The pursuit of happiness

Recently, as a member of the expert group set up by the Kingof Bhutan, I attended the meeting to develop gross national happiness (GNP) asa viable substitute for gross domestic product (GDP). The latter goes up whenthe trees are cut while the former goes down for the same act. There are manyother differences between the two concepts which have triggered a worldwidedebate.

Some believe that a system which counts on the destructionof natural resources as a contributor to economic growth is a broken system. Itis unfortunate that the prime minister recently felt that the plea for forestconservation was an obstruction to economic development. Perhaps he meant thatmining and other such activities should be allowed even in the reserved andprotected forest areas, though we have only four percent area reserved forwildlife.

Bhutan has almost 50 percent area under forests and hasdecided to keep it that way. The model of development in Bhutan may havecontradictions but it has lessons for the global community to learn.  We all know that one cannot enjoy happinesswithout bouts of sadness. But, the sources of sadness determine theauthenticity of happiness.  If we are sadbecause of social iniquity, denial of basic freedom to people, the inability ofbirds and other animals figuring in our community of sentient beings; thenovercoming this asymmetry may trigger genuine or inclusive happiness.

Once a few students in our shodhyatra course in Ladakhwalked ahead of others, climbing the peaks on the way. I was walking in the endwith some who had difficulty in walking in the low-oxygen environment. After weall reached a village for the night halt, we discussed what happened during theday. Those who had come ahead of others by then had realised that by leaving thoseweaklings behind, they had probably not set a very good example. Sensing myuneasiness at the turn of the events, one of them said, “Sir, we realisedsomething valuable today. If you are on the top and have no one to share, youare not there.” Having someone to share is fundamental to experience happiness.

Even before human societies evolved languages, they had madecave paintings more than 50, 000 years ago to express their creativity andhappiness. Would not an index of happiness thus rest among other factors on theextent to which various institutions, incentives and indicators are aligned tomeasure (a) social and ethical capital embedded in various action, (b)willingness of participants in any economic or social activity to takeresponsibility for well being of non-human sentient beings, (c) the extent towhich the cost of consuming natural resources is reflected in the actual pricesof various goods and services so that by externalising such costs, we don’ttransfer the costs and sometime the  irreversibleburden to the future generation?

Achieving happiness through expression of creative potentialof each segment of society will require a new model of work, organisation andindicators for tracking the progress. Social inequality in terms of not justeconomic indicators but also opportunity matrices will need to be addressed.The concern for fairness to not just other human beings but also non-humansentient brings will become central to evaluating happiness index of anysociety. The prime ministers will then not complain that taking care ofwildlife and environment is a hindrance to economic development. We need toredefine the very purpose of growth and then means of achieving it will startgetting realigned. The consumerist society is going in a direction which we allhave to realise is not sustainable. Do our grandchildren have any vote in ourcurrent decision-making systems?

Anil Gupta is a professor at IIM, Ahmedabad.