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"Obsessed with happiness"

wonderingwondering Veteran
edited September 2011 in Faith & Religion
"In an effort to increase happiness among its people, Bhutan studies, quantifies, and defines what it means to be happy."

Great article at : http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/09/2011918125112354620.html

from wikipedia....
It is estimated that between two thirds and three quarters of the Bhutanese population follow Vajrayana Buddhism, which is also the state religion. About one quarter to one third are followers of Hinduism. Other religions account for less than 1% of the population.[53] The current legal framework, in principle guarantees freedom of religion; proselytism, however, is forbidden by a royal government decision[53] and by judicial interpretation of the Constitution.[54]


Comments

  • riverflowriverflow Veteran
    Interesting. Better than being "obsessed with money" at any rate...
  • jlljll Veteran
    Bhutan pioneered the use of Gross National Happiness.
    However, sad to say Bhutan has an ugly period in its history.
    Bhutanese citizens of Nepalese descent were persecuted and driven out of the
    country.
    It appears that Bhutan is obssessed about happiness but
    only for ethnic Bhutanese.
  • wonderingwondering Veteran

    Bhutanese citizens of Nepalese descent were persecuted and driven out of the
    country.
    Probably ever country in the world has some skeletons in the closet. Just look at the good ol USA and what it did to the native Americans, and continues to do to the minority races. Governments can change, and it is getting more than a ripe time for the USA's government to change it's ways. Just think if we had a candidate this coming election that cared more about the happiness of the citizens than continuing the "empire" game the US has become accustomed to.
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    edited September 2011
    There was an article awhile ago about domestic violence in Nepal. Women were interviewed, and they felt they deserved their husband's wrath. This doesn't make it into the GNH calculations. I've been told that alcoholism is common in Bhutanese and Tibetan culture. That doesn't make it into the GNH calculations either.

    I think the Gross National Happiness model is an interesting experiment. But there seem to be gaps in its measurement, in spite of a complex measurement structure devised by the government. We had a thread devoted to Bhutan's GNH policy a while ago, that spelled all this out.
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    edited September 2011
    for more info:

    www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bhutan/gnh/html

    www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/world/asia/07bhutan.html
    This details the measurements and indicator system Bhutan devised in order to comply with international development and lending agencies' requirement that Bhutan be able to quantify "happiness".

    www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-02-11-wife_beating_buddhism_10_ST_N.htm
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