2Over-training. - Natural Awakenings Magazine Charlotte

Economics of Happiness:
The New Economy
Changing the Rules to Benefit America’s People
by John de Graaf and Linda Sechrist
Most Americans are facing their most significant economic
challenges in generations. From the hardships of unemployment
to the perils of mounting debt, worry about the health of
a national economy that depends on consumerism and market
success dominates our conversation. But have we asked what
the economy is really for?
Since the Second World War, we
have been assured that more economic
growth is good for us. But
is it? By any measure, the U.S. economy,
in its pursuit of constant growth, is
in dire need of critical life support. Too
many people have lost jobs, homes,
scholarships and retirement savings,
along with peace of mind, in the face of
complex uncertainties. Those individuals
that have jobs are earning less in
real income than in 2001, even though
they spend more hours working and
commuting than previous generations.
We’ve had enough of the official
mantra: Work more, enjoy less, pollute
more, eat toxic foods and suffer
illnesses, all for the sake of increasing
the gross domestic product. Why not
learn ways to work less and enjoy it
more; spend more time with our friends
and families; consume, pollute, destroy
and owe less; and live better, longer
and more meaningfully? To do all this,
we need fresh solutions that engage
America’s people in redefining goals for
the economy (what we want from it) as
opposed to the economy’s goals (what
it demands from us).
An Economy Based on
Quality of Life
Although an economy based on a high
quality of life that makes people happy
may sound revolutionary, Thomas Jefferson,
the third U.S. president, enshrined
the pursuit of happiness as a human
right when he drafted our Declaration
of Independence. Jefferson emphasized
that America’s government was, “to
secure the greatest degree of happiness
possible for the general mass of those as-
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sociated under it.” Likewise, the Constitution
of the United States declares that
government is to promote, among other
things, the general welfare of the people.
Americans are able to achieve a
better life, as we’ve proved many times
in the past, benefiting mightily as a
result of forward steps ranging from
democracy, women’s suffrage and civil
rights to inventive technological leadership.
Although history shows that
this has been accomplished primarily
by changing national policies, any
new economy delivering improved
well-being is first brought about largely
by active citizens that choose to invest
more time in building a nation that
reflects increasingly enlightened values.
Everyone’s quality of life—from
today’s parents to future generations of
great-grandchildren—depends upon individuals
collectively working to build
a new economy based on the concept
of genuine wealth. In his award-winning
book, Economics of Happiness:
Building Genuine Wealth, ecological
economist Mark Anielski explains this
new and practical approach grounded
in what people value most, which he
states is: “Love, meaningful relationships,
happiness, joy, freedom, sufficiency,
justice and peace”—qualities of
life far more vital than blind economic
growth and material possessions.
Preferred Measure
of Progress
To determine whether our economy
promotes the greatest good or the
happiness of the American people,
we need to understand what makes
us happy and how economic policies
enhance or thwart our pursuit of happiness;
we also need a better instrument
of economic measurement than the
gross domestic product (GDP).
The GDP counts remedial and
defensive expenditures for pollution,
accidents, war, crime and sickness as
positives, rather than deducting these
costs. GDP also discounts the value of
contributions such as natural resources
and ecosystem services, improvement
in quality of life, unpaid domestic
work, volunteer work, good health and
social connection.
Anielski, in concert with economic
experts such as Charles Eisenstein,