|
马上注册,结交更多好友,享用更多功能,让你轻松玩转社区。
您需要 登录 才可以下载或查看,没有账号?注册
×
Living standards have soared during the twentieth century, and
6 x+ i; ~& f: y% C. U# Q4 S6 i, W! H3 q( X
economists expect them to continue rising in the decades ahead. Does 6 d7 g+ O, w+ K5 V- B! X
! S, s- D+ Z7 k$ g0 g5 Ythat mean that we humans can look forward to increasing happiness? * [( Z$ X' O0 n$ p8 r
6 x3 \6 J7 k) v9 y4 y
+ p6 z! N! ]! l3 }/ INot necessarily, warns Richard A. Easterlin, an economist at the
$ K/ M2 `1 E6 Y8 s9 ]
1 S5 P4 d5 _* S1 L5 n# BUniversity of Southern California, in his new book, Growth Triumphant: C5 b/ \ H: Y5 R% w
- G7 a: W' n3 v7 L7 l2 j) QThe Twenty-first Century in Historical Perspective. Easterlin concedes
9 S2 M: Y" N" d" Z4 ~" C8 j5 p' H
- S+ `: p; p1 }2 x% E; ~that richer people are more likely to report themselves as being happy
. q( M5 z) D6 ?: I. v. k ]# x/ p! U6 L/ v5 ~# n* d
than poorer people are. But steady improvements in the American economy ) {* |3 |% w( G; v4 }2 [
) S6 e/ Y" Y* W2 S
have not been accompanied by steady increases in people‘s self-
- Z4 v5 m0 b7 K4 a$ B7 H" C4 g9 s5 {; t
assessments of their own happiness. "There has been not improvement in
1 l, W9 k5 a: Z/ i0 l, L. ]. d7 p1 I' ?. o2 q1 t
average happiness in the United States over almost a half century----a 9 {' U! |) v6 G/ m
& Q2 I1 @- z4 B0 M
period in which real GDP per capita more than doubled," Easterlin
; y* y6 F+ x2 }" X8 D, d7 V0 n, |) C! v' P$ o7 O0 M# Y
reports./ n6 t1 F9 F! D6 n( F
5 k' f$ A8 M2 yThe explanation for this paradox may be that people become less
& T1 I3 r* S! ?- c9 u9 M
4 b1 }& r0 T6 g) ]( Z4 _' M6 Esatisfied over time with a given level of income. In Easterlin‘s word:
$ k. H) A) M8 H1 o- ~* w3 n0 Z3 m
7 ^' Z ]" N! H7 s! c4 r/ y, G"As incomes rise, the aspiration level does too, and the effect of this
1 A% s* ~' [# a5 x7 V6 q: _: N$ a/ q& ?( @" @
increase in aspirations is to vitiate the expected growth in happiness
( R8 W& R; h5 |* ?! }; R
) x2 n" E1 T3 L8 a4 rdue to higher income."
0 Z; y3 P/ D3 u+ l; w7 y# ? U. M# t* ^5 j8 G, H" t6 ~
Money can buy happiness, Easterlin seems to be saying, but only if
" x1 y. S9 B7 S
' |; I, L/ U3 l9 c7 R& Fone‘s amounts get bigger and other people aren‘t getting more. His
/ U' ]- z9 L, C1 [2 s* K
4 U3 o( a: x( @& u L" B3 R' b! ^analysis helps to explain sociologist Lee Rainwater‘s finding that 9 W% p& V% V3 C1 Y0 a
- W" m4 Y6 l! r: B' G- o# _/ Z# [Americans‘ perception of the income "necessary to get along" rose
8 b: `- I9 a7 M( l, P: ?% Z j7 Y7 }
between 1950 and 1986 in the same proportion as actual per capita ( `, n/ ?4 o. Q' l
+ |8 Y4 l* d! l }income. We feel rich if we have more than our neighbors, poor if we
0 y9 Q$ F7 v0 l" W! v& y6 H( ]- K# Z3 `* o* ]2 U" e
have less, and feeling relatively well off is equated with being happy.
) C' l. y- t# W% G% l X6 G0 b! Z( i% W$ P! a Y4 D5 w
Easterlin‘s findings, challenge psychologist Abraham Maslow‘s # `$ U8 Y i' E2 Z2 h3 a
5 R) n! u: v! d5 H8 v6 f"hierarchy of wants" as a reliable guide to future human motivation. " k5 A, C2 U3 _1 m# s
1 R# Q0 G3 g* H" H
Maslow suggested that as people‘s basic material wants are satisfied - f) q) M3 F5 w) k! D
* o u0 D2 ~/ h( X+ R( Rthey seek to achieve nonmaterial or spiritual goals. But Easterlin‘s
* s* }* z, p' I6 B# O6 ?
1 p$ q' ~+ ?7 _evidence points to the persistence of materialism.
" s; X) _! f7 c, m1 P) t- K# r; o5 N5 C0 x2 r
"Despite a general level of affluence never before realized in the
) |# @ g$ U3 f5 p2 S. h' K& Y, d# v6 G. }. w5 c
history of the world." Easterlin observes, "Material concerns in the 9 p, @% E) U5 a# a- {
; Q2 Z9 O1 f8 _$ f* zwealthiest nations today are as pressing as ever and the pursuit of
6 a% ?) |, ]9 k' t* B* y8 g7 w" u m/ [0 \8 w: E: D7 ?$ s
material need as intense." The evidence suggests there is no evolution ! ?3 E% v2 }6 r0 C4 ?
* D. y* w3 D6 d) r" f- [
toward higher order goals. Rather, each step upward on the ladder of
5 `$ M1 j4 N$ L& Y' Z3 H9 N4 U8 o3 O0 T
economic development merely stimulates new economic desires that lead
" b2 ?0 M; M8 T7 u5 I" J6 q1 Y% _
4 G# ^9 @2 R( w; \# |% w# Fthe chase ever onward. Economists are accustomed to deflating the money
" k+ k. }' \) Z5 |: q; k; a/ O4 V; Y$ T" {; ~% Y. |
value of national income by the average level of prices to obtain * }6 O& |9 P6 Z# c1 d2 l n# s
" z: F5 _0 M. [ D0 ]4 N$ l+ n
"real" income. The process here is similar----real income is being
% \- ]( R q- O/ G2 ~' \ X+ M8 L2 B2 y2 m k0 B* v% ] I( p
deflated by rising material aspiration, in this case to yield " |3 }9 v+ O- K) [. X6 l5 w
; Q( O2 @+ W" {5 J, }: Eessentially constant subjective economic well-being. While it would be ; }# [/ {+ ?4 [+ r
7 s4 @8 I0 e2 P% r
pleasant to envisage a world free from the pressure of material want, a
# [3 J" f4 O+ l; i* K" c1 ?3 C( U0 e6 p3 }, p3 D6 e) K
more realistic projection, based on the evidence, is of a world in
; s, u$ p" ~, f) L9 ^$ \! [0 h0 j/ K$ G& b/ W# U) u
which generation after generation thinks it needs only another 10% to " t/ S0 C& l2 k5 \ }* J1 ~" V
0 v0 U V' l# c6 F20% more income to be perfectly happy., s+ E2 M3 Y' Y( g3 x4 k; M9 m
9 d. F/ r# q3 d/ y6 m4 W0 u
Needs are limited, but not greeds. Science has developed no cure for
8 }2 v. F1 Y, d6 Y1 n0 D1 _% ^4 i
envy, so our wealth boosts our happiness only briefly while shrinking
+ G+ B& p- f" H/ h% {- _8 N# x3 ?( n d+ v" Y9 C1 q0 p# M
that of our neighbors. Thus the outlook for the future is gloomy in
' V- y+ n4 [: L/ f) U
! B5 y# m: h% t0 j1 J* MEasterlin‘s view.. g# B# R1 q' U I h! R1 ?
7 m3 t' E G& E/ ]% U"The future, then, to which the epoch of modern economic growth is
0 O# f8 C0 X" f7 r" P( N' w3 X9 ^ b, h) a4 _" K- |& W
leading is one of never ending economic growth, a world in which ever 0 t! d. g& Y% W$ N l
6 t! _$ W8 E& p6 B$ M/ `* q
growing abundance is matched by ever rising aspirations, a world in T2 B% I) { n* L
4 v5 M- P/ G/ B- ~7 ^5 q5 `
which cultural difference is leveled in the constant race to achieve - F% [ _ |4 b" C: w$ g
$ r3 I6 ^+ K$ L, U( R1 @the goods life of material plenty, it is a world founded on belief in & y6 K7 J! R" v4 d( h, Y; w
+ [) [+ |& h W5 V
science and the power of rational inquiry and in the ultimate capacity # @2 K: H5 ?' I% ?, E1 ~
" |( p3 j4 V3 bof humanity to shape its own destiny. The irony is that in this last ! _- y. }- g' S
, C. ^$ D9 Z- n5 v, A1 E5 a
respect the lesson of history appears to be otherwise: that there is no
/ ?5 z; [4 _' `) j5 e8 Q
1 f* G* c7 C0 Y q; I9 ]choice. In the end, the triumph of economic growth is not a triumph of
, ?$ Q9 b5 ]" _1 n, O, i4 u9 v' x4 t6 l: D3 t
humanity over material wants; rather, it is the triumph of material
& P/ U7 n. ^& d+ s8 L1 Y4 { k+ h2 J6 X- M. }
wants over humanity." |
评分
-
1
查看全部评分
-
|