Understanding Happiness

Happiness in life comes from being able to acquire and provide for oneself and one’s family such level of security and comfort as one deems satisfying – each settling for his choice of level – and of being able to share with them a relationship of mutual support and joy and of being able to do for one’s Community/Country what one can in a manner as to get a sense of personal , satisfaction from the recognition of one’s peers, of one’s achievements and service.

As necessities and luxuries get cheaper, and people are accorded greater choice and more leisure, they do get happier. But happinesst is more than just this. Being rich enough to afford greater choice alone does not make one happier. Social and political liberties are also, effective happiness generators. Big gains come from living in a Society that frees you to make choices about your life style, – what work to do, where to live, whom to marry, how many children to have, how to express your sexuality and so on- an increase in free choice allows you to enjoy life more and be happier.

“The more individualized the Nation, the more citizens enjoy their life.” – Ruut Veenhoven.

Obviously being required to work from the ‘Can see’ of pre-dawn to the ‘Can’t see’ of night fall, just to meet survival/subsistence needs is not a life conducive to much prosperity or happiness. For much of human history, the lives of people were mostly full of hardship and pain, relieved by few very short intermissions when happiness or joy was to be grasped and enjoyed. What little prosperity there was, was usually the lot of only those few who could compel or induce others to contribute to them of their time and labour and of the produce thereof.

The regression into more primitive technologies of isolated populations that do not, or could not, trade can best be seen in the Tasmanian (Also, the Andaman) natives isolated from the mainland. They soon lost the more intricate tool making and other complex skills as they did not have a dense enough population and did not or could not trade and exchange ideas and skills.

To get an idea of the many comforts we take for granted today even when compared to just 235 years ago and to recognize what is really import-ant for happiness. Let us just compare the cost or benefits of such important things.

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