Happiness The life you can save
28 Nov 2012

Happiness update: the life you can save

2 mins to read
A few years ago, Australian-born philosopher Peter Singer wrote a book that argued for a simple solution to end poverty.


A few years ago, Australian-born philosopher Peter Singer wrote a book that argued for a simple solution to end poverty.

He called upon Australians and citizens of other affluent countries to think seriously about donating 5-10 per cent of their salaries to global poverty-reducing projects. If everyone did this it would raise seven times the world’s aid budget, he said.

I remember when the book came out. I was living in Melbourne, spending a good two hours of my Monday to Friday driving the clogged up stretch mark that is  Punt Road – the city’s notoriously awful link between the Northern and Southern suburbs. I had time on my hands, and Singer was promoting his thoughts on several Drive talk-back slots.

I loved his idea. But I wondered how he’d get it up? What would motivate us to not just open our wallets with such generosity, but to change the fundamental way we think about our income, too?

This year Singer appeared as a keynote speaker at Sydney’s Happiness and Its Causes conference. Thankfully, the discussions surrounding happiness have recently broadened to embrace the concept that giving is central to happiness.

Perhaps here, Singer’s argument makes the most sense – and has the most hope.

“I want to say that for people as fortunate as us, ‘avoiding causing harm’ [the Buddhist approach to life] is not enough for us to live an ethical life. That’s not enough to achieve happiness,” he said.

“If you’re from Australia, you’re in a country with a great amount of personal and political security. There is a certain amount of respect for human rights. Yet people still worry about their own happiness. We need to have goals to work towards.

“If we have enough to feed ourselves and our families after just a few hours of work, you satisfy your basic needs quite easily. So then there’s a sense of ‘What else can I do? How do I fill my life?

“My personal definition of happiness, or a source of happiness, is setting yourself a set of ethical standards and goals to work towards. I believe that lies in helping others.”

For Singer, the greatest way to boost happiness is to focus on reducing the greatest suffering.

Here’s his argument for giving 5 per cent of what you earn:

1. Setting yourself an ethical purpose will make you happy: surveys show that people who give more to charity report feeling more satisfied with their lives.

2. A separate study showed that those who give are 68 percent less likely to have felt “hopeless” and 34 percent less likely to say that they felt “so sad that nothing could cheer them up.”

3. We have enough money to spend it on things we don’t need – such as excess clothes, wine and bottled water. We’ll find (and feel) more in harmony with the world by directing a regular portion of our income to those experiencing the greatest amount of suffering.

 
Want to help?

  • Visit Peter Singer’s online calculator which helps you work out how much you could afford to give, based on your salary: thelifeyoucansave.com
  • Start assigning whatever you can afford to a charity that delivers solutions. But first, do your homework as to which are most reputable. Singer recommends Oxfam Australia and the United Nations-run Unicef.
  • Encourage your workplace to start a giving program through payroll – whereby a portion of your salary goes to charity before it reaches your bank account. Or, go one step better – Blackmores, for instance, offers a ‘charity chest’ system, whereby the company matches dollar-for-dollar every donation you make (through your salary) to a charity of employees’ choice.

What is your view? Is this a solution to lifting happiness?

References available on request



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