Dr Deepti Gupta
There has been a profound shift in the attitudes of people related to progress and development all over the world. For a sociology student, there is a wide difference in the meaning of ‘progress’ and ‘development’ but here I am not interested in discussing these technicalities. Instead, what makes me curious is how the world is now recognizing that ‘progress’ should be about increasing human happiness and wellbeing, not just growing the economy.
As Aristotlle said in ancient Greece, “Wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking, for it is merely useful for the sake of something else.” Seeking that something else is the ultimate goal of human life. And there is a vast recognition and acceptance to this thought all over the world. Thus, a new approach to development is ‘Happiness’ and March 20 has been established as the annual International Day of Happiness and all 193 United Nations member states have adopted a resolution calling for happiness to be given greater priority.
This is not a new paradigm that has emerged recently but was discussed and accepted by many thinkers and philosophers since ages. Humans aspire for various things, ranging from non-materialistic to materialistic, for the ultimate goal of happiness. But the recent approach, which relates it to development and consider it more valuable than growth in income, is what makes it more interesting.
The history of Happiness Development Initiatives goes back to 1972, when Bhutan’s King Jigme SingyeWangchuck, introduced the Gross National Happiness (GNH) philosophy and its four development pillars at an international conference. The four development pillars that he introduced were promotion of sustainable development; preservation and promotion of cultural values; the conservation of natural environment and establishment of good governance. Subsequently, he established The Center for Bhutan Studies in 1999 to further define the original four pillars with greater specificity into eight general contributors to happiness-physical, mental and spiritual health; time-balance; social and community vitality; cultural vitality; education; living standards; good governance; and ecological vitality.
In 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which recognized happiness as a “fundamental human goal” and called for “a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes the happiness and well-being of all peoples”.
In 2012, the first ever UN conference on Happinesstook place and the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which decreed that the International Day of Happiness would be observed every year on 20 March. It was conceptualized and founded by philanthropist, activist, statesman, and prominent United Nations special advisor Jayme Illien. This was done to inspire, mobilize, and advance the global happiness movement and was celebrated for the first time in 2013. It’s been six years now but a lot more needs to be done by the government in particular and the society in general to enhance the pace of development by taking into consideration these new emerging dimensions of progress. The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network started publishing annual World Happiness Report that contains rankings of national happiness and analysis of the data from various perspectives. The first report was published in 2012 with the title ‘Well-being and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm’.in the latest World Development Report published in 2018, India is ranked 133rd among 156 countries of the World.
For most of us happiness is a state of mind and is considered as a feeling that comes over when one knows that life is good. It is a sense of well-being, joy and contentment. This subjective criteria of happiness is not possible if the objective dimensions are not met by the social structure we belong to.This movement for happiness, initiated at the global level, is to make countries strive for these newly established development goals rather than aspiring for the traditional ones. So let us all celebrate this day today with a hope for a happy world and also every other day with a pledge to work for a happier society. Wish you all a happy life.
(The author is Assistant Professor in Sociology, Higher Education Department)
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