Happy Planet Index

Quote "The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered. This website introduces a measure of something more fundamental. It addresses the relative success or failure of countries in supporting good life for their citizens, whilst repecting the environmental resource limits upon which our lives depend. " (end-quote)

Now where would a developed country like US should stand on Happiness Index ? Top 10, or 50, ... no, at 150 ! (yes, at one hundred fifty ), now that compared to developing countries like Mexico at 38, China at 31, India at 61, Cuba at 6 (?). Now if that seems surreal, and doesn't feel right ! you should spend sometime on this http://www.happyplanetindex.org/introduction.htm.

Ofcourse, the rankings are not that important, but interesting is that this seem to highlight an important takeaway that "Happiness doesn't always necessarily correlate directly to the Wealth". I like their published global manifest as quoted from the nef website

Global Manifest of Top 10 list for a happier plant :

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Increasing social disparity systematically undermines opportunities for people in extreme poverty to build good lives for themselves and their families. There is an urgent need to redesign our global systems to more equitably distribute the things people rely on for their day-to-day livelihoods, for example: income, and access to land, food and other resources.
2. Improve healthcare.
The World Health Organization estimates that everyone in the world could be provided with a good level of basic healthcare for just $43 per person, per year.
3. Relieve debt.
4. Shift values. value systems that emphasise individualism and material consumption are detrimental to well-being,
5. Support meaningful lives.
6. Empower people and promote good governance.
7. Identify environmental limits and design economic policy to work within them.
8. Design systems for sustainable consumption and production.
9. Work to tackle climate change.
10. Measure what matters.