The Pursuit of Happiness [2004]
New Zealanders seem to be demonstrating the underlying dilemma that being much richer than you used to be doesn't necessarily make you that much happier.
If anything, our increased affluence, greater personal power and high sustained levels of personal well-being are translating into a country with proportionately less, not more, "joie de vivre".
Perhaps it is simply that we have more to lose. The slippery slope down which we might slide seems much less like a fairground attraction and more like a descent into Hell.
"Sliding backwards" seems to be a euphemism for a popular form of underlying settler anxiety - namely that the bush might encroach on the neat paddocks and ordered suburbs, the docile indigenous people might rise up and ask for their land back and the gap between New Zealand and the "civilised" world might widen.
Even the continued tendency of those we have colonised to let the side down by "dragging down" our statistical averages for health or safety is seen as evidence of potential back-sliding. And as for our critics: "bringing down" New Zealand's reputation overseas is now almost a treasonable offence.
There is a lack of joined up thinking here because the very same "civilised" world that most New Zealanders now fear we might diverge from is very frequently criticised here for failing to deliver basic services to the whole of its population or for having a diminished quality of life compared to our own.
But that's not the one we measure ourselves against. The one we fear we might diverge from is an idealised state - sort of ourselves as we might have been, had we been just off the coast of Europe.
So how much well-being should we have? And what kind?
We do need to lighten up. We need to be a bit silly and have some fun over the coming spring and summer. There are no World Cups to worry about, no looming financial crises to concern us, no major social issues to stress out about. A weak El Nino may even deliver some good weather.
But more is not better. The current 'big mortgage', 'rising credit card debt', "living in the moment" kind of personal happiness New Zealanders experience is not particularly prudent or sustainable - not if the debt is buying non-productive commodities.
And the translation of increased personal economic and social power into more and more infantile demands for perfect service and 'on demand' satisfaction doesn't help us to become more resilient or compassionate or resourceful.
There is a need to re-think our basic direction as individuals and people - to somehow synthesise the experience of the past with the opportunities of the future into something that is not only pleasing and empowering but also socially enriching.
It would be nice to produce a set of social descriptors for 2005 or 2006 that said something like:-
"Constructive, resilient, steady, confident, alert, grateful, optimistic, engaged".
New Zealanders are in danger of forgetting that this is one of the most pleasant places in the world to live and that we are all very lucky to be here." New Zealanders are in danger of forgetting that this is one of the most pleasant places in the world to live and that we are all very lucky to be here"
