Pleonexia and Happiness

Another grab from No Impact Man: Sustainable consumption's "double dividend"

Colin Beavan says:

One method of making consumption sustainable is to modify material and product production, distribution, use and disposal methods so that the consumption is less damaging. Another method, and the one that I often write about, has to do with just reducing consumption.

I like this approach because no new technology is required. It is simply a matter of habit change. And I like it because I don't believe the two-job, credit card debt up to our necks, don't have time for our friends and families approach to life makes us happy.

He references a 2005 paper by Professor Tim Jackson of the University of Surrey: "Live Better by Consuming Less?," Professor Jackson claims that there is a "double-dividend" to reduced consumption. One, it helps maintain our health, happiness and security as it depends on our planetary habitat. Two, there may be an increase in happiness when there is less emphasis on accumulating stuff. Please see No Impact Man for an extended quote from the paper and a PDF link to it; I haven't yet learned how to link to PDFs and he already did the work, and I'd like to woo you all toward this great blog anyway.

I learned a new word:

Pleonexia, the insatiable desire for more, was regarded in Aristotle's day as a human failing, an obstacle to achieving the 'good life.'

Reading the comments can be very educational as well. For example, Diane Gandee Sorbi references a recent 60 Minutes show that featured a study that has shown that Denmark has the most happy people. The U.S. ranks 23rd on that list. In Denmark, there is a low rate of violence, and less wealth disparity. Danes work an average of 37 hours per week, and take 6 weeks vacation a year. Diane says, "Some of the people interviewed believe they are simply more content with life because they understand that once you have what you need, more doesn't equal better. They think that success is defined by our relationships with the people we care about, and that it is more important to do what you love even if you make less money. It seems to me there is a lot we could learn in this country from the Danes."

There must be some kind of message from the universe telling me to go to Denmark, or something. I keep hearing or thinking about Denmark in one context or another; in my answers to that Book Questionaire I claimed that I wanted to learn Danish. Maybe my subconscious is on to something.

Anyway, a little research has led me to the above referenced story on 60 minutes and the scientific survey of international happiness carried out by Leicester University in England, entitled 'A Global Projection of Subjective Well-being: A Challenge to Positive Psychology?'

(CBS) Happiness is that quirky, elusive emotion that the Declaration of Independence maintains we have every right to pursue. And we do pursue it: we are suckers for an endless stream of self-help books that promise a carefree existence for a mere $24.95; and television hucksters of every kind claim they have the key to Nirvana. So the happiness business, at least, is one big smiley face.

Hmmm. What are your thoughts on happiness, whether or not they involve consumption? I'm going to ponder that.

I've been told there is a total lunar eclipse tonight but for once Tucson has total cloud cover so I can't see it. If my kids were here, we would be outside looking for it... It makes me happy to think of other events that have caused us to go outside together to look skyward, and it makes me very, very sad to think about how I can't even count how many days it has been since I've seen them. It's been several days since I've even spoken to them on the phone.

I suppose much of my personal happiness involves my children. Or more specifically, my personal unhappiness currently involves my children. Being a mother who really, really wanted those little guys, it is heartbreaking to be without them. That's the most prominent cause of my grief and rage about my health condition, and it sometimes distracts me from the rest. However, sometimes I stay awake at night recalling the days of teaching SCUBA lessons, rock climbing, flying small aircraft, sailing, hiking, horseback riding, skiing on snow or water, and all of the other physically active things I used to do.

I think illness and disability can be an enormous challenge to achieving happiness, but there are lessons in these experiences that may lead me to serenity and happiness in the future. That's a topic for another post... Hasn't this one wandered enough?

Peace.