Bhutan’s ‘Gross National Happiness’ Contributes To Global Success – But Also Loss

Bhutan a small landlocked kingdom situated in south Asia that had introduced the concept of Gross national Happiness to the modern world, is facing a a problem. The country is facing heavy out migration as young people are leaving the country in large numbers.

Bhutan has free healthcare, free education, increasing life expectancy and a an economy that has been growing since last 30 years, then why are people still leaving?

Bhutan’s premier, Tshering Tobgay, reflects on the state of his country, saying the very success of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness has, ironically, led to the crisis of out-migration now facing the country. “It is an existential crisis,” Tobgay says, and he’s not being dramatic. It is ironic that the very idea of prioritizing happiness over economic output has become a reason for young Bhutanese people to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Bhutan remained isolated for centuries, fiercely protecting its Buddhist heritage. Until the 1970s foreign tourism was discouraged, and it wasn’t until 1999 that a television could be found in the entire country. Even today, Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, is a place lacking traffic lights; cars and cows share the same roads. This seclusion was, for the most part, by design. Dasho Kinley Dorji, former government minister and Bhutan’s first newspaper editor, remembers that though Bhutanese culture was peaceful, it was always “nervous” of outside influences, especially being so close to two very powerful neighbors-India and China. “Bhutan’s strength was going to be our identity, to be different from everyone around us,” says Dorji.

The Road to Modernity: The Bhutanese Isolation Story

The turning point for Bhutan in modern history occurred in the 1970s when King Jigme Singye Wangchuck became king. He said that Bhutan valued Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product on one of his many visits to Cuba. Word of it flowed around the globe, and this concept then became the guiding philosophy of the government.

Gross National Happiness recognizes that economic growth is essential, but growth needs to be sustainable. It must.be balanced by the preservation of our unique culture,” says Prime Minister Tobgay. This is an approach that values not just economic wealth but also social well-being, environmental sustainability, and cultural integrity.

Bhutan’s government measures happiness every five years through a national survey, which feeds into policy decisions. Yet Tobgay clarifies, “Gross National Happiness does not directly equate to happiness in the moment. One happiness is fleeting, it is emotion, it is joy,” he explains. Bhutan focuses instead on long-term contentment, a deeper sense of life satisfaction.

Balancing Development with Tradition

Nature plays a central role in daily life in Bhutan. By law, the country is obliged to ensure that at least 60% of its land is covered with forests. Bhutan, as a country, receives most of its energy from hydroelectric power. Hence, it’s one of the only carbon-negative countries in the world. Bhutan believes in nature and preservation. The mountain summits are considered sacred and cannot be climbed up. Bhutanese beliefs are married with their environment: worship wheels and flags are scattered all over the landscape, and nature itself becomes a place of worship.

Bhutan is a pretty backwards rural economy, yet compared with most other nations in their status, an extraordinary success story, especially in education and health care. Free schooling in English, universal healthcare, but now they face challenges in keeping up with the times.

Democracy in a Kingdom

Despite its monarchy, Bhutan is a constitutional democracy. The fourth king initiated the country’s transition into democracy around the early 2000s, which marked the political development of the country in modern history. The decision to step down in 2006 by the then king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, and hand over power to the son, the fifth king, was a momentous step for the country. “It’s the only country where democracy was introduced in a time of peace and stability, where democracy was literally gifted, imposed on the people, not just gifted, because the people didn’t want it,” Prime Minister Tobgay recalls. The Bhutanese were reluctant, largely because they feared that democracy could easily lead to violence, as it had in neighboring countries.

Despite major resistance, democracy was introduced in 2008 and the first-ever elections for the country saw Bhutanese citizens flood to the polls. The new king, then aged 26, symbolized modern Bhutan through his almost perfect cooperation with the prime minister. Today, the fifth king is very highly respected, and Bhutan is a functioning democracy, but new dilemmas have risen in front of the nation.

Outmigration: A Crisis for Bhutan

While Bhutan has successfully maintained on its path to cultural integrity and happiness, a real concern has emerged: outmigration of young people. Following the economic crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic, Bhutanese youth with high proficiency in the English language left for higher-paying jobs abroad, with many opting for Australia. “This is a very difficult situation for Bhutan,” Tobgay admitted, as nearly 9% of the population left, mostly young people.

That crisis was one of external kind – Bhutan was almost cut off from the rest of the world. This one today is somewhat more complex: here the very youth it nurtured and protected is leaving in droves.

A Future Vision: Gelephu Mindfulness City

Bhutan’s king has made a drastic move to reverse the trend: a new city, therefore, designed to balance development with Bhutanese values in the southern part of the country. The Gelephu Mindfulness City, a vision by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, is going to be a modern city built without compromising Bhutan’s environmental and cultural standards. It will hold maximum local material use, wildlife conservation, and public spaces in the midst of large-scale development on mindfulness.

“When we say we follow the principles of Gross National Happiness, we don’t mean that we are happy with less. We want to be rich, too. We want to be technologically high standard,” says Dr. Lotay Tshering, a former prime minister entrusted to lead the development of the city.

The city would be constructed over twenty years; each decade would be a stage of sustainable development while still embracing Bhutanese culture and heritage.

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