The Economics of Happiness

The film “The Economics of Happiness” directed by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven

Gorelick, John Page released in 2011 speaks in loud visual and verbal understanding of the
extents of beauty and damage of two very different worlds on the same planet. To analyse the
main arguments, I will first divide the movie into its main ideas- Globalisation and
Localisation. Globalisation by definition is the deregulation of trade and finance in order to
enable businesses and banks to operate globally and/or the emergence of a single world
market dominated by transnational companies (The Economics of Happiness).
The film begins with showing the beauty in the indigenousness that strives in Ladakh and
Ladakhi’s. Ladakh is located in the Tibetan plateau of northern India. It’s isolated due to its
terrain and its decentralisation during the colonial rule. Because of this, the region has been
isolated from industrialisation and globalisation which kept it from the trajectory that the rest
of the country and world went through. Ladakh is used as an example or case study by
Helena Norberg-Hodge. She had been familiar with the region for over 35 years.
The film provides for arguments that claim globalisation creates conditions that undermine
one’s personal and societal well-being. Firstly, that the system of globalisation creates a
consumerist lifestyle that leads to negative psychological consequences. Although parts of the
economic system claim to lead towards economic growth, research found that even this is not
true. It has instead caused a rise in double in some studies, and others- tenfold of rise in
depression. Globalisation creates an illusion that material consumption beings’ happiness
which is false. It creates an anxiety around every aspect of one’s life. It makes one detach
from nature, social connection, identity, mutual interdependence, and community.
Additionally, globalisation breeds insecurity by branding and advertising one kind of
beautiful or “cool”. Bodies have been standardised to be a certain way and products have
been designed to attract consumers in order to change who they are to fit into a very narrow
sense of identity which isn’t theirs. Everything has been commercialised- including
childhoods. No one has a true sense of belonging, of connections. This is taught to children,
fed into nurturing minds- to fit in, to create identities so similar to one another that without it,
a whole generation is lost. Further, Globalisation creates waste. The acceleration of
urbanisation has resulted in the consumption of natural resources and energy at a massive
scale. The world’s wealthiest urban cities account for 75% of global energy consumption,
80% of greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this can be measured by looking at the increased
global trade, which at its core is unnecessary imports and exports of supplies that are
available locally. What this does is increase the burning of fossil fuels and consequently,
global greenhouse gas emissions.
Apart from this, the unemployment rates and job insecurity has seen a significant growth
which led to an economic dysfunction. The disparity between the rich and poor has been
growing since the birth of globalisation. Corporations look for subsidies and lower costs, and
every time they move, the jobs move and with them- so do families. This is evident in the
“developing countries” like Mexico, China, and India. These jobs that make families disperse
in the name of globalisation, create conflict within and over communities. At this point it is
clear that the economy controls us, and we do not control it.
“Free” trade is another example of this. They destroy the local open markets by providing
cheap, subsidised products which undermine the local producers. To do this, they sign
agreements with the government over a profit. This further proves how disconnected we are
from our communities.
Localisation is the removal of fiscal and other supports that currently favour giant
transnational corporations and banks there by reducing dependence on export markets in
favour of production for local needs (The Economics of Happiness). Recognizing the
multiple problems caused by globalization, millions of people are beginning to reduce their
dependence on giant corporations and banks by shifting where they spend and save their
money — supporting instead small farmers, local businesses, and community banks and
credit unions. However, while important, these efforts alone will not be enough to shift our
economy in a fundamentally new direction (The Economics of Happiness).
Fortunately, thousands, if not millions, of community-based localization initiatives are
cropping up across the globe. Others are rebuilding and regenerating more dynamic,
democratic, equitable, and sustainable local economies, while some are contesting and
resisting the conventional, corporate-led approach to development. These various initiatives,
when taken together, are starting to push the economy in a new direction: away from global
rivalry and corporate dependence and toward local interdependence.
This interdependence begins with food. Local food provides healthier options, increases
income for farmers, aids in the strengthening of local economies, communities, creating
diversity of food grown on land which then move toward healthier environments and more
food and lastly, providing better conditions for farm animals.
With the decrease and eventual end of the usage of fossil fuels and global warming,
renewable energy systems will be implemented. These are environmentally superior, more
resilient, better for the local economy, more secure and efficient. They will also be easily
developed and deployed in the most remote areas of the world leading to better living
conditions of the marginalised communities promoting peace all over the globe.
Identities will be restored. Since local economy provides for a close-knit interdependent
community, individuals will be able to discover who they are in re-building cultures that were
once lost to corporatisation. Often localisation is mistaken for the abandonment of global
community and trade. However, localisation is a calling for just, inclusive, and ecological
economies. This will encourage the connection that is so lacking in the commercialised
world. It will bring back the lost sense of self and spirituality that connected the world in the
first place. Localisation will be the re-birth of who we are individually as well as who we are
as one species on one miraculous planet.

References:
“The Economics of Happiness.” Local Futures, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=M2kHUKbPogQ&ab_channel=LocalFutures.