Manifesto for Happiness. Shifting Society from Money to Well-Being

The discovery of reliable and low-cost methods for measuring happiness has given rise in the recent years to an extensive and intense debate that has involved all branches of social science and attracted vast media interest as well. Indices of happiness are available for a great number of countries and in some cases involve long historical periods, starting with the end of World War II. Such measurements, both subjective (concerning, that is, the well-being perceived by individuals) as well as objective (concerning, that is, suicides, alcoholism, drug abuse, mental illnesses, consumption of psych meds, etc.), tell a troubling story: the satisfaction experienced by individuals with respect to their lives in post-WWII Western societies has not recorded any significant improvement. Despite the enormous increase in access to consumer goods recorded in the past fifty years, Westerners do not seem happier. In short, this data seems to suggest that money does not buy happiness...