In 1989, when he was acquitted of a charge of tax evasion, it was found that the comedian Ken Dodd (who had a minor hit in 1964 with a saccharine-sweet song "Happiness" ), had never actually paid the kids who played his "diddymen" on stage and that he had suitcases full of banknotes under his bed. We can be reasonably sure what would or does make Mr Dodd happy.
Now to the present and political: our current Prime Minister David Cameron is reported to have ordered an investigation into the levels of national happinesss, presumably so that he can better shape national policy in future...
Ken Dodd (or is it David Cameron?) seeks the Font of Happiness
One of the problems for the investigation of something as nebulous as "happiness" is to find a workable definition and to identify what it is that makes the people and societies "happy".
Unfortunately for Mr Cameron, of the many studies that have been done, from Professor Richard Layard's various studies into depression and wellbeing which were supported by the last Labour Government to The Spirit Level by Wilkinson and Pickett, the clear answer is: not Free Markets or Neo Liberal Economics, which must be a disappointment for the party which believes so strongly in markets, and the freer the better.
The bulk of the evidence, in study after study, shows that, after a certain level, accumulations of wealth and belongings brings no measurable increase in wellbeing to individuals or to societies. This is in direct opposition to the Tory faith in the individual's right to make as much money as possible with no questions asked, and the Tory insistence that "there is no such thing as society".
In fact The Spirit Level has compelling evidence that the more equal a society is, the higher levels of wellbeing are measured in that society.
David Cameron is welcome to his investigation, and to ponder the results when they come. I doubt very much that they will recommend more expansions of "free" markets or the lauding of individualism to the detriment of common cause.
Just where that leaves Conservative Party policy or philosophy is another matter....
