Happiness and money

(Photo courtesy: Google)

When people accepted earth as their first habitat, god gifted them happiness but not richness and money. With the gradual change in technology due to modernization, everything never remained same. Money conquered the world and happiness lost its war against money. Money is everything, it can buy luxurious properties like car, land, house and power but it cannot buy happiness. Happiness is elusive. Scientist have found that American millionaires living in huge, luxurious houses are barely happier than Masai warriors in Kenya who live in huts. Happiness won’t create problems, people won’t suffer, and peace will prosper in the county whereas money will make people rich which would result in inequality, poverty, slavery system and wildness.                                                                                                                                                 

In the chaos of world war ll, people all over the world did not have what they wanted “Happiness” except Bhutan. The people living in most of the spectacular place on world are suffering due to the lack of happiness including Bhutan. During the world war l and world war ll, almost all the country around the world lost most of their men. People were killed mercessly on the battlefield. Bhutan remained unharmed, untouched, unconquered and not rich because Bhutan at that time is not developed and she do not have relation with most of the world’s powerful nations like japan, Germany and America. So the people of Bhutan enjoyed peaceful and happy life. So Bhutan lived with peace and happiness.

In the 21^st century globalization and modernization made a big impact on Bhutan. It made Bhutan industrialized and developed and people became rich and luxurious. Now Bhutan is different than before. People murder each other for money, steal money and things, youngsters form gangs, fight, torcher and rape weak gender and some bully for money. Although GNH is the fundamental aspect in Bhutanese society, people do not follow it. Happiness once became important in the country and now money became the most important one. People do everything for money. Everything is what made the country unhappy.

When Bhutan became modernized nation, slavery system also came into existence, with the division of people into rich and poor category. Only 30% of Bhutanese people are literate. 70% of the population are uneducated youngsters and villagers and drop out students. Most of the parents who were unable to feed and provide shelter to their children were send to the urban areas to work and earn money so that it will benefit their family. The children are badly treated and brutally abused. They work with hard labor under an owner. Child labor is increasing day by day in urban areas which will affect the happiness of the individual person and nation as a whole.

More the money, less you are happy. If Bhutan become even richer than ever, the situation will be even worse. Chaos will increase dramatically. More crime cases will pile up in police station. There will be competition between the rich people trying to top the Bhutan’s wealthiest man which will affect most of the poor people. Division of territory will occur in which poor people living in slum and rich people living in buildings. Even the rich people will be in tension because of the amount of money they have. United States is much richer than it was 50 years ago, but it has produced no measurable increase in overall happiness. Rich people will not get satisfied with what they have, instead they will do different kinds of business which will affect the people who are working under the particular rich person and the rich person. Some of the billionaires has made more money by selling drugs all over the world which will earn a lot and will also involves danger. So such type of more problems will occur in Bhutan. One such type of case has happened in which a Bhutanese woman was transporting drugs to Thailand. The woman was caught and sentenced to jail. In this case, the woman and the family will be unhappy. All the people in Bhutan will also be unhappy because such type of case did not happen since now.

Bhutanese people are not happier than they were in the past, although the way of living has doubled. To prevail happiness forever in the country, every people in the country should be equal to each other. Then there will not be discrimination, suffering, and war among people. So, Bhutan can fulfill all the pillars of GNH. The people will live in peace and prosperity. Bhutan should develop but people should not get richer with the change. People can build good relationship with friends and families if we remain neutral. We the Bhutanese should believe in Buddha’s teachings which prohibits us from doing unnecessary things. Every people should remember that money can buy anything even human (in Europe, billionaires buy soccer players from clubs) but it cannot buy happiness. Money is a fake happiness but happiness is true happiness which will remain in the heart until the soul vanishes completely from the universe.

(Photo courtesy: Google)