Why we are not happy ?

Bhutan is not happy because people are not happy. People are not happy because the application of the rules and procedures that emanate from the law (right or wrong, good or bad) are not applied uniformly to all citizens and organizational entities. This shows that a section of people and entities are above the law.

One example is vehicle tax and bans which are not imposed equally and fairly on everyone and every organization. There are hoards of people and organizations who are not required to pay taxes while other people and organizations are made to pay taxes through their nose.

This inconsistency of actions by government, parliament, and associated powerful stakeholders are depriving every citizen the right to feel equal under the law. As a result, people feel that this creates a class society of rich and the poor, above the law and under the law, favours relatives and does not favour  non-relatives with no procedures for the rich and full red tape for the poor.

How can then we expect Bhutan to attain high ranks when the foundation of happiness is based on the formulation and the application of inconsistencies.

What is scarier is that we are not building a strong country, which is in itself an internal weakness that will harm any good effort in the long run. Poverty in a poor country is cyclical because of such repeating factors, year after year despite a desire to become a rich country.

It is time we need to commit ourselves to the truth to change our thoughts and behavior to move forward for the good of everyone. Otherwise, Bhutan will remain a weak country with weak people as it is now when the rest of the world passes us by. I think, we are one of the outliers of poor countries with poor capabilities because of the above recurring examples.

What is the use of a people, institutions, system, rule, procedure that practices the opposite of its claims.

By Dema