Happy Governments

Last year I mentioned happiness and thought the whole idea would self-destruct in a cloud of absurdity. It didn't, of course. So now Frank Furedi had a look at the subject:

Of course, no one wants to miss the point of life. And the platitude that money does not make you happy contains more than a grain of truth. However, what the happiness lobbyists are actually saying is not that we should go forth and discover the meaning of life, merely that we should be content with what's on offer. They claim that concern with prosperity and economic growth diminishes the quality of our emotional life and makes us unhappy. They argue that if we were more modest in our aspirations and lowered our expectations, we would be far happier people.

Daily Telegraph
Eureka or Uriah Heep and his humble happiness?
via Arts & Letters Daily