Bhutan, after prioritizing happiness, now faces an existential crisis

Bhutan sounds interesting. I would be very curious to know more about how life is there. Its one thing to provide certain things and prioritize happiness, it is another to provide fulfillment, which is what I suspect the countries young citizens leaving are finding to be the case.

Though, with university free, if Bhutan has good, solid universities and produces students in reasonable numbers, since the country appears to be a highly literate english speaking one, I could see them leveraging that to raise the economy by founding outsourcing firms etc.

From my very limited experience having visited the country as a tourist, they appear to lead “simple” lives from the outside. Unfortunately many are not well off, “fortunately” the standards of living are oftentimes simple enough that it’s not a problem.

What I can imagine, is that many (youngsters) may rather prefer a more “modern” life with McDonalds and iPhones, particularly if they are able to actually achieve it.

Which one is better? I’m not going to comment. But I do want to add as a closing statement that the country (and people) were absolutely amazing. I’d definitely love to go there again if I can, the mountains are pretty much magical and the people really friendly. I hope they manage to succeed, socially speaking.

I doubt that becoming another "developing economy" where you have to spend 8-10 hours a day working in a call center would increase happiness.

The official language of Bhutan seems to be Dzongkha. Now there's a pub quiz question not many people will be able to answer, I suspect.

People being forced to work in call centres, speaking a foreign language, sounds like a kind of neocolonialism and hardly a recipe for happiness.

I wonder if that would be seen as a net negative on the happiness scale due to the fact that people tend to dislike those jobs.

I think if you’re taught your whole life to seek happiness, a younger generation could largely look curiously out into the world as a source of happiness. In the western world, when you poll any population of people asking what they are “passionate” about Travel is always going to be a top ranked answer. It brings people joy, exploration is an innate curiosity of humans. So, my guess/hypothesis would be they are looking for happiness as they’ve been raised/conditioned to do.

Admittedly I’m unimaginative. I edited that out because it does belie a certain connotation.

I visited there in 2022 right they lifted Covid restrictions. You don’t really get an authentic experience with the locals as you’re with a guide at all times and the standard tourist trip is pre planned, but I’m quite happy I went. Although the daily tourist fee of $200/day just to be in the country felt excessive.

I can’t really describe what Bhutan is like, but I did enjoy learning about Drukpa Kunley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drukpa_Kunley

I think tourism, especially in countries that rely on tightly controlling the experience, can tell you very little about the function of the country itself.

I've had many people say the same to me about Nepal, ignorant of the high youth unemployment rate, the corrupt politicians, the complete lack of any basic infrastructure (schools, transportation, electricity, etc.) in some areas, or the astronomically high number of people leaving to work as migrant labourers in countries that are the absolute worst in the world when it comes to labour rights.

None of these problems are visible to you as a visitor. This is especially true if you stick to areas that are heavily trafficked by tourists which tend to be rich enough to cater to their needs.

> amritananda 1 day ago | parent | context | flag | on: Bhutan, after prioritizing happiness, now faces an...

I think tourism, especially in countries that rely on tightly controlling the experience, can tell you very little about the function of the country itself.

Fully agree. Much of these observations were from peering out of the van we were in, or casual chats with our guide/hotel employees etc. Coming from Mumbai, there were some “telltale” (If you can call it that) signs. For example do people heat the house, or do they only heat themselves? If home heating, is it electric or burning wood or some other fuel? A lot of homes reminded me of the chawls and 2 storey tarp “kuccha” homes.