Happiness is the Wrong Metric : A Liberal Communitarian Response to Populism

Part I asks how we can determine what a good life is. Many measure it by how
happy people are. Happiness in turn is assumed to be derived from high income that
enables one to lead an affluent way of life, mainly viewed as being able to consume
a lot of goods and services. However, evidence shows that by and large (there are
always exceptions when one deals with social science data), once income rises
above the level at which people’s basic needs can be met, it adds little to their hap-
piness. Other social scientists studied whether what one does gives meaning to life.