GNH
Two sides of the happiness coin
Aug 13th
Two articles in The New York Times this week vividly illustrate the two sides of the Gross National Happiness coin. Call “heads,” and you can stare long and hard into oncoming environmental disaster; crumbling infrastructures coast-to-coast; and a shocking and increasing gap between the wealthy and everyone else — all symptoms of the urgent need for a new policy making paradigm. Ie, a GNH approach.
But flip the coin to “tails,” and you can revel in the many, many ways our lives can be enriched through our own personal GNH prisms: spending time in a more fulfilling way with loved ones (or even alone, in contemplation); buying locally grown foods in the wonderfully social farmers markets; or breaking our addiction to “stuff” that ends up weighing us down emotionally and financially. As we move forward in these rapidly changing times, we can actually choose happiness. Amazing.
On August 8th, The NYT showed us the dark side with a very sobering commentary by Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman entitled, “America Goes Dark.” What is happening to the country now, when policies are made based on monetary gain for some versus the well-being of a few? Krugman writes of an “antigovernment campaign” that “has reached fruition” — putting at risk “services that everyone except the very rich need, services that the government will provide or nobody will, like lighted streets, drivable roads and decent schooling for the public as a whole. So the end result of the long campaign against government is that we’ve taken a disastrously wrong turn. America is now on the unlit, unpaved road to nowhere.” Here’s the link for the full column:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/opinion/09krugman.html
On the other hand, on August 7th, The Times published a lengthy account of ways stepping off the consumer treadmill can actually make us happier (surprise, surprise!). Entitled, “But Will It make You Happy?” the story by Stephanie Rosenbloom focuses on a young Portland, Oregon couple that did some major downsizing — including the decision to go car-free. (They have bikes.)
The article observes that “Amid week job and housing markets, consumers are saving more and spending less than they have in decades …” The article goes on, “the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could — as a raft of new research suggests — make them happier.”
Rosenbloom’s story is full of gems for each of us to ponder in our own lives. I highly recommend reading it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/business/08consume.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me
“HAPPI” News From South Africa
Aug 7th
Part of what made the GNH conference in Vermont so special were our international guests, including Talita Greyling, an economics lecturer from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. Talita presented a well-received paper on the well being of refugees in Johannesburg, and was an enthusiastic participant throughout the conference.
Now she sends word of an exciting new development: Talita and others are in the process of establishing HAPPI (Help Africa’s People Prosper Institute) based on GNH principles. They aspire to change South Africa. Right now, they are waiting for the final registration of the company, but so far HAPPI is getting an enthusiastic reception from the media, professors, and others. Talita believes the momentum is there in South Africa to back happiness – they just need to finalize the details.
Talita writes, “It is amazing that people from different continents can have so many dreams in common – and that these dreams unite us …
Together we will make the world a better place.”
Amen to that.
Photovoltaics Come of Age
Jul 26th
Good News from the ALT Energy Front
| July/August 2010 |
Photovoltaics Come of AgeSolar panels are cheap enough to become a major component of green energy. By Ken Zweibel The United States has supported research into photovoltaics for almost 40 years, recently with a 30 percent investment tax credit. Japan instituted incentives in the 1990s, when photovoltaics cost at least five times as much as residential electricity. In the new millennium, Germany instituted incentives an order of magnitude larger. Thanks to these efforts, the cost of photovoltaic modules has dropped 40 percent in the last 18 months. Photovoltaic electricity now costs about 15 cents per kilowatt-hour in the best sunlight. That’s only twice the cost of wholesale electricity and wind. Costs are expected to continue decreasing, and electricity is worth more during the daytime than at night. That means this technology is finally cheap enough to become a significant element in plans to combat climate change and oil dependence (see “Solar’s Great Leap Forward“). The advantages of solar panels are clear. They need no fuel or water, and sunlight is nearly limitless. With 100 times the energy potential of wind, sunlight is sufficient to meet all our energy needs. Photovoltaic panels are also unique for their long, low-cost operating life–now 30 to 40 years, someday perhaps 100. And unlike energy sources that require a constant input of fuel, photovoltaic electricity is almost free once its initial capital cost is recovered. In 2008, when the U.S. Department of Energy drafted a report looking at the potential for “20 percent wind energy by 2030,” the plan called for only 5 percent of the country’s energy to come from solar power. Soon, the department will publish a new “solar vision” examining the potential for a plan incorporating 10 percent solar photovoltaics, 10 percent solar thermal, and 10 percent wind by the same year. Meanwhile, further DOE work will look at a goal of deriving 80 percent of our energy from renewable sources in 2050. The European Climate Foundation has released a study with McKinsey showing that renewables could produce 100 percent of European electricity by that date. The reports maintain that reaching these targets will have minimal impact on electricity prices. The ingredients for a fully green solution to climate change and oil dependence are in our grasp. They include electricity from wind and solar photovoltaics; electric vehicles to get us off gasoline; smart grid and transmission technologies to distribute solar and wind power and to balance supply with demand; and domestic natural gas to fill in the gaps. We don’t have to turn Earth’s crust into a carbon-sequestration experiment, increase our risks with nuclear, or convert arable land to energy farming. We are on track to deploy safe, renewable technologies to stabilize the price of oil and dial down carbon dioxide emissions as much as we want. Confirming photovoltaics’ place among these technologies is a big step in the right direction. Ken Zweibel is director of the GW Solar Institute at George Washington University. There are several other interesting articles on the growth of solar technology and deployment in the July/August issue of The MIT Technology Review. |
Who cheats more – bankers or politicians?
Jul 26th
Research shows…. Here is a 2 minute video with the answer from Dan Airely’s blog. Dan is the Predictably Irrational guy.
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSTizvMHfGY
Go to his website here for more info on his research: http://danariely.com/2010/07/25/who-cheats-more/
Sex, Lies and Global Economics
Jul 24th
Who’s Counting?
Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics
Marilyn Waring demystifies global economics from a feminist perspective. With persistence and wit she has succeeded in drawing attention to the fact that GDP has no negative side to its accounts–such as damage to the environment–and completely ignores the unpaid work of women. “Why is the market economy all that counts?” Ms. Waring asks.
Link to 94 minute video online http://www.nfb.ca/film/whos_counting/
link to leader guide PDF http://gnhusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/whoguide.pdf
Jeremy Rifkin-Empathic Civilization
Jul 21st
Jeremy Rifkin, on the second link below specifically speaks about how the Science of Hedonics is crucial to create a sustainable society.
Video Links
http://fora.tv/2010/05/06/Jeremy_Rifkin_The_Empathic_Civilization_Animated
Why we are so passionate
Jul 14th
This morning on NPR’s Morning Edition I heard a report that the June numbers for consumer spending were low from a decline in spending on automobiles and gasoline. The reporter’s tone of voice indicated concern about this and implied that it was bad. The myth of “bigger is better” and growth is what we want are well entrenched in our discourse and our ideas of how the world should be. We need to educate the media, the legislatures, the policy people, the farmers, citizens and especially youth to see things through another lens. Seen from a perspective of sustainability and a Happy Planet, decrease in spending on cars and gasoline are a good thing, the way of the future. So we have our work cut out for us. I took a vow to talk to 10 friends about this problem of changing to a well-being way of looking at the world instead of just “bigger is better”. Join me?
New Conference Videos
Jul 14th
We have now posted 3 new videos from Day 3 of the GNHUSA 2010 conference including leading environmentalist Bill McKibben’s Keynote on “Building a Movement”, the Morning Panel on “How can Vermont Measure Success and Progress” and NY Times Best Seller, Vicki Robin’s Plenary Session on “Enough”.
Happy in Seattle
Jul 3rd
On this Fourth of July weekend, I am so happy to note that more and more of us are taking the pursuit of happiness — for us and our planet! — quite seriously. I don’t think that’s an oxymoron, either. Why shouldn’t we be serious about happiness?
Last weekend, GNHUSA leading light Tom Barefoot was at a conference in Boston, along with the incomparable Susan Andrews from Brazil. They spoke with lots of people from all over the United States who were very excited about getting GNH efforts started up in their regions. The word is spreading. Yay!!
One area that’s seen a lot of activity is Seattle. The Seattle GNH contingent’s activities has been a special meeting with the city council to establish Seattle as the nation’s first “Gross National Happiness City.” That’s just once slice of their happiness pie. Here’s more:
Comments from Hazel Henderson
Jun 28th
Comments on John de Graaf’s post on the Gross National Happiness Conference by Hazel Henderson and others from the CSR Blog. Deep comments on the long-running effort to move away from GDP and why it hasn’t happened despite decades of work to gain adoption for more comprehensive progress measures. Read the comments.
