PUT ON A HAPPY FACE–OR ELSE

Politicians, economists, teachers… why are they so desperate to make us happy? (Frank Furedi, The Telegraph, May 7th, 2006)

People have always pursued happiness. Policy makers have always hoped their initiatives would make people happy. But happiness was not seen as an end in itself. Teachers hoped that their students would be happy with their experience but did not set out to teach their pupils how to be happy. Those charged with moral education were devoted to explaining the difference between good and bad but not to instructing children how to feel.

Today's turn towards the management of people's internal life is motivated by moral disorientation and political exhaustion. Unimaginative politicians who are unable to decide what needs to be done - or implement the appropriate policies - feel more comfortable with instructing the public how it should feel.

Advocates of the happiness crusade frequently contend that their campaign will help create more caring, altruistic and trustful communities. However, the emphasis on individual feelings distracts people from the life of their communities. Public policies enacted through the intervention of thousands of therapists are likely to turn the public citizen into a helpless patient. Whatever the problems associated with the pursuit of individual ambition, they pale into insignificance when compared with the moral disorientation caused by the politicisation of happiness.

Those who are sceptical about the capacity of a government to make us happy are sometimes advised to look at Bhutan, the absolute monarchy that has adopted the politics of happiness. This is the Buddhist kingdom that has forced more than 100,000 Hindus of Nepalese origin to leave the country. It may not be very democratic, but its track record on promoting happiness is second to none. In pursuit of this cause it has boldly banned wrestling and MTV.

In reality, neither experts nor clever policies can make people genuinely happy. Freud may have been a little cynical when he suggested that his objective was to "convert neurotic misery into ordinary unhappiness". But he understood that true happiness was an ideal that we pursue but rarely achieve. Nor is that a problem. A good life is not always a happy one. People are often justified in being unhappy about their circumstances and surroundings. Discontent and ambition have driven humanity to confront and overcome the challenges they faced. That is why people like the Controller in Brave New World want us live on a diet of "feelies" and "scent organs". That is also why we should be suspicious of experts who seek to colonise our internal life.

Few people seem to notice how the therapeutic culture supports the destruction of family, community and faith by trying with varying degrees of subtlety to convince folks the demands and duties of these are the source of their unhappiness. The caring professions largely share the statist fantasy of directing the lives of millions of happy, servile individuals unburdened by other loyalties. The result is not only a loss of freedom and dignity, but also rank unhappiness. To paraphrase the late Robertson Davies, happiness is a feline condition. If you reach out for it directly, it will run away every time, but if you ignore it, it has a habit of curling up beside you unexpectedly. Better to walk face first into the storm and seek wisdom.