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Sustainability. Class 7: Fulfillment & Happiness POLI 294 P . Brian Fisher. Fulfillment = Sustainability ?. American families who make over $300,000 a year donate to charity a mere 4% of their incomes.
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Sustainability Class 7: Fulfillment& Happiness POLI 294 P. Brian Fisher
American families who make over $300,000 a year donate to charity a mere 4% of their incomes. People who had won between $50k & $1mil (in 1970s dollars) were less impressed by life’s simple pleasures than people who experienced no such windfall. Although wealth may grant us opportunities to purchase many things, it simultaneously impairs our ability to enjoy those things. Argument: “having money raises our aspirations about the happiness that we expect in our daily lives, and these raised aspirations can be toxic…Unfortunately, raised aspirations don’t only lead us to take things for granted and impair our savoring abilities. They steer us to consume too much, tax the planet's resources, overspend and undersave, go into debt, gamble, live beyond our means, and purchase mortgages that we can’t afford. Can $$ buy Happiness (Sci Am)
How would you rate your level of "happiness"? • 93% were “happy” • Most respondents were “happy” (47%) with 18% “very happy” • National Happiness Survey: 31% “very happy”; our survey “18% “very happy” and 7% “very fulfilled”
How would you rate your level of "fulfillment" with your life? • 85% of respondents were fulfilled • Most are “modestly fulfilled” (39%) and 78% were Modestly Fulfilled or Fulfilled • Less fulfillment than “happiness”
How much do you agree with the following: I find fulfillment through meaningful activities.
How much do you estimate that you spend monthly on goods that are beyond survival basic needs (food,... • Less than 1% believe they don’t overconsume • 62% believe they consume more than basic needs by 10-50% • 45% believe they consume more than needs by 25-100%
I feel that I would be more fulfilled by consuming: • Only 8% felt that consuming more would yield more fulfillment • 34% agree that consuming less yields more fulfillment • Why “neither”?
How much do you agree with following: Affluence leads to greater fulfillment * Very even: 34% disagree, 36% agree
How much do you agree with the following: Consumption beyond our needs has led to greater ecological... * 85% agree (over)consumption leads to ecological damage, only 4% disagree * 26% of respondents conservative, 44% were moderate politically (either liberal or conservative)
Answer only if above age 30. During your lifetime, you have observed:
The world will be a better place for you than it was for the previous generation? • Even split: 38% disagree, 29% agree • But, 71% believe this isn’t true or about same
How much do you agree with the following: "I have found my life's purpose" Even Split: 34% disagree, 36% agree But, vast majority have not found life’s purpose
Deeper meaning in life is HIGHLY correlated to fulfillment and happiness Money plays a limited role in developing fulfillment; Life purpose is a key for finding fulfillment Mixed results on affluence and fulfillment FINANCIAL SECURITY is more meaningful than money or shopping Consumption is largely blind – it is NOT tethered to BASIC NEEDS. The key to deeper meaning is RELATIONSHIPS and PURPOSE (could be religious, spiritual, career, etc) Vast majority recognize that consumption beyond basic needs leads to ECOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION Most acknowledge living FAR beyond their basic needs Political Ideology plays a limited role in perception of individual daily life and ecological harm; $$ does not. Religion generates meaning, and could be an important path toward fulfillment and generating ecological awareness Solutions: Declining trust in public institutions, fewer personal relationships, higher consumption patterns, more destruction, fewer buying into American ideals Sustainability?? Data Conclusions
Spend on • activities that help us grow as a person (guitar lessons), strengthen our connections with others (dinners with colleagues, car trips with friends), and contribute to our communities (catering a fundraiser, donating to the needy) • activities and experiences (e.g., rock climbing expeditions, wine tasting family reunions) rather than material possessions • many small pleasures (e.g., regular massages, weekly delivery of fresh flowers) rather than on one big-ticket item (like a new car or flat-screen TV); and • something that we work extremely hard to get and have to wait for (whether it’s a concert, trip, or gadget) and relish the feeling of hard-won accomplishment and anticipation Ways to be happy from $$
Can we sustain something without fulfillment? Happiness? Think about an individual activity? If happier people will facilitate sustainability, then what do we need to generate that? Q is how can we both address sustainability while also generating a more happy community? Final Q: Is this an activity or paradigm for the individual? Community? State? Global? Sustainability = Fulfillment ?
