The Kingdom of Bhutan is a tiny landlocked country in the Himalayas of less than 800,000 people that is bordered by India and China.
The Kingdom wants to preserve its identity by promoting its vision of anti-consumerist happiness to the world – and as a member of the United Nations Security Council.
This is Bhutan’s Prime Minister Jigme Thinley addressing the United Nations on September 23, 2011.
Bhutan is the only country to measure “Gross National Happiness” or GNH.
GNH is the expression of a system of values that the Kingdom says it has defined over centuries.
The four pillars of GNH are the promotion of sustainable development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment and establishment of good governance.
For all of this happy-talk, it appears that Bhutan’s National Happiness has been tinged by Grossness…
