Introduction | The Paradox We Have All Experienced
Modern humans travel more than any other generation in history, live longer, and have better food, better medicine, and better homes. If we look at the statistics, no one can deny that we live in the best material conditions in human history. Life expectancy has doubled, child mortality has dropped to one-tenth, and absolute poverty has reached its lowest level globally.
But there is a strange paradox amid all this “better”: if welfare equals happiness, then why are happiness books still the best-selling books in the world? Why does the self-help industry grow larger every day, and why is antidepressant use increasing every day?
If welfare equaled happiness, this question shouldn’t remain. But it has remained. And that means something in our equation is wrong.
What Is Welfare, What Is Happiness?
Before anything else, we must separate these two concepts.
“Welfare” is an objective and measurable concept: income, housing, health, education, security, and material resources. Welfare means “having sufficient resources for a comfortable life.”
But “happiness” is a subjective and existential concept: a feeling of satisfaction, meaning in life, quality of relationships, and the deep experience of living. Happiness means “living well,” not just “living comfortably.”
To clarify this difference, imagine four possible states:
– High welfare + high happiness: The ideal human who has both resources and satisfaction.
– High welfare + low happiness: A human who has everything but feels empty.
– Low welfare + high happiness: A human with few resources but satisfied with life.
– Low welfare + low happiness: The hardest state, without resources and dissatisfied.
The existence of these four states clearly shows that welfare and happiness are not the same. Welfare can contribute to happiness, but it does not guarantee it.
The Easterlin Paradox | When Money Doesn’t Bring Happiness
In 1974, Richard Easterlin, an American economist, published research that later became known as the “Easterlin Paradox.” He showed that within a society, wealthier individuals are usually happier than poorer ones. But when the whole society becomes wealthier, the general level of happiness does not increase proportionally.
If everyone’s income doubled today, would everyone be twice as happy tomorrow? Probably not. In many wealthy countries, rates of depression and anxiety are higher than in middle-income countries.
Why? Because a human doesn’t live only by “the amount of assets” but also by “perception of their position.” Two phenomena explain this paradox: hedonic adaptation and social comparison.
We quickly adapt to a new income level. A new house, a new car, and a new salary become “normal” after a few months. At the same time, we compare ourselves with others. If everyone becomes wealthier, our relative position doesn’t change.
Welfare: Necessary Condition or Sufficient Condition?
Now we must answer a more precise question: Is welfare a “necessary condition” for happiness or a “sufficient condition”?
If there is no food, happiness is not possible. If there is no security, happiness is not possible. If there is no treatment, happiness is not possible. So welfare, at a basic level, is a necessary condition for happiness. A hungry, sick, and insecure human can hardly be happy.
But does having food, security, and treatment make us happy? The answer is “no.” Millions of people in wealthy countries have met all their basic needs but are still unhappy.
After basic needs are met, other factors determine happiness: quality of relationships, meaning, free time, and a sense of purpose. These factors depend more on “quality of living” than on “material welfare.”
Welfare Does Not Guarantee Harmony
The five-relation model can show how welfare can contribute to happiness and how it may hinder it. This model defines quality of life based on five fundamental human relations: relation with self, others, the world, time, and values.
Imagine a man who has become wealthy. His business has flourished, and his income has multiplied. Now let’s look at his life:
– Relation with self: He eats better and goes to a well-equipped gym. His relation with his body has improved. But his mind is not at peace. He falls asleep at night with stress about tomorrow. Welfare has improved part of his relation with self, but not all of it.
– Relation with others: He travels more and buys expensive gifts. But his child sees him less. His relation with others, despite welfare, has weakened.
– Relation with the world: He travels to nature and enjoys art. His relation with the world has become richer. But this richness is superficial because he has no opportunity to deepen in any of them.
– Relation with time: He works late into the night and sacrifices vacations. His relation with time has been severely damaged. He has money but no time.
– Relation with values: He still doesn’t know what he lives for. Wealth has not given him meaning.
This story shows that welfare can improve some relations but at the same time destroy others. True happiness arises when all these relations are harmonious together.
Conclusion | Welfare Is a Means, Not an End
Welfare and happiness are two different things. Welfare is a means, and happiness is an end. A means is never the same as an end.
Welfare can contribute to happiness but does not guarantee it. Sometimes it even makes it harder. True happiness lies not in accumulating resources but in harmonizing the fundamental relations of life.
We may never reach “everything,” but we can reach “harmony.” And perhaps happiness is another name for this very harmony.
Sources
- Easterlin, Richard. “The Easterlin Paradox: Evidence and Explanations.” *Quarterly Journal of Economics and Society*. No. 2, 2011. pp. 15-35.
- Sen, Amartya. *Development as Freedom*. Translated by Vahid Mahmoudi. University of Tehran Press. pp. 60-80.
- Layard, Richard. *Happiness: Lessons from a New Science*. Translated by Mehdi Qarachehdaghi. Roshd Publications. pp. 50-70.
- Diener, Ed. *Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth*. Translated by Mehdi Qarachehdaghi. Roshd Publications. pp. 50-80.
- Nussbaum, Martha. *Capabilities and Quality of Life*. Translated by Hassan Fathi. Farhang Nashr-e No Publications. pp. 40-60.
- Schwartz, Barry. *The Paradox of Choice*. Translated by Sara Hosseini. Roshd Publications. pp. 65-90.
- Frankl, Viktor. *Man’s Search for Meaning*. Translated by Nahzatollah Salehi. University of Tehran Press. pp. 60-85.
