TEDxHalifax - Silver Donald Cameron - Bhutan: The Pursuit of Gross National Happiness

Everything that exists is possible, no matter how strange, how incredible, how strange, if it exists, it is possible. Kenneth Bowling said that and that is true and that is the importance of Bhutan to people who care about the human relationship with the natural world. Bhutan is a place of inspiration. where the landscape itself is considered sacred and development has more to do with the spirit than the stock market, this is how Shang gumba is spoken, known in English as the tiger's nest, in the 8th century a great saint called Guru Renoe was flying on the back of a tiger to a cave in this cliff at the beginning of his mission to bring Buddhism to Bhutan.

The monastery built on the site is said to be attached to the cliff by the hairs of angels and this is the view from the Tiger's Nest, which is the Parel Valley. showing the small compact fields of butina farms and that's a stray dog ​​who walked to the monastery with us just for company. Dogs are said to be the last incarnation before the human and roam freely in Bhutan, located in the eastern Himalayas. Between India and Tibet, directly north of Bangladesh, Bhutan is about 2/3 the size of Nova Scotia in both population and area. Far horizon on that slide Marks the Tibetan border culturally and socially says a visitor Bhutan is an upside down place here the number 13 is considered lucky the children greet you with a goodbye and the king wants to abolish himself he did too the city of Tim fu is the only capital in the world without a single traffic light here they feed marijuana to the pigs it makes them want to eat and they get fatted the

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sport is archery tobacco Sals Billboards and plastic bags are prohibited but polygamy and the polian are quite acceptable the fourth The king is still alive but is no longer on the throne He has four wives, all of them are sisters Bhutan has more monks than soldiers Most of its liquors, including red panda beer and dragon rum, are produced by the army.

You can mail a letter using a postage stamp bearing his name. own photo and the most popular good luck term is a mural or a carving of an erect penis the booties have also turned the economy upside down the

gross

national

product said the fourth king the one who abolished himself is not as important as the

gross

national

happiness

The Butins are absolutely serious about the

pursuit

of gross national

happiness

as opposed to gross national product, after all, what is the purpose of economics if not to produce happiness? Something is going right in 2006. Business Week magazine rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia. for a unique marriage of its ancient culture with a sustainable post-industrial future until the 1960s, the country was literally feudal, an absolute monarchy without schools, hospitals or roads, this is the dong in Trona, a combination monastery-fortress and center administrative until the 1960s, all of Bhutan's East West Trade passed through this building and the main East West road is still quite scary.

There are wandering yaks in the 1960s. Bhutan had no telephones, no postal service, and no national currency. It was the last country in the world to have television in 1999. 50 Years ago, the lives of the Bhes were probably very similar to the lives of pre-industrial towns anywhere where people lived in country houses like this. Life was very local, mainly centered on agriculture and family, deeply religious with a powerful connection to the countryside. This woman is holding prayer beads a Buddhist counterpart to the Catholic rosary this traditional religious culture is visibly the basis of the butin The prayer flags of life are everywhere sending prayers to heaven every time they wave prayer wheels like these send prayers every time they turn and Chans or shrines dot the countryside Bhutan has been ruled for the last century by a dynasty of five kings who appear to have ruled with remarkable justice and wisdom and with a powerful dedication to their people.

They are revered in Bhutan. His photographs are everywhere. This image hangs in the country's only airport. Here it is. a story that helps explain that devotion In 2003 the fourth king faced a terrible dilemma: a group of Assamese separatists were attacking India from a base in southern Bhutan and India was pressuring the Bhutanese to remove them, the possibility was that If Bhutan did not remove them, the Indian army could enter and do so with disastrous possibilities for the independence of Bhutan, so the king went to visit the Assamese, spoke individually with each soldier, gave each one an apple and asked them They asked them to leave, but they refused, so the king added several hundred volunteers. his army of 9,000 men his untested army of 9,000 men knew what he was facing because he had counted the apples and personally led them into battle his army prevailed with the loss of about 10 Bhones and numerous Assamese but far from being jubilant the King Was so shocked by the loss of life that he banned any celebration of the Victory.

Instead, he had 108 Chans or shrines erected on the Doou LA flyover to honor the dead on both sides and hasten their path to his next life. extraordinary spiritual maturity I know of no other war memorial anywhere that mourns the battle and mourns all the dead and this is the same King, the fourth King, who declared almost 40 years ago that gross national happiness is more important than gross national product bravely setting his small nation on a single path to development in 2006 despite the protests of his people the fourth king abdicated in favor of his 27-year-old son in 2008 under the ancient prohibition of the fifth king became the world's youngest democracy a constitutional monarchy with its commitment to gross national happiness intact what do we mean by gross national happiness?

Is it possible to measure genuine progress towards a more humane, dignified and compassionate future? Seeking answers to that question the Butino government sought from the small research group known as GPI Atlantic that had spent a decade developing a genuine Progress Index for Nova Scotia, GPI's director is Dr. Ron Coleman and set out to adopt the adaptation of Nova Scotia work to the very different world of bhan g& and is based on four pillars of value that almost everyone accepts, the first pillar is Conservation of the environment, care of nature and others, secondly, the cultural promotion, the preservation of the wisdom of an ancient and cherished culture, thirdly, sustainable and equitable development that benefits all citizens past, future and present, fourthly, good governance, the inculcation of active citizenship and responsible, these four.

The pillars are divided into nine domains containing 72 measurable variables. One variable is the commitment to maintain forest cover in at least 60% of the country forever. In fact, 72% of Bhutan is covered in forest, 52% is permanently protected, and Bhutan currently absorbs three times as much carbon. as it is issued, it is not really difficult to measure things like that, various aspects of education, political participation and health can also be measured. The country now has universal healthcare and universal free education. Measurements show that between 1984 and 1994 life expectancy increased from 48 to 66 years while infant mortality was reduced by half. Note that g& not only counts money, but also lives, that is genuine progress and is a very good indicator of the happiness of a nation.

The first elected Prime Minister of Bhutan is the Honorable J. Jigi Yoer Thinley, whose government is absolutely committed to maximizing gross national happiness, understanding that gross national happiness had to be instilled directly in the youth. His government asked Ron Coleman to bring together the world's leading holistic educators for a workshop on education for gross national happiness. I attended the workshop as an observer. held in December 2009 Innovative educators from 16 countries discussed education for sustainability cultural wealth Equity ecology and citizenship participants began by asking what type of citizen wants the answer citizens who clearly see the interconnected nature of reality and understand all the benefits and costs of your actions and your deep care for others and the natural world, how would you shape those citizens?

The workshop calls for an education dedicated to deep, critical and creative thinking, ecological literacy, practice of the deep ancient wisdom and culture of the country, a holistic understanding of the world, genuine care for nature and for others competence to effectively address the modern world preparation for adequate living and informed civic engagement the loot government accepted those principles instantly overnight this is the deputy minister of education announcing the next morning that this was now government policy the government committed to returning to everyone in the education system would be trained, starting just 10 days later with Department of Education officials, all school principles in the country would begin training a month later and curriculum development would begin immediately within 3 years.

All teachers in Bhutan would have received adequate training. The process has developed practically according to that schedule. The raw values ​​of national happiness are intended to shape every aspect of the nation's life, including agriculture. This is Farmland in the Dog Valley, one of the few flat parts of Bhutan that is easily farmed. Last August, the Prime Minister announced that his government intends to make Bhutan the first nation in the world to be 100% organic in its food production. Britain's leading food policy consultant will be none other than the celebrated agricultural activist Van Dan Shiva, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing in Bhutan, the organic gardening group.

The initiative is part of the strategy to root all aspects of Bhutan's development in the values ​​g& going organic says the prime minister is living g& organic farming even adapts to the terrain with its small farms there is a farm in this photo can you see it? hillside farm outlined in red nestled among the trees, this mural on the wall of our hotel illustrates Amada Butina's folk tale of the four friends who combined their efforts to obtain a continuous supply of fruit, the peacock finds the seed and plants it, the rabbit waters it, the monkey fertilizes it, the elephant protects it and when it grows and bears fruit, the four friends make a tower to reach it and harvest it.

This prayer along with a portrait of Buddha was painted on the rock next to the main one. Highway during the filming of Travelers and Musicians Ban's first feature film here you have the ancient and the modern in a single text that says that all sentient beings are free from wanting to be praised not wanting to be criticized wanting to be happy not wanting to be unhappy wanting to win not wanting to lose wanting to be famous not wanting to be unknown thus prayed on the occasion of filming in

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in november 2002 scene 1112 shot 101

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's approach to the modern world comes just as industrialized nations are deeply reconsidering what was once simply known As progress, we now know that progress has also meant gains and losses, we know that the natural world is in trouble, and we know that although we are the richest people who have ever lived, we are by no means the happiest if the education of Bhutan Innovations really worked If a curriculum imbued with GN values ​​really had the desired effect, what would be the result in 5-10 years?

I asked the Prime Minister and this is what he said: He would like graduating students to understand that success in life does not mean acquisition. of wealth that success in life is a state of being in which one can go home at the end of the day satisfied with what one has done, be able to put one's head on the pillow and have a deep sleep and perhaps dream. or waking up the next day realizing that you are a happy individual not only because you have found happiness for yourself but because you have brought happiness in the process of this work day in which you have brought happiness to your spouse, to your children, your family, your neighbors and the world in general.

Bhutan is not shangra La, although it sometimes feels that way, the loots are not holy and some are far from enthusiastic about g's goals & the country has complex problems. Some of them are deep-rooted and intractable, but while some of their problems are unique, others apply to every nation on the planet and, indeed, to every person, and here Bhutan leads the way. How do we live consciously, sustainably, and indeed reverently in this Fierce? and the beautiful dream of the planet, evolution is not over James Lovelock is the British scientist who articulated the GAA theory, the idea that the entire Earth behaves as a single living organism.

Our intelligence, if it could be integrated as part of the entire planetary system, would make our planet. the first intelligent planet in the galaxy maybe it would be a wonderful future for humans everything that existsIt is possible Prime Ministers like that exist so it is possible to have one there is a development policy focused on respect for the environment so that is not impossible either there is a government that considers the intellectual, social and spiritual development of its people as its objective main instead of plundering the land, so that is also possible. I heard the lesson for us in the voice of the great macah Fiddler Lee I believe once when I was a child that Lee and his father were listening to one of the great K Breton fiddlers and Lee turned to his father and said, "Do you think I could learn to play like that." Well, said Simon, you have two hands and 10 fingers just like him, so if he can do it.

Why can't you do it using tools developed in Nova Scotia? The bhones propose to be very happy if they can do it. Why can't we do it too?