COMMENT | Were we happier a hundred years ago?
COMMENT | In our rush for progress, happiness and success, we have swallowed hook, line and sinker the siren call of capitalism and consumerism. After 25 years of informal learning (after attaining three university degrees from two top 50 universities in the world) I learned that there is so much more to life than just profit and personal wealth.
We must, of course, not ignore the need for profits, which, in one sense, enables us to sustain our world, especially economically. However, we must always remember that there are other things far more important than profit. For me, those things are principles and people.
For too many of us, profit comes first because of the narrative that we have accepted - not because we are stupid but simply because that was what we were taught, and we never questioned these lessons. Far too few people question their teachers, their own beliefs and, much less, the meaning of their lives.
The whole world, people at large, are in trouble not because we lack intelligence or the ability to solve the problems that we face. Our inability to solve the critical issues of the day stems from the fact that we do not possess...
COMMENT | In our rush for progress, happiness and success, we have swallowed hook, line and sinker the siren call of capitalism and consumerism. After 25 years of informal learning (after attaining three university degrees from two top 50 universities in the world) I learned that there is so much more to life than just profit and personal wealth.
We must, of course, not ignore the need for profits, which, in one sense, enables us to sustain our world, especially economically. However, we must always remember that there are other things far more important than profit. For me, those things are principles and people.
For too many of us, profit comes first because of the narrative that we have accepted - not because we are stupid but simply because that was what we were taught, and we never questioned these lessons. Far too few people question their teachers, their own beliefs and, much less, the meaning of their lives.
The whole world, people at large, are in trouble not because we lack intelligence or the ability to solve the problems that we face. Our inability to solve the critical issues of the day stems from the fact that we do not possess the right view or understanding of the actual situation.
Our learned minds – whether in economics, politics, philosophy or otherwise – do not permit us to go beyond the lines drawn in the sand of modern civilisation. Very often, we hear leaders and trainers talk about the dire need to think outside the box, but far too often these leaders and trainers are themselves living in echo chambers, albeit chambers that are larger than those boxes that they are talking about.
For example, to most people today, the invention of money is a brilliant stroke of genius that has enabled modern men and women to develop the modern economy at an unprecedented pace. I am not a big fan of numbers and statistics, but I am sure that the growth of the global economy in the last 100 years far outstrips, at least financially, the economic growth of the 900 years before that.
So what? Are the people who were alive in the last 100 years so much happier than the people who lived in the 900 years before that? Indeed, the economic system that is based on the invention of money – both currency and credit – has caused untold suffering to millions, if not billions, of people; whilst, at the same time, profiting a small minority of people who gain from and live off the suffering of the majority. For those inclined to read, check out the "Panama Papers" (just Google it). If you prefer watching a movie, watch The Laundromat (you can find it on Netflix).
At the end of the day, no matter what our station in life is, all we want is happiness and less suffering. Regardless of our sex, race, religion, or age, all of us want the same ends. However, not all of us agree on how to achieve those ends. Some people, like Machiavelli and his adherents, believe that the ends justify the means. On the other hand, people like Gandhi believe that the ends and means must be the same.
I declare (or confess) that I am a member of the latter group. However, I recognise that those in the former group are just the same as me, except that their view and/or definitions of “ends” and “means” may be a bit less clear, i.e. they do not see things as they are. Herein lies the problem for some of us, especially the scholars, academics and scientists.
Some people will always raise the point: Who are you, or so-and-so, to declare or determine the truth, or what are things-as-they-are? This, inevitably, leads us to a debate on epistemology – basically, how we know what we know.
Unfortunately, for the last 150 to 200 years or so, we have subjected the masses to public education designed to prepare students to be useful cogs in the wheel of the industrial revolutions, from version 1.0 to version 4.0 (current).
Accordingly, the graduates or alumni of these public educational institutions, only know what they have heard, read or been taught in these institutions. Alas, not many of us bother to question what the premise of the industrial revolution was, and whether its ultimate objectives were actually aligned with human progress, happiness and success.
I believe people would agree that, ultimately, anything that we invent, especially big ideas like economic development, democracy, and human rights, ought to be for the betterment of human lives, i.e. somehow improve the human condition. Given that these concepts have been around for at least three-quarters of a century (some much longer than others), we should see some tangible positive results in terms of human happiness and/or progress, no?
Here, again, unfortunately, those who would oppose my line of argument would point to economic progress, lower mortality rates, access to clean water, etc. as signs or symptoms of progress. Well, I think that “statistics” is not the only word that fits the end of the phrase that goes, “lies, damned lies and …”; I think the word “definitions” is also a good fit for that phrase.
What’s my point? For a start, I am saying that we need to question our own beliefs and definitions of fundamental things that we are plugged into, like popular culture and the economic and political systems. Secondly, I am saying that the solutions that we seek for our current predicament, be it economic, social, political, and/or environmental, will require a different level of thinking, and consciousness of a narrative higher, or deeper, than the one we’re currently listening to.
JONSON CHONG is currently a consultant and social entrepreneur with a diverse career background in law, activism, politics, sales and marketing, and education.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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