The perfect metaphor for happiness

In this month's issue of Prospect, there's an article on the relationship between happiness and wealth. This is just the sort of thing that I love to read - it's such a wonderfully callous way to approach things. I remember reading a similar article last year which said that the No.1 factor for happiness is getting enough sleep, and that there is no relationship between money and happiness beyond basic essentials (food, water, shelter).

The Prospect article agrees, but it has a caveat. Although there is no connection between income and self-reported happiness (they do these surveys by simply asking you how happy you are), there is a connection between happiness and GDP growth. People are consistently happier in countries where GDP is steadily rising, even though it makes no difference what the actual GDP is (An Angolan can be happier than a Norwegian as long as the country's GDP is rising).

But what got me about this article is the metaphor he uses to describe the importance of steady GDP growth: "Imagine a guillotine, on which a kitten is strapped, connected to a bicycle that must be pedalled ever more quickly to keep the blade aloft. Slow down, and the kitten gets it." Yeah - I bet that kitten's as happy as can be!

It reminded me of a poem by Sheenagh Pugh, on "The Pursuit of Happiness":

"But he only said
you had a right to chase it:
he never mentioned

catching it up. [...]

And if you caught it,
if you ever did,
wouldn't it taste stringy,

all muscle and disappointment,
and what would you do
with the rest of your life?"

Yes, Sheenagh, I imagine the kitten would taste pretty stringy. Keep pedalling, everyone!