Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America--and How We Can Get More of It (Hardcover)

by Arthur C. Brooks (Author)
Key Phrases: happiness gap, times likelier, United States, Mother Teresa, Mack Metcalf (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Arthur Brooks makes me--how else to put it?--happy. He makes me grossly, nationally happy. If you want to be a real American you need to pause in your life and your liberty and pursue some happiness by reading this book." -- P.J. O'Rourke

"Arthur Brooks may be the most innovative and creative analyst of public policy in America today. His insights are in a different league and may lead to an entirely new approach to thinking through public policy. Gross National Happiness is a must read for every person who wants to understand what policies America needs." -- Newt Gingrich

"Happiness is God, marriage, and work. A Republican campaign slogan? No: hard science, as collected by Arthur C. Brooks, emerging as one of the leading--and most original--social observers of his generation." -- David Frum, author of Dead Right and Comeback

"Happiness is an idea etched into our national creed. But what does it mean, exactly? With intriguing statistics and engaging examples, Arthur Brooks explores what makes us happy, which types of people are happiest, and what it means for our nation's future. Gross National Happiness is a fresh look on one of America's oldest tenets--how the pursuit of happiness makes America great." -- Carl J. Schramm, president and chief executive officer of the Kauffman Foundation and author of The Entrepreneurial Imperative

"In this splendid volume, Arthur C. Brooks cements his reputation as one of the nation's premier students of American society. Always driven by data--not ideology--he offers an authoritative account of the social bases of happiness. Just as important, he explores the public policy implications of his findings. It is a fun read, and should put a smile on the face of even the most unhappy among us." -- William A. Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

"Is anybody happy in America? Actually, a lot of Americans are--and they're not necessarily the ones you'd think. In Gross National Happiness, Arthur Brooks tells us why supposedly crabby conservatives are actually happier than supposedly lighthearted liberals--and what all of us can do to find more happiness in our lives." -- Michael Barone, Senior Writer for U.S. News & World Report and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics

Product Description
Democrats and Republicans have two very different visions of America. Which one will make us happier?

Who are the happiest Americans? Surveys show that religious people think they are happier than secularists, and secularists think they are happier than religious people. Liberals believe they are happier than conservatives, and conservatives disagree. In fact, almost every group thinks it is happier than everyone else.

In this provocative new book, Arthur C. Brooks explodes the myths about happiness in America. As he did in the controversial Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism, Brooks examines vast amounts of evidence and empirical research to uncover the truth about who is happy in America, who is not, and--most important--why.

He finds that there is a real "happiness gap" in America today, and it lies disconcertingly close to America's cultural and political fault lines. The great divide between the happy and the unhappy in America, Brooks shows, is largely due to differences in social and cultural values. The values that bring happiness are faith, charity, hard work, optimism, and individual liberty. Secularism, excessive reliance on the state to solve problems, and an addiction to security all promote unhappiness.

What can be done to maximize America's happiness? Replete with the unconventional wisdom for which Brooks has come to be known, Gross National Happiness offers surprising and illuminating conclusions about how our government can best facilitate Americans in their pursuit of happiness.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 277 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (April 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465002781
• ISBN-13: 978-0465002788
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #226,275 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who is happy and why?, May 4, 2008

By	Brian Ogan - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Using cold, hard statistics from the past several years around the globe, Arthur Brooks reviles who is the most warm and fuzzy inside. From that the author states what policies the United States is doing that helps or hurts our GNH. The only problem with it is that it seems destined to become a political and not Sociology book due to his findings. Despite saying, for example, there are happy secular liberals (there is just fewer of them), it is getting bashed by the left while praised by the right. Both of which is a shame, since his true purpose is to show why certain people are happy, not necessarily how to make one happy, from an individual standpoint. He isn't saying conservatives are better politically. Just more likely to be happy.

The only time he does show how to make happiness is where he puts down what our leaders national agenda should be if we want higher GNH. He is looking at the macro level, not the micro. Topics explored include: political affiliation (conservative vs. liberal only; there is no data on libertarians or more specific affiliations yet), religion, family (does kids and marriage really bring happiness?), freedom and security (does the Patriot Act affect our GNH?), work, and money.

I wish there was more content for the price, which is why I'm only giving it 4 stars. Hopefully this might start some new studies to fill in the gaps.

48 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read the book before you post a critique please, May 4, 2008

By	J. Young (Hudson, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Please do not write a review of this book if you heard about it on NPR, but did not read the book. Please judge this book on its merit. The facts are clearly explained and unfortunatley liberals aren't going to react well to the info. They will try to explain the finding of this book by demeaning conservatives as benefiting from their own stupidity (the "ignorance is bliss" idea);however, this only further supports the idea that many liberals are miserable elitists who perceive conservatives as simple (ironically not seeing the nuances themselves in a perspective that fully comprehends moral nuances, but understands the black/white persepctive to be more beneficial for society and personal happiness).

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Secularists are not going to like this book , July 3, 2008

By	Jeri Nevermind "loves to read" (Idaho) - See all my reviews

Brooks sets out to discover who is happy, and why. The information is likely to surprise you.

For one thing, "Religious people of all faiths are much, much happier than secularists" (p 44). The difference is huge. "Of those who believed there is no way to find out if God exists, a paltry 12% claimed to be very happy people" (p 46). Hmmm...no wonder Dawkins and Hitchens' books drip with unhappiness and malice.

And here's one those famous atheists will really gag on: "Religious individuals today are actually better educated and less ignorant of the world around them than secularists" (p 51).

Married people are happier than those who are single, too. Researchers studied people who seemed alike "but one is married and the other is not, the married person will be 18 percentage points more likely than the unmarried person to say he or she is very happy" (61). This will come a as a blow to the feminists.

Among the nations, North Korea is at the bottom of the happiness scale, with Cuba a close second (p 91). What, atheist communism hasn't brought happiness? Shocker.

On the other hand, mere wealth doesn't help much, once a country has achieved a decent level of health and nutrition. At least the wealth of Japan is not helping. And Mexicans are much happier, on average, than the French.

And here is one I would not have guessed: "For most Americans, job satisfaction is nearly equivalent to life satisfaction. Among those who say they are very happy in their lives, 95% are also satisfied with their jobs" (p 159).

This is a interesting and fun.