The Grass is Not Always Greener - an article in the Kuensal

I didn't choose the title! But I like it. An article I wrote for the Bhutanese paper, Kuensal.

http://www.kuenselonline.com/2011/?p=36742

The Grass is Not Always Greener

As a British volunteer teacher in Bhutan, I’m often asked what life in a ‘developed country’ is like.  Television tends to portray life in countries like mine in one of two ways – either its full of super heroes and villains, or it’s full of wealthy and attractive people, who have plenty of time for leisure and very little difficulties.

The TV show, ‘Friends’, is the perfect example.  Nobody really works much.  Nobody worries about money.  Nobody gets hurt.  Everybody has a laugh.  A superhero that can fly and stop bullets is an obvious fiction, but the fictional nature of Friends is less obvious and more believable.  The realism makes the lifestyle a seemingly attainable goal.  Nobody in their right mind would aspire to fly or stop bullets, but becoming a ‘Friend’ seems possible, something to aspire to.

The media in the UK is predominantly aspirational.  In the newspapers, we are shown houses that we can never afford, cars that are beyond our wildest dreams, beauty that is rare but presented as common (and often photoshopped), lifestyles that are beyond our means.  This feeds and fuels the desire to improve oneself by external standards, to become richer, more materialistic, more unique, to stand out from the crowd as a successful person.  If everybody is thinking like this, the economy grows rapidly, because everybody is trying to make more money in order to realise the dreams they are told over and over again to dream.

Herein lies the foundation of western capitalism; growth.  The economic model that dominates the small world we live in demands endless and unsustainable economic growth from a finite amount of resources.  The capacity for the natural environment to deliver these resources is rapidly diminishing, as global population and demand continue to rise.  The way we do things has to change, but the only people, who don’t seem to accept this truth, are the very people, who have the power to make changes: economists and politicians.

I find it hard to believe that this is actually the case.  In truth, the authority of the governments of Western Europe (and increasingly the rest of the world), is increasingly becoming undermined by the power of private, profit-orientated commercial banks.  Over and over again, we see these giant corporations on the verge of collapse into bankruptcy because of their profligate behaviour, and the governments step in to bail them out with tax-payer money.  In the so-called ‘’developed’ west, it has now become normal for huge sums of money to flow from the public purse into large corporations via the governments that should be protecting us from such scandalous actions.  In a boom, the banks win.  In a bust, the banks win.  It is said that 20% of the world’s resources are consumed by 80% of the people.  In the UK, it is common to hear that 5% of the people account for 95% of the wealth.  Is this progress?  Is this development?  These inequalities are inevitable outcomes of a debt-based growth-oriented economy.

When people here ask me about ‘the developed world’, I sometimes sense frustration about the rate of progress in Bhutan; people want the country to be moving faster.  But racing for progress without consideration for natural resources and the health of communities has a brutal effect on a country’s natural capital.  Bhutan’s government seems to have understood this.  Others have not.

The Island of Borneo once looked like Bhutan – ancient forest from shore to shore, but the thirst for progress and profit led to 50% of the forest being removed and replaced with palm oil plantations.  From a distance it looks like nothing has changed.  The canopy looks healthy, green, leafy and full.  But a closer inspection reveals a semi-desert on its way to a complete desert.  The palm tree is a soil-killer and nothing else grows in its shadow, so the floors of the forest are barren.  In twenty years, the soil will no longer sustain the palms and the illusion of normalcy will have gone – Borneo will be half desert.

Easter Island in the Pacific is a profound example of what can happen if we live beyond our means in our desire for progress.  A civilised race of people called the Rapa Nui once lived there, but over the centuries they cut down every single tree without considering the consequences.  In the end there was nothing to hold the soil and it all blew into the sea. The island, incapable of supporting life, died.  The people died.  Progress is not always positive.  In this regard, the leadership and restraint shown in managing economic progress by Bhutan is praiseworthy.

It is often said that it’s the journey that counts, not the destination.  A Buddhist would tell me that happiness lies in my ability to enjoy the present moment, and not concern myself with a future that does not yet exist and cannot be predicted.  Living in a ‘developing’ country like Bhutan is exciting, and I savour each and every moment I spend here.  There’s an ascendant atmosphere in this country, an excitement that reminds me of teenage years, when the world seems unbounded and everything is possible.  Democracy is new.  The institutions are still establishing themselves and have not yet petrified into the lumbering old monoliths of their UK equivalents.  The possibilities for reform in education seem tangible, despite the lingering influence of the antiquated Indian curriculum in some subjects.

This is a thrilling time for Bhutan, and my advice is to take time to enjoy every moment of it.  Why?  Because this journey will almost certainly be more exciting than the final destination.