Richard Layard talking about how happiness should be the main goal of society and individuals:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8254000/8254249.stm

The alternative is to not take the happiness of the population into account, which sounds like the stance of a dictator!

We live in an age of celebrity. Our heros are seen as special people towering above the rest of us mere mortals and entitled to the lavish lifestyles we see paraded before us. These are people out for themselves, for what they can get. They are special after all, why shouldn't they have a guitar shaped swimming pool and an all red snooker room with a stuffed camel? Or German themed prison nights with expensive prostitutes, or their own private island or a multi million pound farmhouse for the weekends. Or all their expenses paid for by the taxpayer...

It can get really sickening sometimes writing about happiness, you can see it in the author photos on the backs of some happiness books, the fixed smile is really starting to hurt. You can hear them thinking, "Can't I just be pissed off for one day???" Well, maybe you need the antidote:

http://www.howtobemiserable.org

We don't claim to have all the answers, so if you know of a better way to be miserable - or to make large numbers of people miserable, drop us a line