Jigmi Y. Thinley "What is Gross National Happiness?"

Jigmi Y. Thinley, the President of the Council of the Centre for Bhutan Studies and Minister of the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs of the Royal Government of Bhutan recently published a thorough explanation of GNH entitled “What is Gross National Happiness?” He discusses the futility of pursuing happiness through the market: “Our physical needs my be addressed by the market and consumerism, but what about these social and communal bases of emotional wellbeing that are diminished by market economies.” He describes GNH as a societal goal, rather than an individual one, since it must avoid the competition that plagues market individualism. He then comments on the difficulty of achieving true emotional wellbeing, which he believes can only be attained “if happiness is the main value a GNH state tries to promote, the institutional structures and processes of a society must reflect this value…But the structures and processes of a GNH state are yet to be defined clearly, if it is at all distinct from either the ascendant liberal state or retreating socialist state.” This seems to be a key concern for Bhutan, since many policies that may promote GNH would most likely be shunned by the West under the broad label of “socialist.”

He admits that Bhutan is far from qualifying as a “GNH state,” since it has yet to answer the difficult questions of its political economy, such as policies towards social welfare, educational and health polity, etc. However, Bhutan has set itself down the right path through its 4 Pillars: “(1) sustainable and equitable socio-economic development, (2) conservation of environment, (3) preservation and promotion of culture, (4) promotion of good governance.” Interestingly, these goals seem no different from those of any healthy nation, however perhaps they are losing priority under the pressure of global free-market capitalism. The Prime Minister concludes by pointing to the increasing number of articles and books being written on the topic of GNH, especially as many extremely wealthy countries today are finding themselves to lack happiness.