Comments on: BG 162: Contributing to the Gross National Happiness http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2010/03/bg-162-contributing-to-the-gross-national-happiness/ Discover the Emerging Face(s) of Buddhism Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:27:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jeff http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2010/03/bg-162-contributing-to-the-gross-national-happiness/#comment-3101 Jeff Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:24:23 +0000 http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/?p=551#comment-3101 Christians face severe persecution and discrimination in Bhutan. It was recently rated as 12th worst country in the world for persecution of Christians. An improvement from Bhutan's past position in the top ten.<a href="http://www.opendoorsusa.org/content/view/432/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.opendoorsusa.org/content/view/432/</a> Various moslem countries have grown more negative so Bhutan got bumped down the list, but otherwise hasn't shown improvement. It all sounds like another example of government enforced uoptia. Great, if you buy into all aspects of the program and are a native Bhutanese that is buddhist. Not so great if you don't fit that category. Christians face severe persecution and discrimination in Bhutan. It was recently rated as 12th worst country in the world for persecution of Christians. An improvement from Bhutan's past position in the top ten.http://www.opendoorsusa.org/content/view/432/ Various moslem countries have grown more negative so Bhutan got bumped down the list, but otherwise hasn't shown improvement. It all sounds like another example of government enforced uoptia. Great, if you buy into all aspects of the program and are a native Bhutanese that is buddhist. Not so great if you don't fit that category.

]]> By: Ray Neel http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2010/03/bg-162-contributing-to-the-gross-national-happiness/#comment-3095 Ray Neel Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:08:23 +0000 http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/?p=551#comment-3095 I'm afraid that I'm a bit too libertarian to be a fan of what I heard in this episode. The spin sounded very positive, but reading between the lines it comes across a bit like an authoritarian nannystate trying to figure out what the best way is to indoctrinate their populace. Happiness is a state of being that an individual discovers for himself...it can't be spread by government edict. Actions like their country-wide ban of smoking (I've never smoked; it's the principle of individual freedom), and the idea that their schools will be mandated to teach "the national religion" (it's being called contemplative education, but I suspect that it will not be secular) strike me as being very un-Buddhist. I'm afraid that I'm a bit too libertarian to be a fan of what I heard in this episode. The spin sounded very positive, but reading between the lines it comes across a bit like an authoritarian nannystate trying to figure out what the best way is to indoctrinate their populace.

Happiness is a state of being that an individual discovers for himself…it can't be spread by government edict. Actions like their country-wide ban of smoking (I've never smoked; it's the principle of individual freedom), and the idea that their schools will be mandated to teach "the national religion" (it's being called contemplative education, but I suspect that it will not be secular) strike me as being very un-Buddhist.

]]> By: Vishal Lama http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2010/03/bg-162-contributing-to-the-gross-national-happiness/#comment-3094 Vishal Lama Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:36:25 +0000 http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/?p=551#comment-3094 I enjoyed the program (interview) but your readers may perhaps have overlooked "the dark side of the moon", so to speak. The Bhutanese government's record on human rights is less than flattering, to say the least. There are plenty of reports citing its mistreatment (an understatement, really) of its ethnic Nepali-speaking citizens. For instance, <a href="http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/en\/reports\/2007\/10\/03\/discrimination-against-ethnic-nepali-children-bhutan" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">here's one report</a>. While I admire the Bhutanese government's attempt to create a model society based on many wonderful Buddhist principles, I also think that governments should not be involved in the business of creating model societies, no matter how wonderful the principles might be. Plenty of westerners, I think, fall into the trap of thinking that the East has more to offer than the West possibly can. Nothing could be further from the truth. I enjoyed the program (interview) but your readers may perhaps have overlooked "the dark side of the moon", so to speak. The Bhutanese government's record on human rights is less than flattering, to say the least. There are plenty of reports citing its mistreatment (an understatement, really) of its ethnic Nepali-speaking citizens. For instance, here's one report. While I admire the Bhutanese government's attempt to create a model society based on many wonderful Buddhist principles, I also think that governments should not be involved in the business of creating model societies, no matter how wonderful the principles might be. Plenty of westerners, I think, fall into the trap of thinking that the East has more to offer than the West possibly can. Nothing could be further from the truth.

]]> By: nhunter444 http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2010/03/bg-162-contributing-to-the-gross-national-happiness/#comment-3093 nhunter444 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:29:32 +0000 http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/?p=551#comment-3093 This kind of story is so inspiring. To know that there are people out there working on developing an education system that doesn't require the basic Western concept of regurgitating information makes me very hopeful for our future. I really wasn't aware that that was the case before. Thank you for presenting this story. Well done! This kind of story is so inspiring. To know that there are people out there working on developing an education system that doesn't require the basic Western concept of regurgitating information makes me very hopeful for our future. I really wasn't aware that that was the case before. Thank you for presenting this story. Well done!

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