PUBLISHER’S NOTE
There’s nothing like hardship to foment change. This month’s news feature, ‘Silicon Mountain,’ p. 26, chronicles a burgeoning industry in Tahoe/Truckee — one that has the potential to diversify our monoculture economy. Indeed, this dry winter has put in sharp focus the dire need to diversify our revenue stream.
I came across data recently that put things in perspective for me: To be counted among the world’s richest 1 percent, one has to earn just $34,000 a year. Members of the middle class live on just $1,225 a year.*
Apparently, the data has been adjusted to account for different costs of living across the globe, but could they really account for the costs of living in one of the nation’s top 10 most expensive places to live? (See ‘Priced Out,’ online at moonshineink.com.)
Still, perspective is everything, these numbers remind me. And so I ponder another concept that also caught my attention recently: Gross National Happiness. This term, made well known by the tiny Asian country of Bhutan, encompasses more than the money-centric Gross Domestic Product, upon which the U.S. bases its wealth. As well as economic measures, GNH includes the environmental, physical, mental, workplace, social, and political wellness of a nation (or any locale). The concept seeks to quantify such intangible things such as time, volunteerism, and yes, happiness.
Proud local bumper stickers claim, ‘My life is better than your vacation.’ Perhaps it’s time to quantify this.
Mayumi Elegado
~ Email me at melegado@moonshineink.com.
* According to World Bank economist Branko Milanovic in his book ‘The Haves and the Have-Nots’ (Dec. 2010).
