In his Aug. 30 article, "Happiness can't be legislated," David Howell writes that "It is not for state authorities to determine which kind of happiness (people) should pursue." He then criticizes the Kingdom of Bhutan for "outlawing television," insisting that everyone wear national dress, and confining foreigners (mostly Nepalese) to camps -- "all in the name of maximizing gross national happiness."
Ha ha and har de har. Howell should know better than to mix up his data to come up with a picture that proves his thesis -- especially when that picture is at the cost of somebody else or some other country. Sometimes countries, especially in the developing world, bungle a policy during its implementation. Bhutan's national-dress requirement has to do with cultural preservation, and its implementation was bungled.
As for television, it was not banned; it has been permitted. The deportation of illegal immigrants was an immigration issue and had nothing to do with the measure of gross national happiness. The government of Bhutan hasn't confined anybody. It was the deported immigrants themselves who settled into camps that they had arranged in Nepal.
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