Robert Buddan

Christmas is a happy time, but is the world a happy place? We would not think so with the scale of poverty and wars that exist. The New Economics Foundation of the U.K. has put out a Happy Planet Index (HPI) and we can surmise from the index that the planet is not a happy place. This is no fault of Jamaica. The HPI places us among the first 50 countries out of 168 who do not stress out the planet's environmental resources in the process of pursuing GDP growth and human development. This is key to having a happy planet.

The Happy Planet Index provides a different perspective on progress than measures of gross domestic product and human development do, important as those are. Its concern is with well-being of both the planet and its people. Its slogan is to put planet and people first. True well-being is a measure of a long and happy life for humans and a long and sustainable life for the planet. Each depends on the other for this. The report measures the ecological efficiency with which, country by country, people live long and happy lives.

A Happy Caribbean

The report finds two interesting things. Small, especially island countries, do better on the happy scale than large, especially continental countries. And, countries at a medium level of human development do better than the richest and poorest countries. It finds that our region of the Caribbean Basin, specifically Central America and the Caribbean, makes the planet and people happiest. Rich countries pollute the planet too much and poor countries have too many people below the basic level of decent existence.

People in small islands, the report surmises, might be more conscious of their small space and ecological vulnerability and therefore keen to preserve their environment. Their closeness to nature might then contribute to a higher feeling of well-being. Their satisfaction with life is also measured by life expectancy rates and their feelings of satisfaction. The report "measures the relative success or failure of countries in supporting a good life for their citizens, whilst respecting the environmental resource limits upon which all our lives depend."

The great industrial countries are big polluters. GDP and income per capita disguise the net loss they create for the planet's ecology. And besides, material wealth does not translate into long-term feelings of human happiness. In fact, great wealth is sometimes produced with great ecological inefficiency. War might spike GDP but destroys ecology and human lives, or kill adults upon whom families depend for survival. Furthermore, industries might rape the environment to produce food, which the consumers of rich countries then waste. One report says that Americans can waste anywhere between 50 to 100 billion pounds of food a year.

Natural resources should be used efficiently used, in other words, in ways that are not excessive and wasteful. People in rich countries live beyond our planet's means.

The people of poorer countries are not necessarily less happy. In fact, the HPI index says that Bhutan, a small country in the Himalayas, is much happier than the United States. Its values are more supportive of feelings of well-being. They are more spiritual and supportive of group welfare. And, they have a more equal society. Certain values make people feel good about themselves and others; and practices that respect and take care of their environment make them able to. Bhutan places a high premium on preserving its environment.

The HPI scores the U.S. (and European countries) much lower than it scores Bhutan. Not only does the U.S. distress the planet but also many of its own people are left out of the material wealth created in that process. A study of 25 U.S. cities published in December says that more Americans are homeless and hungry than at any time in recent years; more of them are depending on emergency aid while less are receiving this aid; and even more Americans will need emergency food and shelter next year. No wonder. The U.S. has spent over US$500 billion on the war in Iraq and wants to spend another US$70 billion. The HPI ranks the U.S. at 150 out of 168 countries.

The psychology of happiness

The HPI study begins with the premise that people want to be happy and they need a planet that can sustain life and happiness. A new brand of psychology supports much of what the HPI argues. Positive psychology is concerned with what makes people happy and less with how to defeat moods or states of mind, like depression and anxieties that cause fear and unhappiness.

A leading American psychologist, Martin Seligman, explains that people in richer countries are not necessarily happier than others, or happy at all. The predisposition towards happiness is in good part genetic. In addition, happiness is a function of one's circumstances and attitude and behaviour. This last gives the individual choice to do things that would make him/her happy. Everyone can be happier.

So what should they do? People who do things for others are happier than those who think only of doing things for themselves. People are happier when they work for the group. The self-centred society and the selfish person do not make for happiness. In Discover magazine (August 2006), Seligman wrote that, "Money (beyond a certain minimum requirement), health, education, race, and local climate have only a minimal effect on happiness. Living in a wealthy democracy, being married, having a rich social network, and adhering to a religion do boost contentment but altogether life circumstances count for no more than 8 to 15 per cent of the variance in happiness among people."

Material possessions do not make people happy beyond a certain point. Beyond that point people invest effort at possessiveness without the concomitant psychological payback. It might be less important to think positively about oneself than to do good for others. Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association says, "Numerous studies show that the happiest people are those who devote their lives to caring for others rather than focusing on themselves." The more selfish you are, the less happy you make yourself. Wasn't all this the lesson of the Christmas story of Ebenezer Scrooge?

Happiness and the Christmas

This is always a good season of the year to test this proposition. It is good practice to show appreciation, express gratitude, and share with others within and beyond the family. The trick, though, is to do this for a while although ideally we should do this all year. The pay-off is that other people feel better and you feel happy.

Seligman suggests that we would live longer and feel better if the time we spend sweating it out by ourselves in a gym was spent doing something for others. The gym might make us look good but acts of kindness will make us feel good.

Some good happiness exercises include talking with homeless people, doing voluntary work, or thanking people. Changing the way one thinks gives the individual more control over his emotional life too. Optimism about the future makes people hap- pier. The changes should not only be personal. Societies that are based on the values of care for people and the planet satisfy a sense of greater well-being and make people and planet happy. So, be happy for Christmas and the New Year.

Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, Mona Campus, UWI. E-mail: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm