The Happiness Initiative A project of Sustainable Seattle The Happiness Initiative A project of Sustainable Seattle

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, 2010 election post-mortem in The New York Times

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

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

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

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

Bhutan’s nine domains of happiness

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

Happiness is as American as Apple Pie 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

Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” speech, 1964 “The purpose of protecting the life of our nation and preserving the liberty of our citizens is 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.”

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

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

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?

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

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.

Measuring Happiness: The Greater Victoria Well- Being Survey

Take the Survey! Go to: It includes 150 questions and takes about minutes You get your results immediately along with national median results

Some Key Results Material Well-Being73 Satisfaction With Life70 Overall Well-Being67 Health67 Positive Affect62 Governance57 Education53 Environment46 Time Balance43 Community Participation41

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

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

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 us:

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

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

For more information contact: John de Graaf, HI co-director, Executive Director, Take Back Your Time — Laura Musikanski, HI co-director, Executive Director, Sustainable Seattle –