Editor's note: We introduce to Culture Change readers the Reality Sandwich blooger Bridget Algiere. First we present her short report on the Estonian answer to this historic recession.
Arcs of altruistic energy are empowering Estonians during a recession
through the virtual Bank of Happiness. The “bank” is really an
internet portal to allow the civic-minded across Estonia to network
altruistically with each other.
To become a client, Estonians must
register online, listing the useful things that they can do for others
(ie: grocery shopping, walking a dog, fixing cars) and those that they
would like done unto them (ie: having a suit darned or windows
cleaned). After performing a good deed, the helpers receive tangible
evidence of their kindness -- a “banknote," which can be printed from
the bank’s website with an inscription on the back marking the date
and nature of the deed. The note can then be passed on to another Good
Samaritan. There is no system of equations to codify how one work
compares with another and the system will be self-regulatory.
Estonia needs it. The country placed dead last in a list of 30 nations
rated by the 2007 European League Table of Happiness. They were judged
by such diverse factors as carbon footprint, fear of crime and life
expectancy. While that may constitute an emotional recession,
Estonians are also experiencing an economic recession. Estonia’s
unemployment rate was less than 4 percent in early 2008; a year later
it stands at more than 7 percent. In a country of 1.3 million people,
the lay-offs of a few hundred have snowballed into a national economic
disaster.
A small group of inspired optimists agreed that civic unrest would
soon erupt if people did not find a virtuous way to meet their needs
through meeting the needs of others. Further, there are many societal
issues that remain unaddressed by the market economics of a capitalist
system, including caring, loving, being a neighbor, and having a
purposeful life. And so the idea of the Bank of Happiness was born.
Co-founder Even Nolvak says, “[The Bank] is based on the assumption
that doing good is good for you. It will touch everyone with a
conscience.”
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More on the "Bank": bankofhappiness.org, article from The London Times, 8 April 2009.
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Editor's note: We introduce to Culture Change readers the Reality Sandwich blooger Bridget Algiere. First we present her short report on the Estonian answer to this historic recession.
