散文 Happiness and Wealth

小鱼小鱼慢慢游

Living standards have soared during the twentieth century, and
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economists expect them to continue rising in the decades ahead. Does
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that mean that we humans can look forward to increasing happiness?
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Not necessarily, warns Richard A. Easterlin, an economist at the

1 _" ^* `9 y- }# l6 \  r' `University of Southern California, in his new book, Growth Triumphant:
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The Twenty-first Century in Historical Perspective. Easterlin concedes
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' Y# d- E6 R9 N0 [2 v% ]- |that richer people are more likely to report themselves as being happy
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than poorer people are. But steady improvements in the American economy

have not been accompanied by steady increases in people‘s self-

( \: G1 D" _  V1 n5 |assessments of their own happiness. "There has been not improvement in
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average happiness in the United States over almost a half century----a
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2 I/ V+ u2 W4 Wperiod in which real GDP per capita more than doubled," Easterlin
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9 K3 }8 d# I: dreports.

6 ]/ |# q- p0 _4 G4 h4 \8 J$ X6 dThe explanation for this paradox may be that people become less

satisfied over time with a given level of income. In Easterlin‘s word:
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+ Y7 ], E6 Q0 R: W"As incomes rise, the aspiration level does too, and the effect of this
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increase in aspirations is to vitiate the expected growth in happiness
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due to higher income."
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Money can buy happiness, Easterlin seems to be saying, but only if
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' t% }% S& W$ f0 x& l6 q" Gone‘s amounts get bigger and other people aren‘t getting more. His
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analysis helps to explain sociologist Lee Rainwater‘s finding that

Americans‘ perception of the income "necessary to get along" rose
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between 1950 and 1986 in the same proportion as actual per capita

" v$ a8 u" F- Y3 }, Y. T& A9 eincome. We feel rich if we have more than our neighbors, poor if we

have less, and feeling relatively well off is equated with being happy.

. ?) ~; Z4 k* U# U1 wEasterlin‘s findings, challenge psychologist Abraham Maslow‘s

"hierarchy of wants" as a reliable guide to future human motivation.
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Maslow suggested that as people‘s basic material wants are satisfied

6 e( x( N7 p7 hthey seek to achieve nonmaterial or spiritual goals. But Easterlin‘s
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evidence points to the persistence of materialism.
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# o. k6 ~2 k" O"Despite a general level of affluence never before realized in the
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* g4 K2 K. r8 D/ D% Z! Vhistory of the world." Easterlin observes, "Material concerns in the
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, u* P2 K. J& c6 C8 c# ?1 lwealthiest nations today are as pressing as ever and the pursuit of
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material need as intense." The evidence suggests there is no evolution

toward higher order goals. Rather, each step upward on the ladder of

8 I6 g9 d) u: I" @  m  d0 K. ceconomic development merely stimulates new economic desires that lead

the chase ever onward. Economists are accustomed to deflating the money
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value of national income by the average level of prices to obtain
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7 f5 G/ O# w2 F( c0 m"real" income. The process here is similar----real income is being
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deflated by rising material aspiration, in this case to yield

essentially constant subjective economic well-being. While it would be

pleasant to envisage a world free from the pressure of material want, a
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more realistic projection, based on the evidence, is of a world in
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+ w/ P. h" J6 V/ Vwhich generation after generation thinks it needs only another 10% to
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, q; Q# n$ z1 S2 W2 d" \20% more income to be perfectly happy.
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% A- T/ q" l2 ^  J* x2 X$ |Needs are limited, but not greeds. Science has developed no cure for

( h' k9 x& _& U. Z( {envy, so our wealth boosts our happiness only briefly while shrinking
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* }- C1 h& U1 x2 C, Ethat of our neighbors. Thus the outlook for the future is gloomy in

) T6 }, S& s7 Z: X, }1 HEasterlin‘s view.
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"The future, then, to which the epoch of modern economic growth is
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leading is one of never ending economic growth, a world in which ever

: Q+ h8 E2 i3 P1 l2 ~0 fgrowing abundance is matched by ever rising aspirations, a world in
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which cultural difference is leveled in the constant race to achieve
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the goods life of material plenty, it is a world founded on belief in
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science and the power of rational inquiry and in the ultimate capacity

6 j2 ]: C2 T# |5 }8 ~5 o: R8 i4 lof humanity to shape its own destiny. The irony is that in this last
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) i( ?; {# g! T# I; frespect the lesson of history appears to be otherwise: that there is no
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choice. In the end, the triumph of economic growth is not a triumph of

humanity over material wants; rather, it is the triumph of material

wants over humanity."

小鱼小鱼慢慢游

人们的生活水平在20世纪飞速提高，经济学家预计在未来的几十年里，人们
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( Z  w6 ~; R" ^+ z1 _的生活水平还会进一步提高。这是否意味着我们人类的日子有望越过越幸福呢？
5 o5 l, p% w( s　　未必如此，南加州大学一位经济学家理查德?A?伊斯特林在其新书《增长的胜

利：从历史的视角展望21世纪》中如是告诫世人。他承认，一般来说，富人比穷
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4 J3 Q) O+ V  L, B+ Q# ~人更有可能称自己是幸福的。然而，美国人对幸福感的自我评价并未伴随着美国
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3 @& t1 H3 ]. W7 \; k1 ?经济稳步发展而有所提高。伊斯特林指出：“过去近半个世纪中，美国的实际人
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均国内生产总值增加了2倍多，而人们并未感到比以往更幸福。”
. n$ c( [8 v1 N( o- I5 s3 j　　对于这种自相矛盾的现象也许可作如下解释，随着时间的推移，人们对一定

的收入会越来越不满。用伊斯特林的话来说：“收入增加了，人们的期望值也相
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6 C9 J  q7 h' W( u- F应提高了，期望值的提高会抵消收入提高所带来的预期有所增加的幸福感。”
　　伊斯特林似乎在说，金钱可以买来幸福，但这只有在自己金钱不断增多，而

别人收入不变的情况才会如此。他的分析有助于人们理解社会学家李?雷恩沃特的

  F+ J+ d3 C" c1 S9 N5 W调查结果----从1950年到1986年，在美国持收入“必须维持基本生活”观念的人

随着实际人均收入的增加而同比增长。如果收入比邻居多，我们就会感到自己富
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4 e& A( ~4 Y( u5 X: t* M8 Y有；反之，则觉得自己贫穷。由此可见，人们把幸福感与相对富裕程度等同起来

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　　伊斯特林的调查结果向心理理学家亚伯拉罕?马斯洛的“需要等级体系”理论

# m" Z( j: T! T/ M, A# v! k提出了挑战，该理论为人类未来的动机提供了可靠指南。马斯洛认为：一旦人们
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4 T) q/ s) v- f! f7 ?7 m的基本物质需求得到满足后，就会转而追求更高层次的精神需求。但伊斯特林的

0 k7 M7 q% P0 ~6 Q1 r论证却指出人类的物欲永无止境。
3 U- h- o; a" a1 E' O8 F　　伊斯特林还评述到：“尽管人类历史上从未实现过普遍水平的富裕，但今日
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. D, p- Z& K+ \3 R; D! p" K最富有的那些国家对物质的关注还是那么迫切，对物质需要的追求还是那样的强

烈。”这表明人类并未朝更高层次的精神目标进展。更确切地说，经济发展每上
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) z. l7 O3 e, i8 [# e8 A# M# K* Q一个台阶只会刺激新的经济需求，进而促进经济持续向前发展。经济学家通常用

国民收入的货币价值减去平均物价上涨额度来计算“实际”收入。同样，人们日

. g2 k) D: \. L& s$ _益增长的物质欲望，在此主要是持续不断对经济富裕的主观要求，削减了实际收

5 X) P0 P3 f1 ^7 k- e7 x, A. l* {" a入。虽然设想一个没有物欲压力的世界是件惬意的事，但一个基于事实的更为现
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实的想法是设想在这样一个世界里，世世代代的人们都认为只要将收入再提高

; y% m- C  G2 r, ]7 n10%----20%，就可达到无比幸福的境界。
　　需求是有极限的，而贪欲却无止境。科学再进步也尚未研制出治疗嫉妒的良
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3 W" D9 @( x+ W# q6 |% Q% C' R药，因此只有当我们的财富让邻居相形见绌的时候，我们才会感到片刻的幸福。
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. N7 f, g7 _3 M/ ~0 l所以在伊斯特林看来，未来的前景不容乐观：
　　“当今经济发展的趋势告诉我们，未来经济会不断发展、永不停歇，未来世
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界会是一个财富不断增长而欲望节节上升的世界；一个为达到富裕不断角逐而导

致文化差异尽失的世界；一个建立在信仰科学和智力并相信人类有最大的能力塑

6 ^# B  I) e$ |7 W/ H3 n造自己命运的世界。具有讽刺意味的是，在最后一点上，历史的经验教训似乎告

诉我们事物的发展并非如此：人类别无选择，并不能掌握自己的命运。最后，经

济发展的结果不是人性战胜物欲，而是物欲战胜人性。”

随风

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