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The Happiness Initiative A project of Sustainable Seattle sustainableseattle

The Happiness Initiative A project of Sustainable Seattle www.sustainableseattle.org. Gr o wth Mania. “In the near term, every policy must be viewed through a single prism: Does it help the economy grow? ” -- Indiana Senator Evan Bayh,

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The Happiness Initiative A project of Sustainable Seattle sustainableseattle

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  1. TheHappiness InitiativeA project ofSustainable Seattlewww.sustainableseattle.org

  2. Growth Mania “In the near term, every policy must be viewed through a single prism: Does it help the economy grow?” --Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, 2010 election post-mortem in The New York Times

  3. What’s the Economy for, Anyway? More stuff ? or A healthy, happy, fair and sustainable society?

  4. THE PROBLEM WITH GDP Gross Domestic Product is a poor guide to well-being It counts (as positive): Oil spills, cancer, divorce…etc. It does not count: volunteering, taking care of friends and family, unpaid work, exercise…etc. We need new indicators of progress to replace the GDP

  5. Bobby Kennedy on GDP “It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile…”

  6. Measuring happiness instead of growth “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product.” Jigme Singye Wangchuk, Fourth King of Bhutan, 1972

  7. Bhutan’s nine domains of happiness

  8. Talking about happiness We can change the conversation from GDP to well-being or happiness…as have • France • Canada • Brazil • United Kingdom…

  9. Happiness is as American as Apple Pie “The only orthodox object of the institution of government is to secure the greatest degree of happiness possible to the general mass of those associated under it.” -- Thomas Jefferson

  10. Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” speech, 1964 “The purpose of protecting the life of our nation and preserving the liberty of our citizensis to pursue the happiness of our people.Our success in that pursuit is the test of our success as a nation… Your imagination, your initiative, and your indignation will determine whether we build a society where progress is the servant of our needs, or a society where old values and new visions are buried under unbridled growth.”

  11. Gallup-Healthways rankings of happiest countries--2010 1. Denmark 2. Finland 3. Norway 4. Sweden 5. The Netherlands … 11. United States

  12. Unhappy America? According to the Gallup-Healthways World Poll, the United States Ranks: (1 is best; 150 is worst) 69th in SADNESS 75th in ANGER 89th in ANXIETY 145th in STRESS

  13. Lonely and Depressed According to a 2010 TIME/AARP study, the percentage of Americans over 45 who are chronically lonely rose from 20% to 35% during the past ten years. Americans consume 60 percent of the world’s anti- depressants. Why don’t we talk about this?

  14. Unhealthy at any cost The United States spends nearly twice as much as other rich countries for health care, yet we rank: • 49th in the world in life expectancy • 45th in the world in infant mortality • 2nd in the world in obesity

  15. Our Economy is Unsustainable If everyone on Earth were to consume at the level of Americans, we would need FIVE PLANETS. We can’t grow on like this.

  16. Measuring Happiness:The Greater Victoria Well-Being Survey

  17. Take the Survey! • Go to: www.sustainableseattle.org • It includes 150 questions and takes about 25-30 minutes • You get your results immediately along with national median results

  18. Some Key Results Material Well-Being 73 Satisfaction With Life 70 Overall Well-Being 67 Health 67 Positive Affect 62 Governance 57 Education 53 Environment 46 Time Balance 43 Community Participation 41

  19. The Happiness Initiative Goals: • Gather well-being data • Survey & Objective indicators • Action for positive change. • Individual • Organization • Policy

  20. Happiness Initiative key activities • Partnerships • Town Meetings • Analysis and Recommendations • Actions • Happiness Circles • Duplication in other cities

  21. College Partnerships The Happiness Initiative can provide: • On-line survey and analysis for students • Referral code so colleges can see aggregate scores • Resources for classroom discussions • Tool kit for conducting campus initiatives Email us:happy@sustainableseattle.org

  22. Colleges Currently Using Survey • Allegheny College • Amherst College • Antioch University, Seattle • Ball State University • Mount Holyoke • Spalding University • University of Washington • Western Kentucky University • Western Washington University

  23. Pursuit of Happiness Day Friday, April 13 is Pursuit of Happiness Day! • Thomas Jefferson’s birthday • First celebration will be in 2012 Will include: • Campus teach-ins and celebrations • Community events • Large nationwide media outreach

  24. For more information contact: John de Graaf, HI co-director, Executive Director, Take Back Your Time — jodg@comcast.net Laura Musikanski, HI co-director, Executive Director, Sustainable Seattle – laura@sustainableseattle.org

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