The handbook of wellbeing

I was discussing this concept with chhavi the other day. It occurred to me when i was looking at maps of various continents. If you know a bit of history and geography, it is a very good exercise to look at the maps. With sufficient imagination you can almost see the soldiers moving across the lines, ships and pipelines getting built and so on.
I looked at Asia - and saw south east asia on one side, south asia on another, central on third, west on forth, east on fifth! How diverse are these regions! The south east with its new found vigor, the south with its renewed claim for the place under sun, the east with the growth that looks like it will change the global order and the further east which has already done so in the past. The central which looks really lost if you ask me. And the west which is not lost but definitely not the beacon of hope for the the future of humanity either!
Africa is depressing if you look closely enough. The straight lines of the borders in the northern africa smack of the imperial past and the atrocities then as now. The collection of small nations near the western belly of the continent is at best unnerving, one can only relate football or civil wars or blood diamond to it! Central Africa is no better - with nations you would never prefer to find yourself in. South gets a little better but only little.
Russia to me is a continent in its own right! Weird country, now it was there now it wasn't. It seemed like it challenged the amroos successfully, and then not quite and maybe again so!
Europe is the starkest example of how differences can exist so near each other. Europe is ironically a better showcase of capitalism and its virtues (i dont believe in it fully, this is just for those who are looking for showcases) than US. The east is so much behind the west, and the north inspires intrigue in its prosperity and egalitarian society. The mighty blood suckers UK and France and the confused Italy, those of glorious past but average present namely spain and portugal and those of even more glorious past but better than average present namely greece and turkey.
North america is a straightforward affair - quite linear in its ideology especially seen in the context of the confusion all over the world - india, japan, china, europe, west asia, africa and so on. Unlike these, for better to worse, US is very clear in its liking of domestic capitalism, hatred for free trade and an aspiration to lead the world, predominantly militarily and financially (not necessarily economically).
South and central america is quite interesting and a bit puzzling. Their imperialism was so much different and older than asia's or africa's. Their orientation in life is also that much more different. They are neither oriental nor occidental. Their cultures are affected by the imperialists but still maintain a strange halo of the past! Higher prosperity than asia or africa even if it is lower than US or western europe.

That survey provokes several emotions in one's mind. The primary one that i was left with was a sense of difference in achievements of various people. The prosperity levels differ so very widely that it is almost puzzling for an alien observer. There is another layer of social stability which varies as much and at times at odds with prosperity - e.g. middle east! Then there is intellectual sophistication and cultural evolution - which is at times more marked in otherwise poor places like India. Where does that leave us?

This propelled me to think that wellbeing can be sought by all human beings - in different walks of their lives - by starting to study and emulate the more advanced ones on their own planet! To their credit, many are doing it already. China is learning from the west on capitalistic growth, US is learning from India Yog and spiritual well being. The project i wish to undertake is a step in similar direction. Since my strength lies in masterminding a project than in executing it, i am going to focus on outlining what needs to be done. If i have sufficient money in the latter part of my life, or at least access to such money, i would try to set up a think tank which will carry the work forward. Else i will have to rely on the collective wisdom of human beings in evaluating it and taking it forward if found worthy of it.

The Project thus has following elements
.Handbook for the welfare state - economic growth and human development
.Handbook for the individual - spiritual upliftment and cultural refinement
.Handbook for the family - financial security, growth and pursuit of happiness
.Handbook for the society - culture, its evolution and maintenance
.Handbook for the markets - benefits and limits of various models of development
.Handbook for the police state - containing destructive element in the long term
.Handbook for the global conglomeration of states - beyond arbitration

The orientation of The Project will be experimental and fact driven. The topics related to states and markets will be dealt with using secondary data and in future primary interviews. The topics related to individuals and families will be dealt with largely through experimentation and primary interviews. The experimentation will be on my own family.