FEBRUARY 6, 2014
Greece in crisis /The pursuit of Happiness
Gross National Product “It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.” Gabriel García Márquez time.com
VOL. 183, NO. 3 | 2014 2 | The Greek Reality
5 | Aristotle and Buddha
3 | The side effects of unemployment
5 | The road to happiness
4 | Income & well-being
6 | The most beautiful things in life, are not things
4 | The bubble of happiness
6 | Looking for happiness
4 | Income and Happiness Police in Greek riots Athens, 2013 5 | Bhutan - GNH
6 | The Puzzle of Happiness
- Greece - Greek society - Greeks The “Greek dream� - how was created The effects of the crisis - facts, statistics, feelings Different approaches to happiness Were Greeks really happy the recent years? The future belongs to those who dare
Heidi Dudi | Designer & Researcher | UK, Greece TIME February 6, 2014
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GREECE | CRISIS
HAPPINESS :
Why Greeks do not smile anymore? Society in crisis
Who could have thought that the country who organised and fulfiled with such a success the 2004 Olympic Games, would be a few years later sinked in the centre of the European crisis, merged in a high debt that makes even the most influential and optimistic people in the world sceptical about its future? HISTORY has proved that the Greek nation has overcome many difficulties and has built on their own debris plenty of times. However, in the 21st century, where everything evolves so quickly, could Greece successes be on the first raw once again? According to Eurostat, Greece has achieved its respective Medium Term Objectives regarding its fiscal consolidation. However, Nicholas Spiro, founder of Spiro Sovereign Strategy explains that investor confidence is detached from the economic reality in Greece and is based on the country’s eurozone status being secure (CNN, 2013). The opinion of the majority of the greek citizens is similar; The path is still long in order to limit the public debt and talk about a meaningful greek recovery. But do the Greeks have the creative capacity, willingness as well as patience to respond to this crisis and advance their lives?
Global forces challenge leaders and greek citizens to live, work, and govern differently. 2
The Greek reality THE REALITY IS HARDER than anyone can imagine unless he is part of it. People lose their jobs, but if lucky enough they undergo a salary reduction. Whether unemployment is a result of dismissal of a 45 year old man or a young man with a Phd who looks for a job in Greece, the result is the same. Individuals cannot find work, even after months of searching. In one way or another, the level of living of the middle class greek citizen has been decreased enormously during the last 3 years, especially after the enforcement of heavy fiscal measures. The number of malnourished children is rising in Greece, for the first time since the Second World War (CADTM, 2011). Meanwhile, social services are falling apart; public health is not accessible to everyone since many individuals are not qualified for it - while being unemployed - and medication turns to be really expensive. THE SOCIETY IS READY TO EXPLODE. The Greek nation cannot accept any new measurements. Protests -that most of the times are not peaceful- take place everyday in the capital. In addition, the popularity of the extreme right-wing “Golden Dawn” political party has been boosted. Since the last September, the majority of its parliamentary deputies has been imprisoned for their involvement in crimes and actions to harass and terrorize foreigners
at each and every opportunity. However, it is still believed to be a serious danger of destabilization and division in the country (ekathimerini, 2013). At the same time, new forms of terrorism and criminality appear in Greece. The side effects of unemployment The negative cycle of unemployment and poverty has serious effects on the mental health of individuals. Permanent stress and psychiatric disorders as
Greeks protest Greece Solidarity movement 2012, Syntagma square well as suicidal behaviour (The Lancet, 2012) have turned to be a major issue in Greece in 2014. Commuting in the centre of Athens last Christmas, revealed to me another heartbreaking reality: People do not smile anymore. Pessimism, ungratefulness and misery is expressed through various ways. People seem helpless; unable to find meaningful goals to try for the better. Even the young that were supposed to be the moving force in the TIME February 6, 2014
crisis, seem paralysed when they talk about the present. Shocked at the beginning of their carreer and, by extension, of their own life, search reasons for not leaving the country. Greece turns to be an unhappy country. Indeed, according to the World Happiness Report, one of the most significant falls in happiness, during 20102012, has occured in Greece (telegraph, 2013). GDP and social support can explain this. What about the other factors?
Were Greeks ever happy in the recent years? ANDREAS PAPANDREOU, a Harvardtrained economist, was elected Prime Minister of Greece after the ‘metapolitefsi’ -the transitional period from the fall of the dictatorship to the Greek legislative elections of 1974. He believed that everyone should have the same chances in life. Towards this direction he introduced a welfare state; he expan3
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ded healthcare coverage, promoted state-subsidized tourism for lower-income families, index-linking pensions and funded social establishments for the elderly. A more progressive taxation scheme was introduced and budgetary support for artistic and cultural programs was increased. Overall, the share of GNP devoted to social welfare, social insurance and health, was significantly increased. Other major policy changes included the establishment of parental leave for both parents, child care centres, maternity allowances, community health centres. Women were encouraged to join agricultural cooperatives as full members, an option which previously had been open only to men. Papandreou also introduced various reforms in the administration and curriculum of the Greek educational system. The university system was expanded and departments were reorganised and decentralised, with the number of students doubling during the first four years of his governance (Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora, 1997). PAPANDREOU WAS THE FIRST ONE IN GREECE THAT SHOWED GREAT INTEREST ON THE WELL-BEING OF THE SOCIETY, and that is probably the reason he was much loved by the majority of Greek citizens. He believed that the increased spending in his early years in power was necessary in order to heal the deep wounds of the Greek society that was still divided by the brutal memories of the Civil War and the rightwing repression that followed. However, his policy led to excessive expenditures which were not accompanied by corresponding revenue increases. This contributed to increases in budget deficits and public debt. But who really cared at that moment? After many years, Greeks seemed to enjoy life again. Income and well-being RESEARCH HAS PROVED THAT HIGHER AVERAGE INCOMES DO 4
NOT NECESSARILY IMPROVE AVERAGE WELL - BEING. Professor Richard Easterlin noted a paradox in the U.S.; at any particular time richer individuals are happier than poorer ones, but over time the society did not become happier as it became richer. There are mainly four reasons that people do this: The comparison with the others makes us feel happier when we are higher on the social ladder - status. A second reason is that the gains have not been evenly shared, but have gone disproportionately to those at the top of the income and education distribution. Moreover, other societal factors -insecurity, loss of social trust, a declining confidence in governments- have counteracted any benefits felt from the higher incomes. The last reason is adaptation; individuals may experience an initial jump in happiness when their income rises but then at least partly return to earlier levels as they adapt to their new higher income (The Earth Institute/Columbia University, 2013). It seems that all the above were embodied in a way of thinking that led to the model of materialistic prosperity, welcomed by most of the Greeks the last few years. Today, the model of economy that Papandreou introduced to the Greeks 40 years earlier, has corrupted. The bubble of happiness BEING HAPPY IS A WAY TO APPROACH LIFE. Success is part of it and it is defined as a meaningful achievement on a professional or personal level that could promote positive difference to the others in an individual or organisational level (Happier.com, 2013), (City University London, 2013). In that way, the positive psychology, as described by Patrick Jordan may allow creativity and innovation to flourish and finally bring satisfaction that sometimes is translated to a transient happiness. This reflects a way of thinking that could ‘successfully’ bring you at the foreront of professionals and could offer you some luxuries.
THE AMERICAN DREAM suggests that success through hard work could probably be attainable by everyone. But is success the way to happiness? It appears to be a cliche in rich countries that money does not buy happiness, even though many people still look for it in oder to buy material goods. People seem to have paraphrased the “dream” in their minds; the increase of successes translated into prosperity, could bring them happiness. It is apparent that individuals in the pursuit of this dream forgot or confused what could make them really happy. (america.day-dreamer.de., 2014). Income and Happiness In the impoverished societies, no money results in insecurity and uncertainty -both for the individual and for the family- and those are significant causes for unhappiness. In the high-income world where the basic deprivations have been vanquished, people do not necessarily improve average well-being.
as the only way to measure progress and championed a new approach to development which measures prosperity through formal principles of Gross National Happiness (GNH). Less than 40 years ago, when Bhutan opened its borders for the first time, it gained an almost mythical status for its determined and methodical pursuit of the most elusive of concepts; National Happiness
“We believe you cannot have a prosperous nation in the long run that does not conserve its natural environment or take care of the well-being of its people, which is being borne out by what is happening to the outside world”, GNH index
Researches on happiness have put a clear limit on the extent to which rich countries can become happier through the simple device of economic growth. Nowadays, more than ever before, there are reasons to doubt the formula of ever- rising GNP per person as the route to happiness (The Earth Institute, Columbia University, 2014). State leaders across the world are increasingly interested in understanding why some nations are happier than others and how to create the best environment for people to be happy (Happiness Research Institute, 2014). Gross National Happiness (GNH) The Bhutan’s example Bhutan is a small kingdom at the eastern Himalaya of 750,000 people and has Buddhism as its official religion. Its population is highly dependent on the agricultural sector and they invest in hydropower to finance their development (BBC, 2013). Since 1971, Bhutan has rejected GDP TIME February 6, 2014
According to Thakur Singh Powdyel, Bhutan’s minister of education, GNH is an aspiration, a set of guiding principles -on the spiritual, physical, social health of the citizens and preservation of the environment- through which Buthaneses are navigating their path towards a sustainable and equitable society (HRI, 2014), (BBC, 2014), (World Happiness Report, 2013). From Aristotle and Buddha to today... Aristotle shared some fundamental precepts in his respective path to happiness. He followed an ethical and psychological naturalism, in which happiness is achieved by living consistently with human nature and physical reliability. He believed that the political community through its institutions could promote the virtuous behaviour, which is the path of moderation between the excesses of hedonism and asceticism. According to him, this virtue leads to a deep well-being, known as ‘eudaimonia’. Eudaimonia promotes both psychological strength and social harmony. However, Aristotle emphasized that virtue must be cultivated, through exercise of reason over emotions. He insisted that
instruction should be given, especially to the young, followed by regulatory law, to become less painful when getting used to it. BUDDHA AND ARISTOTLE SHARED MANY KEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL INSIGHTS. They both emphasized to the tendency of human beings to pursue material possessions and sensual pleasures to excess, compromising their psychological well-being in pursuing of temporal sensations. They indicated that this approach does not lead to happier lives. They both believed that the “virtue” for Aristotle and “right path” for Buddha, require training, education, practice and cultivation of the mind (London Budhist Vihara, 2014), (Brink, 2006). Over the centuries, virtue ethics disappeared and replaced by the “utility theory” in which each individual’s utility (well-being) is determined by the possession and consumption of material goods (Brink, 2006). The road to happiness starts from the beginning EINSTEIN had said that “We are all born as artists”. To elaborate further, we could interprent that kids are not afraid to be wrong, they are prepared for it and they take the chance to explore, create and feel happy. THE GREEK EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IS STILL FAR AWAY FROM THIS APPROACH. Years of hardworking studies caused the Greeks to miss the chance to gain personal satisfaction and happiness by trying out different things and living experiences outside the school classes. Within this context, all Greeks with one or another way, grew up with the fear of being wrong and getting judged. But how we can progress if we do not risk? The Greeks bacame “degree collectors”. The crisis proved that there was 5
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a misconception about the purpose of the academic inflention from Bachelor to Master and then to Phd degrees. For many years, Greeks believed that only this was enough to get the job of their dreams, have successes and become happy. It seems that now is time to ask themselves honestly: “Was it really worth it?” Greeks seem still unable to be detached from this idea. Noone can deny that certificates are good, but they must not be the goal in itself. Sir Ken Robinshon through his books and talks, has indicated many times the importance of an education that focuses on promoting the creativity and not being based on the standardised testing. This could be achieved by individualising the education far away from a personal process that allows people to investigate their interests and find their passion.
“Happiness has to be the purest goal for development. Because we trivalize happiness and the meaning of life, we therefore chase the wrong things” (Jigmy Thinley, Minister of Bhutan). The most beautiful things in life, are not things For a few decades, the belief that wellbeing should take preference over material growth has remained a global oddity. (The Guardian, 2012). The happiness and positive feelings arousing from the beauties of the greek landscape, the resources of the land, the sun and the hospitality are things Greeks should invest in. To make progress we need to imagine alternative realities. It is time for the young generation to try for these. Looking for happiness NO MORE MISERY. NO MORE BLAME. Greeks should move on forward. They need to think about their mistakes, rearrange their priorities and 6
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams
Eleanor Roosevelt
rebuild their life once again. That is the only way to regain the lost happiness. Yes, it is true that Greeks overcame many hardships in the past. Though it is also true that Greek society ‘was living beyond its means’ for many years. Since the crisis started, Greece has been considered as the black ship of Europe. As Eleanor Roosevelt said “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”. I AM GREEK. I FEEL GREEK. I TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY I OWE. There is as proportional relationship between being critical and strict and allowing yourself to make mistakes. Therefore, it is essential to stop stigmatising mistakes and consider things that happen within and outside of our life in a more positive attitude. Gaining a new confidence will show a new start. WE ARE ALL DESCENDANTS OF ARISTOTLE. Could the virtue ethics of Aristotle help create a common behaviour guide towards the sustainable development that many people start to envision as their last chance to progress and live peacefully in this world? Hope that Greeks will do that soon, even without the help of the existing “demo-
cratic” politicians they were tempted to believe until now. It is difficult to change an individual’ s behaviour. It is harder to try change a whole nation’ s behaviour. But if we want as a country to stand on our feet again, we need individually to try for it, each one for himself. The Puzzle of Happiness The economic crisis of the 21st century resulted to the death of the hyper - commercialism, as a way to approach happiness. It is evident today that economic, social and psychological factors have an important role on the determination of our happiness and our evolution as a nation. Success and happiness are highly connected. If you still believe that investing to happiness is not enough for our progress as human beings, it might worth consider the following. Research in Psychology and Economics suggests that happier individuals may be more capable to evaluate the implications of decisions with short and long terms trade-offs, resulting in decisions that reflect greater self-control and appropriate risk-taking (World Happiness Report, 2013).
References American Psychological Association 2014, Psychological Effects of Unemployment and Underemployment [online], Washington, Available from: https://www.apa.org/about/gr/issues/socioeconomic/unemployment.aspx [Accessed: 20.1.2014]. BBC News 2014, Bhutan profile [online], UK, Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12480707 [Accessed: 29.1.2014]. Brink, D. 2006, Persons, Eudaimonia, and Friendship in Aristotle’s Ethical Theory [online], UK, Available from: http://philosophyfaculty. ucsd.edu/faculty/dbrink/courses/260-06/Handout-7.pdf [Accessed: 1.2.2014]. Chatzistefanou, A., Kitidi, K. 2011, Greece: The number of malnourished Greek children is rising for the first time since the Second World War [online], Available from: http://cadtm.org/Greece-The-number-of-malnourished [Accessed: 20.1.2014]. ekathimerini.com 2013, Minister warns that Golden Dawn could ‘destabilize’ Greece [online], Athens, Available from: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_25/07/2013_511111 [Accessed: 20.1.2014]. EUROSTAT 2013, Unemployment Statistics, European Commission EUROSTAT, EU. Happiness Research Institute 2014, Bhutan - Gross National Happiness [online], Copenhagen, Available from: http://www.happinessresearchinstitute.com/bhutan/4578771604 [Accessed: 17.1.2014]. Happiness Research Institute 2014, Happiness is on the global agenda [online], Denmark, Available from: http://www.happinessresearchinstitute.com/happiness-is-on-the-global-age/4578771607 [Accessed: 22.1.2014]. Hellenic Statistical Authority 2013, Labour force (monthly) [online], Greece, Available from: http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ ESYE/PAGE-themes?p_param=A0101&r_param=SJO02&y_param=2013_10&mytabs=0 [Accessed: 22.1.2014]. Helliwell, J., Layard, R., Sachs, J. 2013, World Happiness Report [online], US, Available from: http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/ Sachs%20Writing/2012/World%20Happiness%20Report.pdf [Accessed: 22.1.2014]. Joy, O. 2013, Is Greece finally on the mend after economic crisis? [online], Available from: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/11/business/ greece-economy-on-path-to-recovery/ [Accessed: 20.1.2014]. London Buddhist Vihara 2014, The Noble Eightfold Path [online], UK, Available from: http://www.londonbuddhistvihara.org/fund_topics/ eightfold.htm [Accessed: 1.2.2014]. Michels, E. 2014, What is the American Dream? [online], US, Available from: http://america.day-dreamer.de/dream.htm [Accessed: 23.1.2014]. Oliver, S. 2013, Denmark ‘the world’s happiest country’ [online], UK, Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/10301496/Denmark-the-worlds-happiest-country.html [Accessed: 19.1.2014]. The Curb Center 2013, Humanities 161: Creativity and Crisis [online], Nashville, Available from: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ curbcenter/?project=curricular-innovations [Accessed: 23.1.2014]. THE LANCET 2012, Health and the financial crisis in Greece [online], Philadelphia, Available from: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/ lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)60422-X/fulltext [Accessed: 21.1.2014]. TIME.com http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/30/ted-talk-legend-sir-ken-robinson-talks-to-time/#ixzz2rpIEcagY [online], U.S., Available from: http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/30/ted-talk-legend-sir-ken-robinson-talks-to-time/ [Accessed: 24.1.2014]. Bibliography Kariotis, C. T. 1997, ‘Andreas G. Papandreou: The Economist’, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora. Sharot, T. 2011, The Optimism Bias, 2nd edition, Pantheon Books Films Rosetta (film), 1999, France Belgium, Les Films du Fleuve. David Steindl-Rast: Want to be happy? Be grateful (video), 2013, New York, TED talks. Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms (video), 2010, UK, TED talks.
TIME February 6, 2014
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ARE YOU HAPPY?
YES
NO CHANGE SOMETHING
YES KEEP DOING WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING
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DO YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY?
NO TIME February 6, 2014
Life is made of moments. Choose to create and collect the happy ones.
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