Today I came across something for the first time known as the Easterlin Paradox, it is about to be added to the new spec of A level exams which is why I was looking it up and if you don't know what it is ( and I didn't ) it is the paradox that as societies get richer they do not get happier.
There is a lot of evidence to back up the theory and I don't think we have to look far to see it in our contemporary society or across the globe where nations much poorer than ourselves seem to be much happier.
My reading tells me that Professor Easterlin was the first to set out this paradox in the early 70's but perhaps he was not the first.....
One of Easterlin’s conclusions was that relative income can weigh heavily on people’s minds.
My reading tells me that Professor Easterlin was the first to set out this paradox in the early 70's but perhaps he was not the first.....
"And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”"
Luke 12 vs 16-21
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