Quality of Life
One of the reasons our culture has gotten stuck in a happiness = stuff mindset is that it's just easier to talk about material, quantifiable things. Quality of life is quality of stuff for people who are struggling economically. While our society still has a ways to go in providing for the basic human needs of all its members, what really contributes to a high quality of life beyond fundamentals like food, housing, education, and health care? Once basic requirements are met, as in the United States where the average buying power has almost tripled since the 1950s, reported happiness has remained almost unchanged.*
Bargains
One of the ironies of modern consumer culture is that it constantly appeals to our desire for a bargain, while offering a lifestyle that is neither a bargain for the planet nor for the individual. What is "five planet living" if not a grossly marked up commodity? We--savvy consumers with a nose for bargains--should turn our noses up at the 99 cent menu which does not reflect the true costs of production or waste. The short quiz at right highlights a few of the ironies about American consumer culture and how it falls short of offering true quality of life. Answers are at the end of the quiz.
The Happy Planet Index is an attempt by the New Economics Foundation to show the relative efficiency with which nations “deliver well-being” by converting the planet’s natural resources into long and happy lives for their citizens. Figured this way, the economy is not measured by how much stuff it produces or even how many people's needs are met by the stuff, but how much we use (and what havoc we wreak) getting that stuff produced, and how happy it really make us. You can calculate your own Happy Planet Index or take steps to make the planet a happier place.
Finding your own happiness bargains
It is possible to get a better deal from life, finding more of what matters using the same bargain-hunter instinct honed by years of consumption. One of the tricks is to focus on what Michelle Conlin wrote in her The Case For Optimism blog in Businessweek: "Less bad isn’t the answer. The true value comes from delivering more good. " Many self-help programs advocate taking a "life inventory," re-examining the way our limited resources of time and money are distributed and looking for ways to maximize enjoyment. Ironically, most of the online resources require a fee, so here's a free worksheet you can download to get to work on finding more happiness "bargains" in your life. Simply write down what you want more of in your life, or begin with what you want less of in your life and work backwards. Then think of methods for attaining each. The hitch: you should save time, money, energy, or waste with each "deal."
More quality of life resources
Finally, it may be that it's hard to talk about quality of life because happiness is fraught with misconceptions. Read up on the slippery concept of happiness and take a quiz or two to rate your own happiness.
- See Slate's Happiness Project for some common happiness myths.
- Or take the Authentic Happiness Inventory to see how you measure up to others in the happiness department.
- Search the World Database of Happiness for statistics