To be or not to be, Happy?

In John Helliwell, Richard Layard, and Jeffrey Sachs' informative research paper, The World Of Happiness Report, they suggest that the creation of a global consortium to document what makes people happy could lead to a state of happiness for all.  The authors give evidence that a country’s Gross Domestic Product is not the sole indicator of determining peoples happiness as a country and that the “four pillars” of “ending extreme poverty, environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and good governance (99)” should be the cornerstones to achieving a society of happiness.  The authors would like to use this research in order to scientifically identify the reasons for a nation’s happiness to hopefully increase the attainability of happiness for all nations.  The authors’ topic and assertions suggest this paper was intended for an academic audience.

 I agree with most of what the authors are saying in this paper.  The “four pillars” should be what every country as whole should strive for.  I also agree with their evaluation of the United States.   We as a nation may be an economic super power but as far as “ending poverty, environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and good governance” goes, we are failing to make the grade.  I think the U.S. and other countries in the same predicament should seek to realign our priorities and balance our want of a high GDP with the happiness of humanity and the sustainability of the Earth.   The “four pillars” seem to be a good place to start.