The Three Keys to Happiness

Frustration, dissatisfaction, depression -- these days, it seems they are the plagues of my generation, nay the plagues of society. Why when I complain of unhappiness, do my friends more often echo of my own sentiments than offer words of comfort? I don't blame people for their melancholy, and the fact that it is so pervasive only underscores the likelihood that our unhappiness is not entirely our fault. But that doesn't mean we can't do something about it.

Psychologists often explore the effects of systems that impact people's values, priorities, and goals -- such as religion, tradition, and personal habits. But one thing that psychologists rarely study is the impact of economic systems on mental health. Since I often find myself trying to dissect the psychological effects of all the systems in which I live, I find this lack of research particularly unsettling. However, I recently discovered and read a great article by a team of psychologists that analyzes the ways the human psyche is affected by capitalism -- or more specifically, American corporate capitalism (ACC).

To make a long story short, the team found that the world's most pervasive economic system requires that people place value on wealth and possessions (no big surprise there). The more interesting part is this:

...concern for wealth and possessions conflicts with working “to improve the world through activism or generativity,” having “satisfying relationships with family and friends,” and feeling “competent and autonomous.”... [E]mpirical research, conducted with different methodologies, from different theoretical perspectives, and with thousands of individuals from dozens of nations around the world, leads to a provocative conclusion: The values and goals most closely expressive of ACC’s ideology and institutions are also those that oppose and potentially undermine people’s concern for: a) promoting the welfare of others in the broader community; b) developing a sense of connection and closeness to other humans; and c) choosing paths in life that help them to feel worthy and autonomous. [Kasser, et al. (2007) "Some Costs of American Corporate Capitalism, Psychological Inquiry, Vol. 18, No. 1, 1–22.]

The authors argue that beyond the need for basics like food and shelter, human happiness depends on three major things: feeling useful, having close relationships with other people, and feeling capable and independent. Capitalism rewards working in one's self-interest; it generally does not reward promoting the welfare of the wider community. And self-interested goals often have more to do with wealth and possessions than strong personal relationships. What's more, capitalism often requires that people sell their skills (labor) by performing mundane, repetitive, or simply uninteresting tasks that undermine the sense of being useful and independent. In other words, our economic system is inherently at odds with our happiness.

So what to do about it? Capitalism is far from perfect, but it is an entrenched system that has many advantages. I don't know how to cure what ails our society, and neither do the authors of the article I read this week. But I do think that if we take a close look at the problems with our economic system, we can make conscientious decisions that improve our own odds of shaking the frustration, dissatisfaction, and depression that are far too common among us. We don't have to become communists, we just have to be more aware of the importance of:

a) promoting the welfare of others in the broader community
b) developing a sense of connection and closeness to other humans
c) choosing paths in life that help us to feel worthy and autonomous.

In fact, I feel better already. It's not hard to do those three things -- the hard part is recognizing how often we need to think about them. These principles should be our guidelines for decision-making. Review a decision you recently made. What principles guided your choice? Are you confident with the path you've chosen? If not, maybe you've forgotten how important it is to be kind, have friends, and do what you want to do. When it comes to being happy, maybe that's all there is to it.

My Maple Syrup Brain

My head is spinning and I'm not quite sure what set it off. Could it be the massive amounts of development theory I am reading through each day? Or maybe it's the economic equations with their dozens of variables that set my brain on a spiraling path to insanity. Could the dizzying pace at which I have settled into life in Vancouver be contributing to the madness? Without a doubt, the sheer volume of names and faces and stories and places that have muscled their way into my consciousness must be complicating my mental state.

When it comes to school, I have theories on everything and opinions on nothing. Each book contradicts the next. Easterly says development is economic growth, and the only path to success is through incentivizing investment. But Sachs argues that debt forgiveness and education and disease control are the goals which will lead to development. Easterly mocks Bono; Sachs is Bono's mentor. Sen argues that everyone is completely bonkers -- and the only way we can measure development is by the capabilities of individuals; development is freedom. But such a broad definition of development opens the door to arguments both for and against anarchy, Marxism, capitalism, industrialization, de-industrialization, economic reform, universal education, and globalization.

I'm in Vancouver because I want to learn about development, which to me is the minimization of misery and the increase in equality among all people, not just within a given community or country. I think this requires sacrifice on the part of the wealthiest -- I see no practicableness in the idea that we can keep economies growing infinitely to the end that everyone is wealthy. No, wealth is built on the exploitation of others. To achieve equity and fairness, sacrifices must be made. The system must be radically changed (destroyed?). I'm in Vancouver, and I spend 10 hours a day thinking about all these things that need to be done. I think, I listen, I discuss, I think some more, I argue a bit, I think, I go home, I read, I think, I try to synthesize it all, and I end up turning to my journal or this blog or a friend's unoccupied ear in the hope that if I ramble long enough about all these ideas, some sort of cohesive thought will eventually form in my brain and tumble off my tongue in a coherent manner. But all that I've got is the previous sentence: 75 words of gibberish.

In an ideal world, everyone would have the opportunity to expend this much mental energy on theory and philosophy and concepts, but there would be no need because there would be no desperation for change. Even though I know that the opportunity for this thought is what separates the free from the unfree, I don't think that life should really be lived this way. Life should be simple, clean, happy. People should throw off desire, embrace reflection, nature, and the generosity of others. Buddha had it right -- but the problem with Buddhism is that we are all supposed to toss away our possessions and rely on the generosity of others in order to obtain what we need to survive. If everyone is throwing off desire and possessions, then who is left to give charity?

That was way off the point, but it's been an idea that has crept into my head more than once today, and I thought perhaps the best way to deal with its annoying presence in my mind would be to try to communicate it to someone else. It's not that the idea annoys me, but I feel that my mental energy is so pushed to the limit that any thought not directly related to Sen, Easterly, Keynes, Mosse, Harriss, the IMF, Bono, Sachs, the World Bank, globalization, the dalit, the WTO, Marxists, hippies, anarchists, and famine is mental energy that is being wasted.

But then on the other hand -- what good is my position in a "developed" society if I cannot exercise my mental capacities in the way that I see valuable? I want to think about football and chocolate, sunsets, leprechauns, the Hold Steady, Buddhism, paper airplanes, the attractive people I see everywhere, movies, Naipaul, cotton vs. hemp, and quesadillas. Thinking about that stuff is fun. It makes me feel alive. Thinking about development economics does not make me feel alive; it makes me feel like I am drowning in molasses (or should I say maple syrup?), but that perhaps someday I'll have one single great thought that could make a huge impact on the world and rocket me out of my sugary grave. So I am trapped inside my own mind. On the one hand, I want to exercise the parts of my brain that give me instant gratification, and on the other hand I want to push my brain to the absolute limit of my capacity for abstract thought, even though it is painful, frustrating, and apparently doomed to futility, since I have more questions and no answers.