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271 points nradov | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0s | 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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gsuuon ◴[] No.42173254[source]
> ~9% of young people leave Bhutan

It's worse than that:

> 9% of the country's population, most of them young people

Young people want adventure, but all their homeland is offering is contentment. They need to account for the desire for opportunity in their GNH metric.

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konschubert ◴[] No.42173326[source]
Re-branding poverty as "contentment" may whoo some westerners, but probably not the people living off substinence farming.
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1. rob74 ◴[] No.42174003[source]
Well, I'm pretty sure the people living off subsistence farming in Europe during the Middle Ages were mostly content with their lives too (at least during peacetime), despite much worse education and health care than the modern Bhutanese are getting. The difference is that this was simply their way of life and they didn't have any alternatives. "Contentment" means being content with what you have - no matter if it's because you consciously decide that it's enough for you or because you simply don't know any better.
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2. konschubert ◴[] No.42175873[source]
We probably don’t disagree, but just to state the obvious: Being content with suffering through ignorance is still suffering.

Medieval subsistence farmers had to bury half of their children before the age of 5.