The July 8-15 issue of Time magazine had a cover story about Happiness. An extraordinarily convoluted maze of hurdles one must clear in order to be “happy” was the cover illustration. Over the years I have given much thought to this and in the article I did not come across a clear distillation of how that destination is achieved.
In its simplest form I think only four things are required. Reasonable and predictable measures of safety, shelter, food are essential but the fourth ingredient is the most vital . . . the ability to share compassionately with others. Lacking compassionate sharing, what one is left with is survival. That is an elusive quality and I think explains in part the frantic expansion of social networking which, to my mind, should be labeled “pseudo-sharing.”
While Americans are without question among the most fortunate inhabitants of the planet, it is a quantum leap to say that we are the happiest. Since the pursuit of happiness is a right in the Declaration of Independence, it is surprising that some unhappy person hasn’t sued the government. Data from a Gallup world poll indicate that Denmark, Finland, Norway, The Netherlands, and Canada are the top five; the United States was 11th. At least, that’s a lot better than where we rank in education (13th [UN study]) and health care (18th [WHO study])
As I pondered this I began to wonder about our Anger Index. In the activities of daily living, it seems anger is a lot more prevalent than happiness. Information about anger is more difficult to find. I did locate a book, The International Book of Anger, by Gerhard Stemmler, Michael Potegal, and Charles Spielberger; I was unable to find a review. It had garnered no comments, no stars, and maybe no readers. Perhaps we are too busy being angry to read about it.
What follows is a totally unscientific and personal view. It seems to me that much of our population is living with a lot of repressed anger, an emotion that flares up with little provocation. Someone cuts in front in a serving line. One Christmas Eve I noted that in a hotel and the person inconvenienced shouted out in the dining line, “Do that again, and I’ll break your arm!” That’s a merry Christmas for you. Road rage, sometimes ending in a death, is not a rare occurrence. In America, more than two thousand gun murders in the last three months—that doesn’t say as much about the gun issue as it does about the pervasiveness of anger.
The events of the past several weeks in the Zimmerman trial have brought this into sharp focus. Now that the verdict is in the reactions of outrage and anger have begun. It is entirely possible that this will lead to additional violence. While attorneys of both sides insist this is not a racial issue, if they believe that, then they are living in a parallel universe. Since that fateful encounter nearly two years ago, thousands upon thousands have been killed in similar incidences. A one-day notice in a local paper was all the publicity most of those received. In Florida, had both the participants been of the same race, we would never have heard of the tragedy. While anger struck the match, racism and social unrest lit the fire, which the media were only too glad to fan and the public equally eager to exploit it as entertainment.
Two men had their lives ended in the fray which ensued; one is dead, the other unalterably damaged, whether he realizes it or not. Happiness, whatever there might have been in the Martin and Zimmerman households, will be a long time returning, if ever. The aftermath of the judicial circus just completed may outweigh the tragedy that precipitated it.
I have no idea how we can improve our Gross National Happiness, but is not as easy as following the Time magazine maze. Personal peace and happiness, now that’s worth working toward, but as long our Anger Index is near the boiling point in our daily living, the only groups we won’t be threatening are the top five “Happy” nations.
Hayden Hollingsworth
