The challenge of happiness
I was so deeply impressed by the speech given by Célestin Monga during a graduation ceremony that I couldn’t help presenting it to you. I often call him our Cassius Clay of African letters and philosophy despite his other important functions at the World Bank
Célestin Monga, native Cameroonian, is an Ecomic Advisor to the Senior World Bank Vice President and Chief Economist. In his 13-year career in this firm, he has held positions in both operations and in the research department, including as lead Economist in Europe and central Asia Boston University France
The challenge of happiness.
By Célestin Monga
I would like to thank Dr. David Campell, Provost of Boston University and Dr. Khinchuk for the invitation. I am honored to be with you at your graduation from one of the best universities in the world.
Some of you may already have a clear idea of what their schedule is for tomorrow morning and perhaps for the rest of their life. Others may still be struggling to make sense of the significance of this moment, and wondering what to do with the beautiful diploma they have just obtained –besides framing it to impress the people who have doubt about their abilities.
They may be thinking about all they went through to get here. It was probably been a difficult road, market with hard work, emotional ups and downs, heavy pressure, loneliness, and sleepless nights in the cold Massachusetts weather –not to mention the sheer financial cost of your stay here… The question then is: now, what? Was the investment worthwhile? Where to go from here?
Nobody can take away the great feeling that a Boston University
These are challenging times. History teaches us that the world has always bee a difficult place, but things seem to have worsened recently. Despite all the scientific discoveries and the fact humans are smart enough to discover other planets, we are all vulnerable to hunger, ordinary diseases, and random violence. The myths of human progress have not solved mankind’s basic problems. African-American philosopher Cornel West said after the 9-11 terrorist attacks that fear has been democratized and that “the whole United States has now been niggerized” –meaning that random violence is not longer just a social ill for people in inner cities. Everyone everywhere is now a potential victim. We can be subjected to inner city violence, terrorist attacks, earthquakes, tsunamis, or even volcano eruptions. If those are not enough, we manufacture our own financial and economic crises, which bring additional unemployment, poverty, injustice and insecurity.
In fact, the level of suffering and misery in the world is such that some people are tempted to rationalize it. One of my Cameroonian friends pretends that he has solved the mystery of our terrible human condition. He tells me that after thinking long and hard about problems in the world, he found a simple explanation: we are all suffering because we are all dead already, even though we do not know it yet!... He believes that during our real life on earth a long time ago, we were such sinners that god sent us to the purgatory. So while we may not be aware of current situation today, we are actually in the purgatory; we do not realize it because we are still under the illusion of being alive…
I do not share such a fatalistic assessment, but I do acknowledge the intrinsic uneasiness of life. That brings me to the question I would like to address briefly today: how to find meaning in a global environment marked by insecurity, fear, or even anger? How to convince ourselves that we are not yet dead and that happiness on earth is still a possibility? And for those of you who have doubts about their future, how to overcome post-graduation syndrome?
Happiness has never been an easy concept. Aristotle said that it was “the meaning and the purpose of life.” French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote that it is “the motive of every man, even of those who hang themselves.” John Lennon who was a pacifist, wrote in a famous Beatles song that it is “a warm gun”. Not surprisingly his many biographers have not been able to agree on what exactly meant by that. My grandmother Mami Madé, a strong woman in her nineties who lives in the mountains of Western Cameroon and still walks several miles every day to work in her farm, has her own view. She is obviously neither a Greek philosopher nor and English songwriter, but she has her own strong opinion about it. She believes that happiness is simply making life worth living for someone else. Being happy is creating the conditions for someone else to feel and appreciate the joys of being alive.
I may be biased but I prefer my grand-mother’s definition to John Lennon’s. Happiness is a gift that you cannot find individually, or by pleasing yourself. It can only be obtained through other people, whom you must make better off. Happiness comes to you when you are able to lift the unpleasant burdens of life from others, when you act ethically to alleviate suffering, and to bring a smile on someone else’s face –not just yours.
This is particularly appropriate in the turbulent times we are living. More than 1.4 billion people on the planet are still trapped in poverty—70 percent of them live in middle-income countries, not in the poorest nations. So, do not believe that poverty, suffering and anger are exotic, distant problems that must be left to religious and charitable organizations, or to the World Bank.
In fact, recent research shows that happiness is inversely related to income at higher levels, perhaps because of the declining marginal utility of becoming richer. According to economist Richard Layard, the cut-off line is somewhere around an average annual income of $20,000. For people living in countries below that line, a higher average income is associated with higher levels of happiness.
By contrast, for people living in countries where the average income is above $20,000, more money brings less happiness. Since all B.U graduates are likely to either live in high-income countries or earn salaries far higher than $20,000 a year, you are at great risk of being unhappy in life! Your main challenge after graduation is therefore to escape the curse and the tyranny of being rich.
The big question then is: how to do it? My grandmother would say: Spend your life helping other people. Make the best use of the education you received at this great university and of your membership in the HHH family. It would pay big dividends.
When I was a student here in Boston Cameroon
“If we really wanted to know the true price of an MIT degree, we would just put it up for grab in the market, like any other good or service, and its value will be determined by demand and supply. I bet that many people would be happy to pay $1million in tuition to get an MIT degree. Don’t you think? So, $50,000 a year is actually quite a bargain and as an economist who believes in the virtues of free markets, you should be grateful!...”
By attending BU, you have invested precious time and resources to acquire new skills and strengthen your human capital. But the true secret weapons that you have added to your arsenal during your stay at BU that could serve you well in the future are threefold:
The first one is the extra dose of (self-) confidence that comes with a good university degree. One of my high school classmates graduated from college with honors but had no job. To ensure that people never entertained any doubt about the value of his education, he rushed to print, the very same day, hundreds of business cards with his name and new education in bold characters. He then spent the night secretly dispensing these cards all over the neighborhood so that no one could pretend not to have heard about his graduation. I am sure none of you would recourse to such a ploy to assert your self-worth.
The second key tool you have obtained here is even more important. It is your new network of friends and colleagues. You now have the potential to build something that millions of people around the world would die to have: a strong, international community of reliable partners. Look around you in this room: many of your classmates will become leaders in government, business, or in civil society organizations. Having access to them, being able to maintain a trusting and supportive relationship among yourselves would open you more doors and opportunities than you can ever imagine. Keeping in touch with each other—and with the faculty and the people here at BU—is perhaps the only good piece of advice I can give you. Let me share a secret with you: people still take me seriously simply because I have the phone numbers and email addresses of friends around the world—many of whom I met while studying and working here in Boston, including on this very campus. You never know!
The third big weapon you have gained here at BU is learning to look at the world from many different angles. Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary General, often tells a story that changed his life. He was in elementary school in Ghana. One day, his teacher came to the classroom and showed the students a large sheet of white paper with a black dot in the middle. He asked all the 50 students: “What is this?” They all answered in chorus: “A black dot”. The teacher raised his eyebrows and rebuked them angrily: None of you seems to have seen the white sheet of paper. You should not have such a narrow-minded approach to life!”
You may want to keep in mind Nietzsche’s observation that “convictions are more dangerous enemies of the truth than lies.” Your BU education was designed to help you see things and approach issues from multiple angles. Your membership in the HHH program has prepared you to be great citizens of the world by giving you an open-minded approach to issues.
(photo: Célestin Monga and the Nobel price of economics, Joseph Stiglitz)
I submit to you that if you remember to use these three great weapons, you will all make a difference by doing something good in the world and you will be happy in your lives. You will be great leaders. Leadership is a crucial ingredient to bringing prosperity and happiness to the world. There is an old saying in the Arab world: “An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.” I encourage you to go out there and pick a cause or an activity that you really love, and work to improve the world. Do not fear criticism, which you can only escape by doing nothing, saying nothing, or being nothing. Take the advice of US Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis: “Don’t give up! Don’t give in! Don’t give out!”
And remember, time is of essence. I am not yet 50 but I have a 9 year old daughter who tells me every day that I am a very old man! Do not think you must wait until you are the richest people in the world to try to help others. Voltaire once said that “the man who gives money to charity in his will is only giving away what no longer belongs to him.”
And by the way, congratulations to you for, among other things, surviving winter in Boston
Speech at graduation ceremony – Boston University
