What Is the Role of Happiness in the Free Markets?

What is the role of Happiness in the Free Markets?

        His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, brought his unique views from across the world to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think-tank, to discuss whether a Free Enterprise System is the best system to pursue happiness. He uses his ethical expertise to propose the best solutions for positive human change and discusses with Economist Glenn Hubbard about the concept of being rich and mass prosperity.

The Dalai Lama believes the road to progress in this world must not begin with the government or the United Nations, but by the people at an individual level. The Dalai Lama argues that this century must be a century of peace, backing his statement by reminding everyone that humans had the potential to create violence, therefore they have the potential to create peace. Also, he claims those that don’t receive affection from their mothers at a young age carry it throughout their life, hindering their adult life. The Dalai Lama later made a remark about the non religious people of the world, in relation with religious people. He stated that he finds it ironic how nonreligious people are more compassionate than religious people.

The ideals of the Dalai Lama are very similar to those of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. In Aristotle’s book, Nicomachean Ethics, he asserts that eudaimonia, happiness, is the highest aim. Along with this, he says what is best for an individual is less beautiful than what is good for a people or city. This relates with the Dalai Lama’s idea of utilitarianism, the goal of doing things must be for the good of a large amount of people, rather than individual good.1

Comparing the Dalai Lama to another ethical figure of the past, Jeremy Bentham, regarded by many as the father of Utilitarianism. Bentham focused on the idea of the “greater happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong”, coined as the “greatest happiness principle”. This idea of a greater happiness and greater good for more people, as opposed to individual gain, is similar to that of the Dalai Lama in this talk. Another similarity between Bentham and the Dalai Lama is the evasion of religion and prayer. Bentham was known for being against religion and even doing research on the subject. Similar to this, the Dalai Lama goes to the length of saying “peace only comes through our action, not through our prayer… all your wishes will materialize through prayer, I do not believe.” With this, the Dalai Lama is stating the responsibility of change is upon the people, even above religion and prayer.

For the most part, I do agree with the Dalai Lama. I agree that individual power will be the driving force for change within society. In the world of business there is a concept of a service or product going viral. This happens when something becomes very popular by circulating quickly from person to person, usually through the internet. It is when an idea is so powerful, people have no choice but to make a change and spread the message of it. If the message is powerful enough, it will spread worldwide due to individual efforts and the power behind the message.

Modern capitalism is not completely in line with what the Dalai Lama is preaching. It is in the sense that it is favorable for entrepreneurs to enter markets and become successful, fueling the economy. The Dalai Lama’s Utilitarian view is that the progress being made must be towards the good of the greatest amount of people, and even though it is set up for individual success, it is not set up to help others.

Glenn Hubbard is the Dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, mainly focusing on tax policy and health care. According to Glenn Hubbard, the rest of the world is not rich because of their decision to abandon centrally planned economies in exchange for a market-oriented economy. This makes difficult for entrepreneurs because the government must guarantee private property rights, if this doesn’t happen, entrepreneurs will not risk creating businesses. Hubbard also alludes to research confirming the prediction that well-functioning financial systems lead directly to economic growth2. To achieve mass prosperity Hubbard proposed an idea of nondestructive creation, creating brand new things that help create visions of the future. Hubbard also spoke about the correlation between happiness and the dynamism of an economy. Countries where the people are overall happier tend to have a more dynamic, thriving economy.