Action for happiness was launched this week. It’s a campaign to be kinder to each other. Its about loving, caring and hugging each other. And who could complain about that? Well miserable me of course.
The trouble with this stuff is summed up with the words crack, paper and over. Only its worse than not dealing with the insecurity, exhaustion and anxiety of living in a world of turbo-consumption with all the emptiness, loneliness and futility that comes with it. A hug might or might not help the symptoms of what’s wrong with lives. But it won’t change the causes of our misery. And worse it tells us we can by hugging.
We will only find individual and collective contentment (I don’t want to use the word happiness) when we address the problems of markets that are too free and states that are sometimes too remote. Anything less just makes the already secure, rich and powerful even happier
That’s a bit unfair – the campaign is about far more than just hugs. In fact it promotes many of the same ’self improvement’ strategies that you advocate in your book. Of course the state could do more to restrain the markets, etc, but we should not belittle the collective force of individuals making personal decisions over their own life-style. I for one have learned to resist the allure of materialism (not totally, like ex-alcoholics we are always in remission!) and believe I am happier for it. It seems like others are increasingly thinking along similar lines. So let’s give it a chance.
Of course lets give it a chance Alan and I like your line about being in consumer remission – i too try and struggle – but lets not pretend we can do it alone. Lets try and do it together and do it at a national level through our political systems. After all that is whet they are there for.