We Should Rethink Government Goals: English Listening Ep 803
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Hi there and welcome to this podcast. Are you happy with the government in your country? Do you feel that your government has your best interests as its priority, your best interests at heart?

What? Is that not a strong yes, I hear? I know that most people in the UK would probably not feel that the UK government has their interests, their priorities at heart. And there's a lot of talk at the moment about broken government, broken systems of government, which don't serve the purpose of the people. If we don't like what we have,

What other models of government are there? Do we look to the EU, Federal System of Government? That's Federal, F-E-D-E-R-A-L, meaning a central government where lots of countries are governed by one central power. Or do we look to the presidential government of the United States for our model? Presidential means that many of the ideas and choices come from one person.

the president. For most people, maybe not. And there is talk of late-stage capitalism being around in many countries. This means a huge difference in wealth between the rich and the poor within one country, and the wealth concentrated in the hands of the rich, and that power being used only to serve those people.

Hello, I'm Hilary and you're listening to Adept English. We will help you to speak English fluently. All you have to do is listen. So start listening now and find out how it works.

Many people are disappointed with this type of government and some of that feeling, those ideas may feel familiar for you. So today let's look at the ideas about government that one country has that are very different.

from what most of us know. A country whose driver, whose goal is simply to make people happy. Sounds quite utopian, doesn't it? Let's explore this idea today and along the way, you're going to get some really good vocabulary for discussing ideas about economics, politics, governments and ways of thinking. Let's work on your English language together at

the same time as discussing some interesting ideas and give you opportunity to learn some really good vocabulary and extend what you're capable of talking about in English. In 2011, the UN or the United Nations passed a resolution saying that its member states should follow the example of the country of Bhutan and measure the happiness and well-being of its citizens.

The UN called happiness a fundamental human goal. What is it about this small Himalayan country of Bhutan, B-H-U-T-A-N, that the UN was referring to? Let's find out more today about this very different type of government and why the UN should say to its members that they should follow Bhutan's example.

Before we come to that, just a reminder of our podcast subscription service. If you really want to make some big improvements to your English language, then we put out eight subscription episodes per month.

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Okay, so the differences between many countries and Bhutan. Most capitalist westernised countries have values based around their GDP, their gross domestic product. And the idea that the more economically successful a country is in terms of producing things to sell, the higher the GDP, the

the better off people are and the happier people will be. And the idea is common that higher GDP should be every government's goal. And this determines the actions that governments take. For example, this is exactly what the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, is focused on right now.

It's a very capitalist idea. Allow people to earn money, give them freedom, and they will be happy. It's as though generating products...

Business, and therefore money, are the highest priority and the way to secure a nation's happiness. While there are some upsides to this, I don't deny it, some freedoms and benefits. Capitalist societies seem to evolve into a situation where money just becomes the main driver of everything.

Behind every government policy lurks some motivation around money. I can cite many examples where this is the case and it doesn't feel right. It doesn't make people happy and people are not being well served by government with these interests. And actually, neither is the environment. We can't just go on producing more and more stuff.

because we need it for our GDP. That's ridiculous. So what might a different way of doing things look like? The small country of Bhutan that sits between China, India and Nepal tries to govern according to what will make its people happy. It's based on Buddhist thinking, that's B-U-D-D-H-I-S-T, and attempts to measure its people's collective happiness

through harmony with nature and certain cultural values. The guidelines, the rules, if you like, are expressed in the nine domains of happiness, the

The word domain, D-O-M-A-I-N, means an area. So nine areas of happiness and four pillars of G-N-H. So a pillar, first of all, P-I-L-L-A-R. Well, it's one of those upright supports you might see in a temple holding up the roof. But in this sort of context, a pillar means a rule, a value, a goal,

and aim. So four pillars of GNH. GNH stands for Gross National Happiness. And that's Bhutan's answer to GDP, Gross Domestic Product. So according to the Bhutanese government,

The four pillars of GNH, Gross National Happiness, are a sustainable and equitable social and economic environment. The word sustainable, S-U-S-T-A-I-N-A-B-L-E, means able to meet the needs of people now without compromising, without damaging the needs of people in the future. That's sustainable and equitable environment.

E-Q-U-I-T-A-B-L-E means treating everyone fairly in the same way. Equitable opportunity, if you like. The second pillar, the aim of environmental conservation, meaning that whatever the government chooses to do, it mustn't damage the environment and instead must preserve it.

The third pillar to promote and preserve culture. And the fourth aim or the fourth pillar of gross national happiness to have good governance, meaning let's do government well. Let's not be corrupted by other influences like the opportunity to benefit by making money. That sounds very good in comparison with what we have, doesn't it? Certainly in the UK, that's true.

And the nine areas or domains that the Bhutan government are concerned with that determine gross national happiness are things like people's psychological well-being, people's health, people's education, cultural diversity and resilience.

good governance, ecological diversity and resilience, good living standards. So the government of Bhutan is divided up into the usual governmental areas, but all must abide by these values. All must promote the values outlined. And

And the government also regularly asks its people what they think. They do this by using surveys or questionnaires. That means sets of questions. And that is a way of reliably capturing what people really think and feel. That's so much more effective.

than a so-called democratic vote once every five years. I don't see it as a democracy in the UK. It's not democratic for me because there's no political party in the UK whose policies I totally agree with. When I get chance to vote, I have no voice, even though I've got strong views and opinions, because no party satisfies all the things I require.

But here, the Bhutanese people have a voice. So the first Bhutanese nationwide protest

The GNH survey, Gross National Happiness Survey, was done in 2008 and a second one in 2010 and then another one in 2015. The results were reported on in different ways, sometimes sorted by gender, meaning male or female, by age, by where people live or their job.

The survey asked questions about living conditions and religious behaviours. The questions were devised by the Centre for Bhutan Studies with the help of Oxford University researchers. The Bhutan government uses the survey results to measure national progress.

against its goals. And the results also help them decide future policy, future direction. It also compares gross national happiness between different points in time. That's a measure of whether the government is doing its job properly.

How brilliant is all that? Actual government for the people, I imagine. Criticisms of Bhutan include that the country only became a democracy in 2008 and that before this time, huge numbers of people were expelled from the country, particularly Hindus and Nepalese people. Over 100,000 or one sixth of the population of Bhutan

of Nepalese origin or Hindu faith were expelled from the country because they would not integrate with Bhutan's Buddhist culture. That was prior to 2008. And they have since become a democracy and a democracy that has some refreshing and important ideas, I think.

It's also been pointed out that in terms of happiness, much of the population of Bhutan lives in extreme poverty. In December 2023, Bhutan moved from being the UN's least developed country to the status of developing country. So Bhutan has made much improvement in recent years, showing social and economic progress.

reducing poverty, improving educational standards and life expectancy. There's still a long way to go and you might argue over how development is measured. Is that according to Western values or according to gross national happiness, I wonder?

No one is claiming that Bhutan is the perfect place to live. And there are many growing pains for a small developing country. There are food shortages, shortages of medicine and some elements of corruption in Bhutan. But at an ideas level, the country of Bhutan has something really precious that surely we all ought to learn from. Let us know what you think. Enough for now. Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.