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271 points nradov | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.414s | source
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jaysonelliot ◴[] No.42172799[source]
Despite the headline CBS gave the article, it seems the problem is not with happiness, but with the seductive appeal of materialism and the effects of exposing one culture to another.

Social comparison theory is the idea that our satisfaction with what we have isn't an objective measure, but is actually based on what we see other people have. Young people generally seem to have an innate desire to leave their hometowns and seek out what else might be waiting out there for them. When you add in globalization and media influence exposing them to what looks like a "better" life with more things, it's not surprising that they've seen ~9% of young people leave Bhutan.

The other question is, what will happen if Bhutan does increase their financial wealth as well as their happiness? Will they then see a net influx of people through immigration, looking for the lifestyle Bhutan promises? And will those new people be able to maintain the culture Bhutan has cultivated?

It sounds like the concept of Gross National Happiness is a successful one, on its own, but it brings new challenges that couldn't have been forseen originally. That doesn't mean they can't solve them without giving up their core values.

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1. misja111 ◴[] No.42173728[source]
> it seems the problem is not with happiness, but with the seductive appeal of materialism and the effects of exposing one culture to another.

I'm sure you didn't mean it that way, but what struck me is that your comment would fit seamlessly into a text from the DDR regime, when it was still alive. (You know, the former communist republic of East Germany, which needed a wall to keep its citizens within the socialist paradise)

I'm not saying that this makes your comment wrong, I'm just wondering what this means with regard to former communism.

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2. Analemma_ ◴[] No.42177603[source]
I mean it would also fit seamlessly into an Islamist lecture from Sayyid Qutb, or a primitivist rant from Ted Kaczynski, and so on. Anyone ideologically opposed to the Western "capitalism plus liberal democracy" combo pretty much has to form their opposition on anti-materialist and/or anti-integration grounds, because those are the only ones where it isn't an overwhelming, crushing victory over every alternative.