Bhutan: Happiness should be our goal

Bhutan Dec 07. By Brentolson. Under a Creative Commons License.

This week in New York the 65th Session of the UN General Assemby is taking place. The Millenium Development Goals is high on the agenda, with only five more years to go to the deadline in 2015.

You can listen to the head of state or representative of your country and many more at the UN Webcast website. I highly recommend you to, if you have the time, listen to as many different speeches as possible. This will give you an idea of the points of view of the governments around the world and their achievements so far in erradicating poverty, reducing children's mortality rates and more.

The best speech, in my opinion, was that of the Bhutanese Prime Minister. It didn't include an over-optimistic account of their achievements, such as that given by the Chilean President and others, for example. It also didn't spend time pointing fingers or blaming other countries on conspiracy theories, such as the speech of Mr. Ahmadinejad, President of Iran. It instead raised questions about what are the governments of the world doing to enhance the quality of life of their citizens. It asked what are we doing as a global society to stop neglecting the environment while pursuing more economic development. It raised issues such as ecological, economical and social sustainability. More importantly it made us question what governments are doing to secure the happiness of their people.

Needless to say, I agree one hundred per cent or more with the Prime Minister of Bhutan and his views on what we, as a united world, should be doing in order to lead a sustainable, peaceful and happy life. What is the purpose of development, if not to assure that people live as fully and as freely as anyone could imagine? I leave you with his speech, but if instead of reading it, you prefer to listen to it, here's the direct link of the video on the UN webcast site.

We Can End Poverty 2015,
Millennium Development Goals UN Summit,
20-22 September 2010, New York High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly MDG Debate,
statement by H.E. Jigmi Yoezer THINLEY, Prime Minister of the KINGDOM OF BHUTAN

"Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, distinguished Heads of States and Governments, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.

"Ten years ago we pledged to galvinise a partnership of rich and poor countries to erradicate extreme poverty, hunger and disease. To these, my delegation shall humbly propose the inclusion of a ninth goal.

"I'm happy to report that my country is well on its way to fulfill the MDGs with most goals to be achieved before the deadline of 2015. For this, I wish to express our deep appreciation to our development partner countries, the UN and other multilateral agencies for their generous assistance. The World Bank and the ADB are to be thanked particullarly for their focuse on MDGs through such windows as that of the IDA.

"As all nations rise above the threats of basic survival, what will our collective endeavour be as a progressive society? Must we continue to believe that human life is to be spent labouring for higher income, so as to be able to consume more at the cost of relationships, peace and ecological stability? Could we not find a way to steer ourselves from the self consuming fire of greed, that is fueled by the media and paid for by the industry and commerce which thrive on reckless consumerism? Has human civilisation not reached the time and moment to aspire for a higher goal as individuals, as nations and as a society? And should we not hope that the pursuit of such a state of being would be more of the kind that refines the mind, disciplines the body and conserves the life-supporting environment?

"Enough thoughts and knowledge has been generated by those who care, in recent years, to convince us that humanity needs to get off the perilous path on which the wrongful use of GDP has set it. We need to understand that endless pursuit of material growth in a fine-eyed world, within a delicatedly balanced ecology is just not sustainable. The evidence of the limited capacity of nature to tolerate abuse is there for us to suffe as we comfront the rising frequency and fury of the multiple calamities. I refer not only to the natural and man-made disasters, such as those that stroke the innocent millions in Pakistan and the one that destroyed much of a way of life in the Gulf of Mexico. I refer also to the economic calamities, such as the current recession, which reminded us that much of the so-called wealth we have created are in fact illusory and, that being unreal, they disappear often without a trace, like jobs, homes, savings, investments and more. The only things real are the psychological, emotional and environmental costs.

"The good thing is that there is an increasing number of people who acknowledge the futility of our way of life and are pleading for an alternative way to live a good and decent life. The MDGs are one such set of indicators or contributions for which I commend the Secretary General and his advisor Prof. Jeffrey Sachs for their vision and commitment.

"It was some four decades ago, in Bhutan, that on its path it chose not to be lead astray by conventional development practices. Having pondered the meaning and purpose of development and being dissatisfied with the aimlessness of prevaling models, our King's understanding of the inner-most yearning of his people, inspired him into conceiving the development philosophy of Gross National Happiness. It is based on the belief that since happiness is the ultimate desire of every citizen, it must be the purpose of development to create the enabling conditions for happiness. His understanding of happiness is a state of being that is realised through a judicious equilibrium between gains in material comfort and growth of the mind and spirit in a just and sustainable environment. It is not about asceticism and denial. Consequently, our small success in balancing the needs of the body with those of the mind, with visible ecological benefits, have raised a level of interest in GNH as a holistic development paradigm.

"With these in mind, and as it is likely that the relevance of the 8 MDGs will remain beyond 2015, my delegation would like to propose that we include happiness as the ninth MDG.

"-I heard some laughter and I see a lot of smiles. Thank you.

"It is a goal that stands as a separate value while representing as well, the sum total outcome of the other eight. Its relevance goes beyond the poor and developing member states to bind all of humanity, rich and poor, to a timeless common vision. I believe, it will be in the conscious of happiness that the very best in the nature of human race will flourish. Through the pursuit of such a goal we will find the reason and genius to moderate and harmonise our otherwise, largely material wants with the other, equally important, human needs and nature's limitations. It is what will make life on Earth sustainable. And the way on which our nations pursuit this goal will be a measure of its devotion to the promotion of its people's true well being. We must not lose time and opportunity to work in concert at all levels of society for the collective pursuit of this ultimate value through public policy, plans and programmes.

"The inclusion of happiness as the ninth dimension of MDG would confirm that we are concerned with the quality of life, of adding meaning and value to life. Its inclusion would be a broader outcome indicator of life to which all the other elements of MDGs contribute. Above all, it would enhance the visibility of moving toward a more responsible and human endeavour that bears the promise of meaningful pursuit, fulfillment and happiness. Based on the set of elaborate and precise metrics developed by Bhutan and others, we could leave the task of adopting or developing indicators for uniform application to the experts.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, hope has prevailed against cynicism to bring us to the United Nations today. Let us go forth from this summit not only rededicated to the eight goals to banish hunger, disease, and extreme poverty, but also to the new ninth voluntary goal, to achieve a world that can sustain happiness for all its people, today and for generations yet to be born.

"I thank you for your patient hearing. Tashi Delek."