GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS: MAKING LIFE MEANINGFUL Article by Linda Blincko
Poverty takes many forms, the most obvious and pressing being the lack of access to immediate needs such as housing, safety, nutrition. Then there is the poverty that arises from our disconnection to everything that connects us to the ecology of the world – intensive urbanisation disconnects us from whenua, from whanau and sense of belonging. Increasingly massive bureaucracies disconnect us from decision-making about our lives; globalisation alienates us from our culture, and, combined with a developing global technocracy increasingly disconnects us from wairua inherent in humanity and this world. In 2006, Depot Artspace hosted a meeting with Dr Ron Colman, universally recognised for his work on the GPI (genuine progress indicator), currently an adviser to the Royal Government of Bhutan on maximising the country’s 4
Gross National Happiness. Whereas in most countries, the approach to development concentrates on increasing Gross Domestic Product to improve a country’s economy, Bhutan follows a different approach based on improving the general well-being of the people. The thesis argues that Bhutan has relegated Gross Domestic Product to the background where it can be used as a means to enhance “happiness” but not as an overall goal of development. Depot has been advocating for a more integrated approach to wellbeing since it set up in the 90’s and Gross National Happiness just might be the ticket when it comes to envisioning the shape of a new future, especially in these times when the old economic paradigm appears even more vacuous, and in fact contrary to general wellbeing. Gross National Happiness values the less tangible qualities in our society, and the creative sector finds a much more accommodating space in this environment.
