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Wealth does not bring genuine happiness
By Chen Chun-lin ³¯«TÀM
Monday, May 31, 2010, Page 8
What is most important in life? Health? Wealth? Happiness?
The environment? If you can¡¦t feel happy, what good is physical health and
material affluence? Surely true spiritual happiness is a more essential core
value. This notion lies behind a burgeoning field ¡X ecopsychology ¡X that puts
environmental protection and mental health in parallel and sets people thinking
about deeper values.
Most people would say that it is easy to be unhappy when one has no money. The
first ever World Map of Happiness, published by British psychologist Adrian
White in 2006, shows this perception to be correct. Most people in poor
countries have a very tough life. The higher the income a country¡¦s people
enjoy, the higher its happiness index tends to be. Among 178 countries listed in
the survey, Taiwan comes 63rd. In the US, people are rich and they are happy ¡X
the country ranks 23rd in the list. But Japan, though richer than Taiwan, is in
90th place.
When the wealth and happiness indices of countries around the world are mapped
out, two interesting things can be observed.
First, Taiwan is a medium achiever in terms of both happiness and income, but it
is an unhappy place compared with other countries with similar per capita
income. Taiwanese people work hard to make money, but they get less happiness
for what they earn. How have Taiwan¡¦s governments over the years managed to make
it so hard to be happy?
Second, the correlation between income and happiness forms a saturation curve.
When income grows beyond a certain point, the corresponding increase in
happiness is limited. Taiwan is already close to this saturation point. However
much more money Taiwanese make in future, it won¡¦t have much effect in bringing
happiness. So why do those in government still use economic development as a
lure to persuade the public that tomorrow will be better than today?
In a high-consumption society, no matter how much people spend, they will never
be satisfied. A survey in the US revealed that regardless of how much people
earn, they still think things would be better if they made twice as much. Nobody
is satisfied. The average income in the US has doubled in the past four decades,
but it hasn¡¦t made more people happy. Real spiritual happiness usually comes
from people¡¦s interaction with their families, what they do in their free time,
their social relationships and friendships.
Turning to the controversy over what to do with the site of the former 202
Munitions Works in Taipei¡¦s Nangang District («n´ä), we see a replay of an
oft-repeated dilemma. When environmental concerns run up against economic
interests, there always seems to be a conflict that cannot be reconciled. Is
there really no new way of thinking that can get us out of this impasse?
Perhaps this time we can look at the issue from an ecopsychological point of
view and a global perspective. Although real spiritual satisfaction is built
upon a certain level of affluence, it is a more central human value than wealth
alone. Now that the pattern of rising income levels to buy happiness is close to
the saturation point in Taiwan, and considering that this payoff has not been
very good in Taiwan¡¦s case, it is time to reconsider our lifestyles.
Could we approach the future use of the 202 Munitions Works land from the
perspective of improving citizens¡¦ non-material quality of life and satisfying
their spiritual needs? Or should we continue applying outmoded slogans about
economic development? Maybe setting aside some space for spiritual and cultural
growth will be the more effective way of increasing people¡¦s happiness.
Chen Chun-lin is a psychiatrist and vice president of the
Society of Wilderness.
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