The Economics of Happiness
2011 · 67 MIN · IMDB 7.3 · 280 VOTES · DIR. Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick, John Page
Overview
'The Economics of Happiness' features a chorus of voices from six continents calling for systemic economic change. The documentary describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, all around the world people are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance - and, far from the old institutions of power, they're starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm - an economics of localization.
Dialogue Timeline — 660 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:43 We look around and what do we see? We see businesses going on as usual
00:04:31 and that was also far more joyous and rich.
00:08:01 affecting not only remote populations like Ladakhis, but societies across the planet.
00:11:11 What we're seeing is rising levels of depression in the West.
00:13:52 Our children don't want to speak their languages anymore
00:16:16 so-called emerging, developing nations - China, India, South Korea, and others -
00:18:51 All this food must then be brought into the cities
00:21:34 We have English apples flown to South Africa to be waxed
00:24:04 It is the root of the creation of slums and the rural-urban migration.
00:27:18 and the so-called 'efficiencies of scale' enjoyed by bigger businesses.
00:30:06 Economic growth means strength and vitality.
00:32:22 all these supposed solutions actually reinforce the system
00:34:32 I think we need to start imagining an economy that isn't obsessed with economic growth -
00:37:33 But at the very least we should be saying, "local needs should come first."
00:39:50 We can see if the environment has been polluted with chemicals or if workers have been exploited.
00:42:23 for community reinvestment and the profits are reinvested in the community -
00:44:57 are happening in big cities, from London to Sydney.
00:47:24 We have no choice, with the state of our economy and where we're headed
00:49:54 This is our vegetable garden. It's 100% organic. You can see the yield of these...
00:52:28 is particularly strong when applied to the global South.
00:55:15 but by nurturing a deeper connection with the earth.
00:57:46 A collectively-owned biodigester produces both energy for the community
01:00:06 In exchanges with the less industrialized world, westerners can play an important role
01:02:57 ...rediscovering the values of community and mutual caring