QUOTE(abis @ 12 Jun 2008, 03:07 PM)
Apropo, esti un individ dependent, bolnav psihic si periculos, daca preferi viata in capitalism decat frecatul mentei in jungla.
Poti tu sa faci misto cat vrei, dar se cunosc cazuri destule in care comunitati ce nu excelau in bogatii, tehnologie si alte capitalismului, erau cat se poate de fericite. Situatie care s-a schimbat radical odata cu infectarea produsa de capitalismul consumerist.
Cazul statului ButanIn Butan, odata unul dintre cele mai fericite state din lume, fericirea scade vertiginos. Familiile se dezintegreaza, coeziunea sociala scade, criminalitatea creste, asmenea violentei in scoli. Care este insa cauza acestei decaderi? Nu ar trebui sa mire pe nimeni cand va afla ca motivul acestor nenorociri este chiar capitalismul consumerist, care infecteaza de cativa ani Butanul.
Intr-un articol recent, datand din 14 noiembrie 2007, intitulat "Bhutan's falling happiness index" si publicat in revista americana Marketplace, sunt descrise efectele pe care "cultura" vestica, orientata spre consumerism, le-a avut asupra tarii in cauza. Afirmatiile sunt sustinute de intelectuali de seama, atat localnici cat si specialisti de talie mondiala, ca Layard sau Easterlin.
In deschidere are cuvantul Lisa Napoli, jurnalista autoare a articolului: "Since satellite TV exposed its people to a foreign consumer culture, change has come rapidly -- and not for the better, say some. Once upon a time, the devout Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan was as simple as its ancient music. Few tourists were permitted, television wasn't allowed, and the king decreed that Gross National Happiness, rather than economic growth, would be the guiding principle of his nation. [...] And then, seven years ago, Bhutan's king allowed in television and then the Internet, and that introduced a fever among the people for a different way of life, and for new products. At night now, young people in Bhutan's capital take off their traditional dress and put on imported blue jeans to go dancing."
Scriitoarea Kuenzang Roder vorbeste despre declinul fericirii si cauzele acestei stari de fapt in Butan: "We just came from this very agrarian society, where we valued everything, you know? Fifty years ago, we were not even a monetized economy -- everything was barter. Recent years, you know we just bombarded with consumer goods. And now, you get all these clothes, these cheap clothes. The culture of fast clothes is coming in, and it's a very confusing kind of experience. Now, shades of dissatisfaction with the traditional way of life are creeping in everywhere."
Doi psihologi celebrii, Richard Layard si Richard Easterlin confirma: "There's a recorded increase in family breakup, and recorded increase in crime -- especially violent crime. And there's a lot of worry in schools about violence in the playground". In opinia lui Layard, "Bhutan's growing commercialization has put a significant dent in the country's renowned happiness, for good reason. Layard: There's a lot of evidence that a rather cohesive societies often experience falls in psychological well-being when they go into economic take-off."
La randul sau, Easterlin spune: "Another happiness economist is professor Richard Easterlin. He says the pattern has repeated itself generation after generation, in country after country, including Bhutan's enormous neighbor to the north. Richard Easterlin: In China, income has tripled over the last 15 or 20 years -- and life satisfaction seems to have declined. It happens in developed countries, too. Measures of U.S. happiness stopped increasing back in the 1950s, whereas per-capita income has risen nearly 300 percent since then. Easterlin says the answer is in human psychology. Easterlin: Increases in income are matched by increases in aspirations for income. And the net effect is no change in happiness. So, in this view, Bhutan's new anxiety disorders may be a byproduct of the country's growing consumer culture -- the desire to achieve more, and to have more."
Damber Nirola, un medic psihiatru bastinas, conclude scurt si la obiect: "Where does that leave the Bhutanese? For those who feel as if Gross National Happiness is slipping away, psychiatrist Dr. Nerola offers some distinctly traditional words of wisdom:
To be satisfied with what you are is happiness."
Articolul originar poate fi citit la adresa:
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display...onsumed5_mmr_1/Cazul comunitatii himalayene LadakhIntr-un articol intitulat "The happiness conspiracy: what does it mean to be happy in a modern consumer society?", aparut in numarul din iulie 2006 al revistei New Internationalist, psihologul John Schumaker exemplifica cu cazul comunitatii himalayene Ladakh cum virusul capitalist, aducator de lacomie, materialism si boli mentale, a distrus un climat social fericit si auto-suficient.
Dupa ce subliniaza imbecilitatea echivalarii fericirii cu consumerismul materialist:
QUOTE
"Our ignorance of happiness is revealed by the question on everyone's lips: 'Does money make us happy?' The head of a US aid agency in Kenya commented recently that volunteers are predictably dumbstruck and confused by the zest and jubilance of the Africans. It's become a cliche for them to say: 'The people are so poor, they have nothing--and yet they have so much joy and seem so happy.'
I never knew how measly my own happiness was until one day in 1978 when I found myself stranded in a remote western Tanzanian village. I saw real happiness for the first time--since then I have learned that it has vastly more to do with cultural factors than genetics or the trendy notion of personal 'choice'.
So it didn't surprise me that an African nation, Nigeria, was found recently to be the world's happiest country. The study of 'happy societies' is awakening us to the importance of social connectedness, spirituality, simplicity, modesty of expectations, gratitude, patience, touch, music, movement, play and 'down time'."
autorul se refera la cazul Ladakh:
QUOTE
"The small Himalayan nation of Ladakh is one of the best-documented examples of a 'happy society'. As Helena Norberg-Hodge writes in Ancient Futures, Ladakhis were a remarkably joyous and vibrant people who lived in harmony with their harsh environment. Their culture generated mutual respect, community-mindedness, an eagerness to share, reverence for nature, thankfulness and love of life. Their value system bred tenderness, empathy, politeness, spiritual awareness and environmental conservation. Violence, discrimination, avarice and abuse of power were non-existent while depressed, burned-out people were nowhere to be found.
But in 1980 consumer capitalism came knocking with its usual bounty of raised hopes and social diseases. The following year, Ladakh's freshly appointed Development Commissioner announced: 'If Ladakh is ever going to be developed, we have to figure out how to make these people more greedy.' The developers triumphed and a greed economy took root. The issues nowadays are declining mental health, family breakdown, crime, land degradation, unemployment, a widening gap between rich and poor, pollution and sprawl.
Writer Ted Trainer says before 1980 the people of Ladakh were 'notoriously happy'. He sees in their tragic story a sobering lesson about our cherished goals of development, growth and progress. For the most part these are convenient myths that are much better at producing happy economies than happy people."
Concluzia cade inevitabil:
"
We usually hitch our emotional wagons to ego, ambition, personal power and the spectacular. But all of these are surprising flops when it comes to happiness. Today's 'success' has become a blueprint for failure.".
Articolul poate fi citit integral la adresa:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JQ..._n16619371/pg_3