Andrew Oswald ne da dreptate

Profesorul Andrew Oswald preda economia la Universitatea din Warwick. In articolul sau "The Hippies were Right All Along About Happiness", aparut in Financial Times la 19 ianuarie 2006, Oswald recunoaste ca oamenii prea putin preocupati de aspectul material au intr-adevar mari sanse de a fi ales calea cea buna spre fericire.

Imbogatirea peste o limita a existentei decente, e inutila

"Politicians mistakenly believe that economic growth makes a nation happier. “Britain is today experiencing the longest period of sustained economic growth since the year 1701 – and we are determined to maintain it” began Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer, in his 2005 Budget speech. Western politicians think this way because they were taught to do so. But today there is much statistical and laboratory evidence in favour of a heresy: once a country has filled its larders there is no point in that nation becoming richer."

Non-materialistii au dreptate

"The hippies, the Greens, the road protesters, the down-shifters, the slow-food movement – all are having their quiet revenge. Routinely derided, the ideas of these down-to-earth philosophers are being confirmed by new statistical work by psychologists and economists.

First, surveys show that the industrialised nations have not become happier over time. Random samples of UK citizens today report the same degree of psychological wellbeing and satisfaction with their lives as did their (poorer) parents and grandparents. In the US, happiness has fallen over time. White American females are markedly less happy than were their mothers.
Second, using more formal measures of mental health, rates of depression in a country like the UK have increased.
Third, measured levels of stress at work have gone up.
Fourth, suicide statistics paint a picture that is often consistent with such
patterns. In the US, even though real income levels have risen six-fold, the
per-capita suicide rate is the same as in the year 1900. In the UK, more
encouragingly, the suicide rate has fallen in the last century, although among young men it remains far greater than decades ago.
Fifth, global warming means that growth has long-term consequences that
few could have imagined in their undergraduate tutorials."

Intr-adevar, avand in vedere ca desi in tarile vestice precum USA si UK, bogatia s-a triplat, insa nefericirea e in crestere, rata depresiilor a crescut, la fel ca si numarul de sinucideri, a crescut stresul la locul de munca, iar planeta este amentintata din cauza cresterii industriale si consumerismului, a fi interesat de a face mai multi bani decat ai nevoie pentru asigurarea nevoilor de baza este o imbecilitate.

Trei argumente ca banii in exces nu sporesc fericirea
"None of these points is immune from counter-argument. But most commentators who argue against such evidence appear to do so out of intellectual habit or an unshakeable faith in conventional thinking.

Some of the world’s most innovative academics have come up with strong
evidence about why growth does not work. One reason is that humans are
creatures of comparison. Research last year showed that happiness levels
depend inversely on the earnings levels of a person’s neighbours.
Prosperity next door makes you dissatisfied. It is relative income that
matters: when everyone in a society gets wealthier, average well-being stays
the same.

A further reason is habituation. Experiences wear off. A joint intellectual
effort by psychologists and economists has got to the bottom of the way
human beings adapt to good and bad events. Some researchers believe that
after a pay rise people get used to greater income and eventually return to
their original happy or unhappy state. Such hedonic flexibility also works
downwards. Those who become disabled recover 80 per cent of their happiness by three years after an accident. Yet economics textbooks still ignore adaptation.

A final reason is that human beings are bad at forecasting what will make
them happy. In laboratory settings, people systematically choose the wrong
things for themselves."

Astfel, infinitele comparatii cu averea vecinilor si cunoscutilor nostri, obisnuinta cu obiectele materiale si necunoasterea adevaratelor surse de fericire nu pot decat anuleze sau, in cel mai bun caz, minimizeze efectele pozitive pe care le-ar putea avea banii si posesiunile asupra noastra.

Autorul incheie prin a spune:
"Happiness, not economic growth, ought to be the next and more sensible
target for the next and more sensible generation."

Articolul poate fi citit la adresa:
http://www.orlok.com/blog/archive_listserver/mb-hair/2006-January/004606.html