A story in today's Guardian (from an article originally published in Science) shows what many have known for a long time but have not found a scientific way to support: giving makes people happier. All the world's great religions know this (and teach it)- and many traditional societies / cultures do too. So how come our advanced societies and our political leaders let themselves be so (mis)led by economists who accept and even elevate to a fundamental assumption about human nature - that people are rationale creatures who selfishly seek to maximise their utility.
Giving need not be just be about money - but also time or "of ourselves". Doing so makes us more complete - makes us feel better about ourselves and our value to society.
A society that can't distinguish between wealth generation and value creation is not only in danger of destroying the physical resource base on which it depends (i.e planet Earth), but also the humanity of those within it. But how do we move from a political system which prioritises wealth generation, to one based on broader values without going back to the moral prescriptions imposed by the church or other institutions?
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