Does a good economy manifest happy people? The answer to this question, according to Western ideology, is “yes.”

Economic growth has long been equated with social prosperity among Western nations. Consequently, politicians have imbued themselves in the doctrine that the gross domestic product, and measures akin to it, hold the fortune of a nation; a good economy is a prosperous nation, a prosperous nation means happy people, a happy people means a good economy.

Or so the cycle goes.

Certainly, industrial systems have produced improvements in the realms of technology, medicine and the supply of essential and non-essential goods and services for humans; we now have more weapons, Prozac and toothbrushes than ever before.

Incessantly searching for profit maximizations, however, these systems have been allowed to grow in a way that is not necessarily healthy for all of us. Production and consumption have increased just like the hunger for wealth.

Western economic thought is of perpetual growth on a finite planet. Space and resources, are limited. Greed inevitably ensues, wars occur, and pollution chokes the atmosphere—all in the name of the happiness we call profit.

If an economic system prospers, but in doing so destroys the environmental and social systems that humanity relies upon, do people really “prosper”?

Maybe it’s time to start evaluating whether or not it makes sense to use our nation’s economic prosperity to represent our societal and cultural well-being? Or, at least, we can heed those who already do.

Take the country of Bhutan, for example, one of the most secluded and economically-lean nations in the world.

Mystically cuddled in the eastern Himalayas among forests of Mahayana meditations, between the two most-populated nations on Earth, China and India, Bhutan rests as a sanctuary for those who aspire to a world free from the economic formulas and mechanisms the Western world has prided to be the barometers of social progress, success and well-being.

Stemming from an ancient ethos of harmony with and respect for the natural environment, moral and ethical values have been placed at the core of economic strategies in Bhutan, resulting in a pristine culture, rich with an understanding of sustainability and appreciation for social serenity.

Bhutan’s official governmental policy is the GNH—Gross National Happiness. Unlike the GDP, that measures emotionless, quantitative input-output variables and indirectly projects the state of social well-being, the GNH directly assesses qualitative, sentient components of society and infuses them into its practice of governance.

The culture of Bhutan is not subservient to the economy; the economy aides the culture.

Nestled between the mystic view that nature holds majestic, rational wisdom and Buddhist interconnectedness and awareness, Bhutanese culture values the principles of harmony and sustainability necessary for humanity’s survival.

Their economic philosophy is composed of foresight and temperance, not headlong avidity; lacking a concern for nature will inevitably result in discord—environmentally, socially and culturally.

In Bhutan, happiness lies in preserving cultural integrity, social cohesion and environmental awareness. Economic growth matters, though affluence alone does not flower joy.

Wielding economic power with helter-skelter shortsightedness inevitably creates turmoil. Measuring social well-being by such is irrational and suicidal. Bhutan understands that care for the future is the key to happiness.