So as to achieve... Happiness

RE: Sylvia Lim’s speech (Debate on President’s Address)

"Back home, our children pledge every day to achieve “happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation”.

Since independence, Singapore has focused on achieving prosperity and progress. Has happiness been forgotten, despite the words in our pledge? Or maybe it has been assumed that once there is prosperity and progress, happiness would automatically follow.

But has it? Does prosperity and progress come sometimes at the expense of happiness? Prosperity and progress are certainly important, but they cannot be ends in themselves. Surely they should be the means to an end – the happiness of Singaporeans as a whole."

GDP Growth ≠ Happiness?

Before we get all riled up because this is a WP speech, we need to clearly realise that GDP Growth  (otherwise known as prosperity and progress) is really not a BAD thing for everyone.

There is a distinct group of people (politicians, big business people, highly paid white collars etc) who really truly believe and have experienced first-hand that GDP GROWTH is = HAPPINESS in a very direct and in-their-faces way... for themselves, for their children, and so... for that bit of the nation which they form.

So, one cannot conclude that GDP Growth must come at the expense of happiness. In fact, for that distinct group of people, GDP growth IS very factually happiness.

What's really happening is that the GDP Growth has not brought upon happiness for other groups of people.

And whether the Happy Group can empathise with the Unhappy People is a separate issue, which can compound the unhappiness.

Fundamentally, there is no obligation for the Happy Group to empathise with the Unhappy People. In fact, it can be said that some in the Happy Group strongly believe that the Unhappy People deserve to be unhappy, because they have brought it upon themselves.

Actually, these people hold such thoughts, because they really want to believe that they are in the Happy Group because they well-deserve it too. That their happiness isn't due to a stroke of good luck or privileged background, but based on their intelligence, competence and really hard work.

Less GDP Growth = More Happiness?

Another dangerous belief which has arisen from the current debate is that "Less GDP Growth = More Happiness". Are we sure about this? Or is there something else we are not seeing in this equation?

Think about it.
If the Unhappy People were given the same access to the benefits of GDP Growth, they would find happiness in GDP Growth too.

Just one more iteration.
If everyone had same access to benefits of GDP Growth, and the GDP growth slows down, will that make everyone more or less happy?


So, is Happiness even related to GDP Growth to begin with?

I think there are definitely more than 2 variables and many permutations and combinations, which together form this Happiness story.

Our current situation where there is GDP growth, people get unhappy because there is a perceived 'lack of access to' or 'uneven distribution of' benefits of this GDP Growth.

This perception* has a more significant impact on Happiness, than the actual Growth GDP does.

*Perception doesn't mean 'unreal' or 'not actual'.
Perception is a mishmash and product of personal observations/experiences, personal preferences/bias, social norms/forces/bias etc.