The small kingdom of Bhutan, nestled between India and China, was still ranked No. 1 on the happiness index as late as 2010. In the New Economics Foundation (NEF) survey, it topped the list for national happiness, surpassing measures such as economic size or standard of living.
But today few call Bhutan the happiest country. The same study placed Bhutan 56th in 2018 and then plunged to 95th in 2019. Since then, Bhutan has largely disappeared from happiness-related rankings.
At the root of that decline was comparison. Bhutan rejected GDP as the measure of national wealth and instead adopted Gross National Happiness (GNH) as the framework for policy. Concerned about cultural erosion, the government banned television and internet access, only lifting those bans in 1999.
When the government abruptly allowed mobile phones in 2003, many young people became aware of how their lives compared with those in neighboring countries. The state’s emphasis on spiritual well-being and traditional values ran up against its limits, and citizens’ feelings of relative deprivation and dissatisfaction grew.
Reporter Jinrae Cho jjr2015@viva100.com
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