That money doesn’t bring happiness has already been confirmed by a University of Washington study that found that lottery winners showed the same level of happiness 90 days after collecting their millionaire tickets before their fortunes. Be careful, because another study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that 7 out of 10 lottery winners have less money five years after winning the prize. No, not the same but less. So if luck accompanies the reader, take a deep breath and give yourself some very good advice before stepping into the Lamborghini dealership like there’s no tomorrow – because it does.
And that money doesn’t bring happiness, but rather relationships, a study active for 85 years (1938), followed among a group of sophomores and another group of teens, the Harvard University Study of Adult Development. People from Boston’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Initially, 764 men participated in the study, which included interviews first with their fathers, then with their wives and more than 2,000 children. Regular surveys, clinical tests, and even interviews were conducted in the living rooms. Over time, those youths became adults and included factory workers, masons, lawyers, alcoholics…even one of them (John F. Kennedy) became president of the United States.
The fourth and current manager of the project, Robert Waldingeruniversity professor of psychiatry and Zen master, in his TED talk “The Secret to a Happy Life,” a poll among millennials found that over 80% of them, real happiness is being rich. 50% involved being famous. In reality, their goals were no different from those of the young people in 1938 who believed that fame, wealth, and doing great things were essential to a good life. But during those 85 years, his mind was changing. Ask the participants and the eighties: “When you look back on your life, what do you regret the most?” There were two big regrets. He was spending too much time at work rather than with the people he loved. The other—voiced mostly by women—was, “I wish I didn’t spend so much time worrying about what other people think.”
But beyond genetics, those who proved to be taller, healthier, and happier were people with more family ties, friends, or communities. But none of the links are working. For example, a troubled marriage turned out to have dire consequences on health. In fact, another result is that it is their satisfaction with their relationships that predicts how they will age in their fifties, rather than their cholesterol levels.
But since life isn’t just about kisses and hugs, happiness also works as a dividend, as another University of Warwick study shows: being happy at work means a 12% increase in productivity over the same time period and vice versa. valid. , disgruntled employees are 10% less productive. Investing in happiness in companies yields 22% profit. It is not in vain that “happiness” comes from the Latin felicitas, which can be translated as fruitful fruiting.
With all this data, shouldn’t happiness be a matter of condition? For some, such as Bhutan, it is a small Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas that includes it in their Magna Carta: “We solemnly swear that we will guarantee peace and increase the unity, happiness, and well-being of the people forever”, and she became pregnant in 1972. The ‘Gross National Product of Happiness’ (FNB) index because Gross Domestic Product (GDP) does not “reflect the well-being of people and therefore a country”.
Mainly promoted butane, declared ‘Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development’ in United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/65/309 2011, where it defined the pursuit of happiness as a “fundamental human goal” and invited Member States. undertake public policies focused on the pursuit of the happiness and well-being of its peoples. A year later, he declared March 20 as the International Day of Happiness. Some countries, more or less successful, have taken their first steps in enacting laws for the happiness of their citizens. Sheikh Mohamed ben Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Mohamed ben Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, announced the establishment of the “Ministry of Happiness” in 2016 to create “social well-being and satisfaction as core values” in the country. Four years later, he announced his elimination in a tweet: “The aim of these structural reforms is to have a more agile government in decision making.” In 2013, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro created the ‘Deputy Minister for the Highest Social Happiness of the People’. One will have to ask whether it has worked for the nearly 300,000 Venezuelans who have immigrated to Spain over the past 10 years, making it the country of origin with the most asylum applications.
And as for Spain? It was actually very early, including its first Constitution in 1812, including its 13th Article: “The aim of government is the happiness of the Nation, because the aim of the whole political society is nothing but the welfare of individuals who invent. Create». But that object and it In our current Spanish Constitution of 1978, ‘duty’ 43 times, ‘must’, 11, but the word ‘happiness’… does not appear.
Therefore, in the absence of a ministry or the word itself, I can think of no more accurate indicator of the level or absence of happiness of the Spanish people than our mental health data or the commitment of our Government. invest to protect it. . Suicide is the main cause of unnatural death in Spain. An average of 11 people commit suicide every day. Every two hours. 92 antidepressants are taken daily for every 1,000 people – 43% more than a decade ago. Spain is the country that consumes the most anxiolytics in all of Europe – 110 per 1000 people per day. This consumption is four times higher in low-income people. Still, there are an average of 6 clinical psychologists for every 100,000 people in Spain. Three times less than the European Union average. The Consumers and Users Organization (OCU) reports that almost half of consultations in Primary Care are related to psychological reasons. Saturated primary health care is a funnel engulfing people suffering from depression or anxiety from bullying, job insecurity, or lack of housing. Being Hispanic, a young poor woman, gets you more votes for this brutal lottery.
And in the face of over-care and the powerlessness of little to do… they take medication. They are treated with drugs, knowing that these drugs create addiction and tolerance and in no way solve the root of the problem.
So yes, happiness is a right, a fundamental human goal and therefore a subject of great concern to governments. In the words of George Eman Vaillant, former director and principal investigator of the Harvard Adult Development Study: “Happiness is love. The last point”. And—I add—…that’s why politics must love us.