tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post125649350930461796..comments2023-12-20T19:39:29.865+00:00Comments on Munguin's Republic: RAILWAY LINK TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD FOR SECRET KINGDOMMunguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16475165830302054002noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-55856280973131095102010-01-02T13:08:49.318+00:002010-01-02T13:08:49.318+00:00Danny: When I win the lottery I'l invite you t...Danny: When I win the lottery I'l invite you to join me on the train journey... Date?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-72841624111620494242010-01-02T03:52:15.037+00:002010-01-02T03:52:15.037+00:00Yes Tris.....what a wonderful train ride that woul...Yes Tris.....what a wonderful train ride that would be. The awesome scenery of the region would be breathtaking....not to mention the traditional architecture and the people in national attire. The picture you posted is something right out of Shangri La.Danny, 1st Earl of the Ozarksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-55167996806139305242010-01-01T17:42:51.056+00:002010-01-01T17:42:51.056+00:00Danny,
What a fantastic story. I can't begin...Danny,<br /><br />What a fantastic story. I can't begin to imagine the embarrassment of the poor envoy hitting that poor Bhutanese whilst taking part in the archery competition. Good one. I like the fact you always have a tale to tell. Very entertaining!!<br /><br />I suspect you are right though. I wonder how reliable any of these figures are about happiness, especially when the King wanted you to be happy!<br /><br />I'd still like to take a ride on that train when it's finished though. Imagine the scenery.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-9518107217384202582010-01-01T15:29:13.050+00:002010-01-01T15:29:13.050+00:00Tris:
Like you, I was surprised at America and th...Tris:<br /><br />Like you, I was surprised at America and the UK positioned above the French. Maybe an artifact of certain assumptions underlying the study. <br /><br />And your point is very well taken about what might legitimately constitute personal happiness in vastly differing societies and cultures. How can I say that the subsistence farmers of Bhutan should not be truly happy because they don't have the material goods that I have? Like you, I've certainly seen all those people going about in "advanced" western cultures with hardly a smile on their faces.<br /><br />That said, I'm always suspicious about the motives of Kings and politicians. And it seems that the former King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck (ruled 1972-2006), personally coined the term "Gross National Happiness (GNH)" as an alternative to Gross National Product (GNP) or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a key development indicator. Kings being kings, I have an idea that the peasants were told to be VERY happy when western academics came poking around with those happiness surveys. No doubt that the old king wanted his GNH number to stay very high....LOL. <br /><br />While I haven't been able to locate an internet source to confirm it, I have a clear recollection of reading about an incident which had occurred at the coronation of Jigme Singye as King of Bhutan in 1974. US President Nixon's diplomatic representative to the coronation was the then US Ambassador to India, Daniel Patrick Moynihan (later four term US Senator from New York). He was invited to participate with other members of the diplomatic delegation in an archery contest....archery being very big in Bhutan. Well, one of Ambassador Moynihan's arrows went astray and struck one of the Bhutanese. The man was not seriously hurt, but shooting a member of the host country with an arrow, during a coronation ceremony, is nevertheless considered something of a diplomatic faux pas. Moynihan (impeccably attired in his morning coat) was obviously greatly embarrassed. But his hosts were really very nice about it. Although I suspect that the guy with the arrow in him was not at that moment one of the happy people of Bhutan.....LOL.Danny, 1st Earl of the Ozarksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-62045029865823765182010-01-01T12:36:06.390+00:002010-01-01T12:36:06.390+00:00Danny:
The thing that bothers me is that we pay f...Danny:<br /><br />The thing that bothers me is that we pay for these academics to do these surveys.<br /><br />I remember watching a documentary a few years ago about a tribe of people in the Amazon jungles. Even in the early 21st century they still had no consumer goods at all. The were nomadic, making their houses of leaves and they ate berries and sometimes animals if they could catch any. They had nothing at all. Yet they were incredibly happy. They smiled all the time.<br /><br />For a while afterwards I wondered about the fact that on my way to work I never saw anyone smile. People worried about money, jobs, houses, kids' drugs/girlfriends/boyfriends, missing favourite tv programmes... all things that would never bother these people, and I wondered who has got it right.<br /><br />I'm surprised to see the UK above France. Having lived in both I would have to say that the French appear to have a 'joie de vivre' completely lacking here.... But we must believe the academics.... <br /><br />I'm guessing that the Icelandic figure may have dropped a little since 2006!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092475090824666694.post-68697556154825429472010-01-01T11:15:28.012+00:002010-01-01T11:15:28.012+00:00Tris....really a very interesting article. But as ...Tris....really a very interesting article. But as you know, I can never resist a smart a** comment. <br /><br />As for the happiness bit. I suppose it's not possible to prevent university academics from doing surveys and studies about things which have no conceivable objective meaning.....e.g. "happiness." <br /><br />That aside, just what were all those subsistence farmers of Bhutan all that happy ABOUT anyway? No money and not much food.....but nothing much to buy anyway I guess. And maybe there are not all that many PO'd smokers and fisherman in country to answer those survey questions.<br /><br />Anyway, off topic, but I had to find out more about that happiness list:<br /><br />The 20 happiest nations in the World in the 2006 study were:<br /><br />1. Denmark <br />2. Switzerland <br />3. Austria <br />4. Iceland <br />5. The Bahamas <br />6. Finland <br />7. Sweden <br />8. Bhutan <br />9. Brunei <br />10. Canada <br />11. Ireland <br />12. Luxembourg <br />13. Costa Rica <br />14. Malta <br />15. The Netherlands <br />16. Antigua and Barbuda <br />17. Malaysia <br />18. New Zealand <br />19. Norway <br />20. The Seychelles <br /><br />Other notable results include:<br /><br />23. USA <br />35. Germany <br />41. UK <br />62. France <br />82. China <br />90. Japan <br />125. India <br />167. Russia<br /><br />And the three least happy countries were:<br /><br />176. Democratic Republic of the Congo <br />177. Zimbabwe <br />178. Burundi<br /><br />I see that the USA beat out Germany and the UK by a bit.....but all three were happier than France. As for Bhutan, the scenery looks great, but I bet the night life really sucks. :-)Danny, 1st Earl of the Ozarksnoreply@blogger.com