COMMENT | Were we happier a hundred years ago?

COMMENT | In our rush for progress, happiness and success, we have swallowed hook, line and sinker the siren call of capitalism and consumerism. After 25 years of informal learning (after attaining three university degrees from two top 50 universities in the world) I learned that there is so much more to life than just profit and personal wealth.

We must, of course, not ignore the need for profits, which, in one sense, enables us to sustain our world, especially economically. However, we must always remember that there are other things far more important than profit. For me, those things are principles and people.

For too many of us, profit comes first because of the narrative that we have accepted - not because we are stupid but simply because that was what we were taught, and we never questioned these lessons. Far too few people question their teachers, their own beliefs and, much less, the meaning of their lives.

The whole world, people at large, are in trouble not because we lack intelligence or the ability to solve the problems that we face. Our inability to solve the critical issues of the day stems from the fact that we do not possess...