GNP for Women

How to increase the Gross National Happiness for Women

Gross National Happiness (GNH) is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product.  The term was coined in 1972 by Bhutan’s former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who has opened up Bhutan to the age of modernization, soon after the demise of his father King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk. It signaled his commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan’s unique culture based on Buddhist spiritual values. Like many moral goals, it is somewhat easier to state than to define. Nonetheless, it serves as a unifying vision for the Five Year planning process and all the derived planning documents that guide the economic and development plans of the country. 

After reading this I thought of a great correlational study; can the GNH apply to Women?  Women always complain about not being happy, not getting their way, so maybe if they followed (or more importantly, their man followed) some of the GNH 7 steps to happiness – modified for women, then women may achieve a high GNH.  But knowing women, they probably would never be satisfied.

7 Steps for Happiness

Now there are 7 steps that would lead women to overall good GNP; some of the steps are adapted/modified from Med Jones (2006):
1. Economic Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of economic metrics such as consumer debt, average income to consumer price index ratio and income distribution
(Women’s Interpretation: you better not be sitting around the house and not pulling in any income – you have to support her shoe habit, because she can’t dare rock last year’s shoe in this season)

2. Environmental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of environmental metrics such as pollution, noise and traffic
(Women’s Interpretation: stop littering and care about the environment; more importantly stop leaving your ish all over the house)

3. Physical Wellness: Indicated via statistical measurement of physical health metrics such as severe illnesses
(Women’s Interpretation: don’t get out of shape and gain a pot/beer belly – or I will start singing Beyonce’s ‘Irreplaceable’)

4. Mental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of mental health metrics such as usage of antidepressants and rise or decline of psychotherapy patients
(Women’s Interpretation: if you want to sleep comfortably, watch football on Sunday’s, then do what I say – or I will raise hell)

5. Workplace Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of labor metrics such as jobless claims, job change, workplace complaints and lawsuits
(Women’s Interpretation: he better not be flirting around with that bimbo receptionist at work, as she may need fully functioning tires to get home)

6. Social Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of social metrics such as discrimination, safety, divorce rates, complaints of domestic conflicts and family lawsuits, public lawsuits, crime rates
(Women’s Interpretation: you can’t always be hanging out with your friends doing a whole bunch of nothing)

7. Political Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of political metrics such as the quality of local democracy, individual freedom, and foreign conflicts.
(Women’s Interpretation: get involved in politics and abandon the “I don’t care” approach, if you need help, then believe what I believe in)

In summation, the GNH for women can probably be paraphrased, summed up, described as ‘Just Listen to her for peace’, or she will rip you to ‘pieces’ and/or will never allow you any ‘peace’ and quiet. And of course shoes, lots of shoes.

Just to show you that the whole concept of GNP is not a joke, check the following video:

LMC presents: Ann Muller & Gross National Happiness from another being creative on Vimeo.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness

Super Tangent(010)

Night out with friends, prep your route, importance, workplace exit cues

Preamble: Ahhhhhh, feels good to get writing these tangents again – its not that nothing hasn’t been pissing me off (there is never a dry spell of that), just been busy focusing on more topic related posts. There is a correlation I think between tangents/rants (pent up anger and frustration) to producing great content; whether it is art, writing, sports, or singing – frustration seems to affect performance (for some), well for me, looks like it is positvely correlated. So, haters, busters, chumps, pricks, hacks, and lames – keep doing your thing!

Night Out with Friends

Maybe it’s the anti-social nature in me, or maybe it is the years of experience waiting for people, picking up people, people not being ready when they said they will be – but I do not really enjoy the process that preceds going out to the club/lounge with friends. I know there are some folks that bask and really like this stage of going out; but I repel it, try to avoid it as much as possible. My usual experiences usually goes like this: friends get the ‘cheap-bug’ and want me to drive, they are reluctant to pitch in on gas & parking, and then there is the waiting part (see my various posts on ‘time’ to understand that). Recently I have tried to bypass all of the elements that annoy me of the club process by telling my friends that I will meet them at the venue – but somehow that never pans out as expected. Maybe, just maybe, in the future I will pronounce that I will not attend, and then magically appear – thus saving my time, money, and sanity.

Preparing Your Route

Maybe its one of those weird logical things that only make logical sense, but if I were going to an address that I don’t know – I will not ask directions from other people; as usually these directions go somewhat like “turn left after 2 lights, the 4th street turn right, after you see the school go for 2 more blocks then turn left”, and so on. More times than not in those situations, a key count of a light or street is overlooked, which leads to one getting lost. So to avoid those situations, one should search out the directions on Google Maps or MapQuest so that they can print out or write the directions – especially if you have days/weeks advance notice in knowing that you have to be at this specific location. It baffles me that some people who use web communications daily, do not rely on the web to solve a simple problem such as directions. People need to be self-reliant in solving life’s simplest problems, don’t rely on others solving your issues that you could’ve easily solved yourself with a little effort and time management. Step your game up!

Measuring Importance

Women have a hard time in understanding. Period. Wait, that was too ‘black & white’, maybe not ‘period’, because women have no problemo in understanding what is important to them – but lord help you for women trying to UNDERSTAND anything that DOES NOT relate or affect them (ooh, isn’t that ’selfish’, lol). That is like trying to explain color to a man that was born blind, teaching a dog to speak several human languages, understanding the meaning of life – it is damn near impossible and will take years to accomplish. I don’t think there is more need to elaborate other than that women usually have a tendency (yes, strong stereotypes are being used) to only have concern for themselves, and to f— everything else, everyone, and there desires. So fellas, as I have said many times in tweets, posts, in relationships it seems that you got to sit on your knees, cup your genitals, give up your independence, brain, and pride to your woman – if you truly want to make her happy … (that was sarcasm). Stand up fellas, don’t let these birds peck at you; if you had fear before, get some courage you cowardly Lion – stand up.

Workplace Body Language Cues

This is for all those in the work environment, I am sure you have experienced a million times already. I can’t stand when people don’t pick up on body language cues that I drop, that indicate that: a) I don’t care to sit and ‘chit chat’, b) I have lost interest in the conversation, or c) I really don’t give a f— in engaging in this mindless dialogue. I usually drop cues such as backing away from them, turning my body away from them, begin typing on my workstation again – but it usually doesn’t work as they still talk; talking about what they did last weekend, what they will do this weekend, about the boss, blah blah blah blah. I have to blame myself for this, I have to rant on my behavior because I am a very good attentive listener. I give good attention cues such as nodding head, saying stuff like “oh really?”, “wow”, “ok”, “that’s good”, and so on. Essentially, I may be motivating them to talk more as they are picking up on my verbal responsive cues, and may be ignoring or not even noticing my body language cues … and they say that “Body Language speaks louder than Verbal Language”, well, not in the workplace environment, at least not for me.

.:: LiBM ::.

Blame it on the Recession

The recession can be looked at in a few angles; one, it can be viewed as a ’system’ reset, a negative period with high unemployment, inspiration to spark innovation, or a plausible excuse for shit you don’t want to do.

We all get asked to do shit that we don’t want to, and if you don’t want to come off as ‘blunt’ or an ‘a-hole’, sometimes an excuse may be the best route to preserve someone’s feelings from being hurt. Thus, the recession can be handy excuse to give; everyone is going through it and everyone can relate.

Scenario’s:

Your girlfriend asks you to go to the play; plays can range from anywhere to $55 to $300 … Tell her that its a recession, you can’t afford it

You and your girls go shopping at the shoes store, when you come home, your fiance asks why would you go spend money on frivulous items … Tell him that you are helping to stimulate the economy

See? It works both ways. Though the recession is bad, it can be used for good – it all depends on what context you put it in; be creative, so that you can avoid those mundane, wack events that people want to drag you around too.

Don’t wanna do anything that friends propose? Blame it on the economy

.:: LiBM ::.

Relational Checkers

Putting them in ‘check’

No, not checkers as in the classic family board game, but in relationships. I always wondered why women who have a man, keep their other guy friends in the picture – someone they communicate with from time to time. At first, my thought that women kept these men as a “Plan B” – which, could still be the case in some situations; women has long used the Plan B dude for when their man acts up, or they lose interest in their man, and want to have some fun – yes women are strange creatures. But, I believe that when a woman is really feeling her man, and she has the other guy friends in the background, I suggest that it is a strategic move to keep her man in ‘check’. To plant the idea that if ‘you act up, there is someone waiting in the background to come to the light and take your position’. And to emphasize such thoughts, women usually will mention these background characters in passing conversations with their man, as a subtle reminder that embodies the spirit of the man-hating anthem sung by Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable”. Since women are such innovative pretty things, they have created different kinds of ‘checks’; available at their disposal to deploy and put their man in check. Each checker move has a metaphorical meaning from its implied literal simplicity, such as:

Edu Check

“Peter just finished Med School, and is going on to do his fellowship at the local hospital”
Interpretation: Get your ish together and do something with your life, or I’ll be making the good doc do my physical.

Attitude Check

“Samuel is so quiet and shy”
Interpretation: You talk to much, and it is really pissing me off as sometimes you put your big foot in your mouth

Fun Check

“Thomas is crazy, he is always getting himself into some sort of mischief”
Interpretation: You are getting kind of boring, you don’t excite or arouse me like you used to. But the thought of Thomas does …

Financial Check

“When Jason takes his girls out, they don’t have to worry about a thing – he takes care of them”
Interpretation: You need to spend more money and stop being a cheapskate – romance has to be financed … at a variable rate.

I am sure there are other witty checks that women use to correct and align men, I would love to hear some so that I can be better equip!

.:: LiBM ::.

E-Drive-by’s

The Web and social communications has created a culture of opinionated people; we express ourselves through our WebPages, blogs, IM screen names, on message boards, and in chat rooms. All of these communications methods are asynchronous; not occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase. Thus, you can say something, and the response to what you said will be delayed – allowing a ’sense of freedom’ to say anything you want without being chastised. You see it all the time, on forums, blogs, et cetera, where people talk reckless gibberish about others; using profanity, funny metaphors, and humorous simile’s to degrade and undermine others – I won’t front, some of it is funny. However, I believe that this culture of web social communications has created a loss in the art of logical argumentation – not argumentation in the sense of violent, shouting behavior; but argumentation in the sense of making logic. Making logical sense to what point(s) you are trying to say.

In Synchronous (real time) communications, you can’t say something reckless without backing up your points – for if you do such an act, people will just look at you in a peculiar light; as one who can not express or justify their points accurately. Synchronous communications are face-to-face, live, interactive, and non-verbal visual cues are just important as the verbal communications. If some of the people who talk so recklessly on the web, were to try that in real life; some would be in the ICU at the local hospital – real talk. But the web gives a safe haven for us; allows us to quickly say whatever we want – with a sense of immunity, because I guess we can quickly log-off, change usernames, to avoid explaining ourselves. Sort of like an ‘E-drive-by’ like my boy RecSet once said “these people talk a whole lot of madness at someone, then flee the scene, and can’t back up their talk, because they know I will spank them.”, well said.

When it comes to personal relationships, Synchronous communications should be the path followed when dealing with serious topics – the real time dynamic gives you so much more beyond words. While, asynchronous communications can leave one bewildered, not receiving the full gist of the situation, or leave one with a misguided interpretation – trust me, it has happened to me on more than one occasion. So here is a list of what you should probably NOT use web social communications for:

Having a ‘talk’ about your relationship
- fellas, it’s bad enough in synchronous communications when your lady wants to ‘talk’, imagine how bad/LONG it will be in asynchronous communications??

Business Confrontations
- Don’t accuse a business associate of corruption in an IM, do it in person, so that you can gauge his verbal and non-verbal reactions

Criticisms of Friends
- Yes, it may be easier to do it behind an electric monitor, but if your friend is a ‘true’ friend, and you are one too, then a face-to-face or a phone call will not only show that you have something to ‘get off’ your chest, but that you also genuinely care.

Yes, the web is a powerful tool for communications, but with great power, comes great responsibility – use it wisely.

.:: LiBM ::.