543
In the wake of the murder of Mr. George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, with
the resulting fiery protests throughout the United States and other countries (and
countless other murders also captured on video), a version of Easterlin’s coefficients was used to describe “the Minnesota Paradox”—a “twin city” schizophrenia: huge wealth, high quality of life indicators, but a hidden, sinister secret that
languishes throughout America—the systemic racial divide. Moreover, in the
United States, the period following World War II until 1970 revealed that huge
increases in income “failed to show any upsurge in happiness” according to surveys.
23
Other critics of various happiness indices point to “minority rights
violations.”
24
Both Aristotle and Thomas Jefferson argued that “happiness” was akin to “eudaimonia,” human prosperity, the goal for every government and every individual. And
yet, as one middle-aged voter at polling station in Central London was quoted
recently, “I’d be happy if I could kick all the bastards out.”
25
57.4 “Compassion Transcendence Strategies”
In grappling with these human nature issues, some have simply resorted to describing them as a “stupidity-based theory of organizations.”
26
Others, with specific reference to what they describe as “Bhutan’s compassion transcendence strategies,”
have suggested that “transcendence of oppositions is widely recognized as the most
23 See “When Economic Growth Doesn’t Make Countries Happier,” by Selin Kesebir, April 25,
2016, Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2016/04/when-economic-growth-doesnt-makecountries-happier, Accessed May 30, 2020. For “The Minnesota Paradox,” see David Leonhardt,
The New York Times, “The Morning,” Jun 1, 2020.
24 See “The Paradox of Happiness,” by Benjamin Mason Meier and Averi Chakrabarti, in Health
and Human Rights, 18(1): 193–208, June 2016, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699641_The_Paradox_of_Happiness, Accessed May 30, 2020; see also, “A Nation of
Paradoxes: Will the Bhutan Refugees be Re-integrated into the Philosophy of Gross National
siajournal.net/a-nation-of-paradoxes-will-the-bhutan-refugees-re-integrated-into-the-philosophyof-gross-national-happiness/. Accessed May 30, 2020. See also, “The Happy Paradox,” by
Francesco Garutti, October 2018, https://www.cca.qc.ca/en/articles/issues/27/will-happiness-findus/64484/the-happy-paradox, Accessed May 30, 2020.
25 See “The satisfaction paradox – Why are happy people voting for angry parties?” The
Economist, International Edition, July 11, 2019, https://www.economist.com/international/2019/07/11/why-are-happy-people-voting-for-angry-parties, Accessed May 30, 2020. See
response at Democracy Digest, “Why are happy voters backing angry populists?” July 12, 2019,
National Endowment for Democracy, https://www.demdigest.org/why-are-happy-voters-backing-angry-populists/ See Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Rachel Rizzo, and Dutch political scientist,
Cas Muddle, co-author of Populism: A Very Short Introduction, with Cristóbal Rovira, Oxford
University Press, Oxford UK, 2017.
26 See M. Alvesson an A. Spicer, “A stupidity-based theory of organizations,” Journal of
Management Studies, 49, 1194–1220, 2012.
57.4 “Compassion Transcendence Strategies”
In the wake of the murder of Mr. George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, with
the resulting fiery protests throughout the United States and other countries (and
countless other murders also captured on video), a version of Easterlin’s coefficients was used to describe “the Minnesota Paradox”—a “twin city” schizophrenia: huge wealth, high quality of life indicators, but a hidden, sinister secret that
languishes throughout America—the systemic racial divide. Moreover, in the
United States, the period following World War II until 1970 revealed that huge
increases in income “failed to show any upsurge in happiness” according to surveys.
23
Other critics of various happiness indices point to “minority rights
violations.”
24
Both Aristotle and Thomas Jefferson argued that “happiness” was akin to “eudaimonia,” human prosperity, the goal for every government and every individual. And
yet, as one middle-aged voter at polling station in Central London was quoted
recently, “I’d be happy if I could kick all the bastards out.”
25
57.4 “Compassion Transcendence Strategies”
In grappling with these human nature issues, some have simply resorted to describing them as a “stupidity-based theory of organizations.”
26
Others, with specific reference to what they describe as “Bhutan’s compassion transcendence strategies,”
have suggested that “transcendence of oppositions is widely recognized as the most
23 See “When Economic Growth Doesn’t Make Countries Happier,” by Selin Kesebir, April 25,
2016, Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2016/04/when-economic-growth-doesnt-makecountries-happier, Accessed May 30, 2020. For “The Minnesota Paradox,” see David Leonhardt,
The New York Times, “The Morning,” Jun 1, 2020.
24 See “The Paradox of Happiness,” by Benjamin Mason Meier and Averi Chakrabarti, in Health
and Human Rights, 18(1): 193–208, June 2016, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699641_The_Paradox_of_Happiness, Accessed May 30, 2020; see also, “A Nation of
Paradoxes: Will the Bhutan Refugees be Re-integrated into the Philosophy of Gross National
siajournal.net/a-nation-of-paradoxes-will-the-bhutan-refugees-re-integrated-into-the-philosophyof-gross-national-happiness/. Accessed May 30, 2020. See also, “The Happy Paradox,” by
Francesco Garutti, October 2018, https://www.cca.qc.ca/en/articles/issues/27/will-happiness-findus/64484/the-happy-paradox, Accessed May 30, 2020.
25 See “The satisfaction paradox – Why are happy people voting for angry parties?” The
Economist, International Edition, July 11, 2019, https://www.economist.com/international/2019/07/11/why-are-happy-people-voting-for-angry-parties, Accessed May 30, 2020. See
response at Democracy Digest, “Why are happy voters backing angry populists?” July 12, 2019,
National Endowment for Democracy, https://www.demdigest.org/why-are-happy-voters-backing-angry-populists/ See Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Rachel Rizzo, and Dutch political scientist,
Cas Muddle, co-author of Populism: A Very Short Introduction, with Cristóbal Rovira, Oxford
University Press, Oxford UK, 2017.
26 See M. Alvesson an A. Spicer, “A stupidity-based theory of organizations,” Journal of
Management Studies, 49, 1194–1220, 2012.
57.4 “Compassion Transcendence Strategies”