all the Bhutanese have zero desire therefore are perfectly happy; there goals and wants are perfectly met. By introducing the internet and television to the society, they may develop new wants and needs (i.e. for material possessions or better living standards) thus shifting their needs elsewhere, giving them desire and not making them perfectly happy. Now that this shift has taken place, the government, to make its people happy, must fulfill their desires. This is where GNH starts to crumble. If the government does not have the money or capacity to import or produce, these new desires go unfulfilled thus lowering the GNH for Bhutan. The king in power presently, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, does realize this danger that television brings and according to Scott-Clark and Levy, he has ‘underestimated the power of TV, perceiving it as a benign and controllable force’ which it is most certainly not. There is an old Bhutanese proverb ‘it is better to have milk cheese many times than beef just once’ implying that short-term gains must not override long term gains (Rinzin, Vermeulen and Glasbergen 55), but asking when long-term becomes short-term is like asking when the air becomes sky; its indistinct. Overtime, the king now and kings proceeding will start to make changes to their regime. Not big changes, just small changes – trivial at the time, but as Bhutan ages, these changes will slowly rot the concept of GNH to the core. For instance, in 1953 King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck established the country’s legislature, to promote a more democratic form of government. What is the significance? ‘It is not a new idea that capitalism and democracy are connected’, (Bealey 203-223) ‘historically, modern democracy rose along with capitalism, and in causal connection with it’ (Bealey 203-223). J.D. Wangchuck set up the first domino in the most likely evitable topple of the present Bhutanese way of life. In December 2005 (Jubak) J.S. Wangchuck stepped down as king to abdicate the throne to his son. Two years later, parliamentary elections were held, and J.K.N Wangchuck was elected. This new political reform mixed with the influx of American culture fed by television and internet spells a recipe for disaster for Bhutan’s future.
According to Reimer’s article “Triple Health challenge” there are three aspects that must be addressed when discussing sustainable development: ecological, environmental, and economic health. This is the where the line in the sand is drawn and is the reason why there is still an on-going debate between GDP and GNH. Where both forms of measurement differ are in the end-game. GNH focuses on happiness - human health – with economic growth (health) and the environment (ecological health) being an indirect result. While on the other hand, GDP centers exclusively on economic growth with happiness as an indirect result, because within non-Buddhist society and culture, GDP growth correlates to happiness. ‘We feel better if the government announces, "GDP climbed at an annual rate of 2% in the last quarter." Our sense of well-being is connected to these reports on the economy’ (Jubak). Unfortunately, the biggest downside to GDP is the negative correlation it has to environmental health. Much of the time, the environment is sacrificed to permit the GDP growth, or just not taken into account. How? Well put quite simply ‘there is no debit side to the equation’ (Waring). Even a natural disaster like a hurricane can count towards the growth of the country. The one commonality found in all people is that an increase in environmental health will increase human health; people like being living in nice surroundings. The difference of each philosophy lies in the ecology. Theoretically speaking, the increase in happiness cause by an increase in GDP will be offset by the decrease environmental health. Therefore, human well-being is somewhat irrelevant to GDP; like a see-saw, human health can be thought of as a fulcrum, balancing the economy and the environment – rarely ever doing it successfully. In regards to environment, GNH is far superior to GDP. Both these measurements do have their strengths but unfortunately are unbalanced, biased towards one or two aspects of sustainable development; but never in-tune with all three. The reason why each method works is because of where is being applied. GNH is perfectly (as of now) in line with Bhutan’s needs, as is GDP with the rest of the world (for the most part), and because the beliefs of Bhutan and the western world situate themselves on opposite sides on the spectrum, GDP will never flourish in Bhutan; visa versa. Unless only of course their beliefs shift, which is a challenge Bhutan must face over the next 50 years of development.
Happiness, presently, is too hard to account for, which is why fiat money is the best concept for accounting for growth and value of a country. Arguing against GNH would be like arguing against happiness – which is absurd. By its self, Gross National happiness is a wonderful idea, full of virtue and hope for the future. Unfortunately, because of the influence of the rest of the world, it’s just a matter of time before they make one too many compromises and many years down the road their way of life will just be a diminished version of their present culture. Even if the entire world adopted this form of measurement, it would fail. Not because the method is flawed, but because people are inherently flawed and changing them would be much more demanding than changing how to account for their actions. As for GDP, there is much wrong with this traditional form of measurement too. Both have flawed overall strategies; neither addresses the environment, human well-being, and the economy in a well-balanced manner. What the world needs is a perfectly unanimous system of measurement that takes into account all three aspects of sustainable development; ideally it would be a perfect mix of GDP plus the debit side of the equation and GNH. As of now, Bhutan seems to be a trend setter in this world of imperfection, and before trying to implement GNH as an overall strategy to other countries, it must first remain on its own path without the world leading it astray.

Works Cited
. "Satisfaction with Life Index."Wikipedia. N.p., 25 Oct 2011. Web. 27 Nov 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisfaction_with_Life_Inde&xgt;.
. "The World Factbook." Central Intelligence Agency. N.p., Jul 2011. Web. 26 Nov 2011. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bt.html>.
Bealey, Frank. "Capitalism and democracy." European Journal of Political Research. 23. (1993): 203-223. Print.
Gupta, . "What is Happiness."akgupta.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov 2011. <http://www.akgupta.com/Thoughts/what_is_happiness.htm>.
Jubak, Jim. "GDP vs. GNH (gross national happiness)." msn. N.p., 16 Oct 2009. Web. 22 Nov 2011. <http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/gdp-vs-gnh- gross- national-happiness.aspx?page=2>.
Rinzin, Chhewang, Walter Vermeulan, and Pieter Glasbergen. "Public Perceptions of Bhutan’s Approach to Sustainable Development in Practice." Sustainable Development. 15. (2007): 52-68. Print.
Scott-Clark, Cathy, and Adrian Levy. "Fast Forward into Trouble."theguardian. N.p., 14 June 2003. Web. 26 Nov 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2003/jun/14/weekend7.weekend2>.
Waring, Marilyn, writ. Who's Counting? Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics. Dir. Nash Terre. NFB ONF, 1995. Film. <http://www.nfb.ca/film/whos_counting/>.