Editor’s Note: This is the last in a series of essays written by authors with local ties that will explore why inequalities in income, wealth and opportunity are bad for Franklin County and what the community can do about it.
We notice that in many articles in the paper, what is meant by a “successful” person is how much money he or she has made. Is that the set of values we have established for measuring “success”? Because in some cultures, like indigenous traditional cultures, accumulation of wealth is considered a failure. Real “success” is based on generosity, courage, integrity or wisdom. So we want to look at the ways we measure “a successful, healthy economy.”
The World Health Organization formed in 1948 and its initial constitution defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” a definition they have kept to this day. I have asked hundreds of people to define or describe what it means to be healthy and there is much overlap with that WHO definition in their responses. People who are healthy are happy, confident, creative, and have a sense of comfort in their own skins. They feel that they belong, that they are connected with others, and have a sense of possibility, of hope. They are problem solvers and critical thinkers. They have physical health, and feel they are able to do what they want to do. They have a sense that their lives matter, and a sense of joy.
So how do we foster a social environment of vibrant health? The primary determinants of a healthy population sort into four main categories: economic equality, support and health care from pregnancy through age two, environmental practices, and social equality. Healthier countries are the ones that have: (1) smaller gaps between rich and poor; (2) offer the most support and resources to women who are pregnant, and families with newborns, including paid family leave; (3) have stricter environmental protections for air, water, and toxins; and (4) countries that “care and share,” as Dr. Stephen Bezruchka phrases it, cooperating and including rather than excluding and discriminating by race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background, class, or religion.
In the 1950s and 1960s, when the U.S. was among the healthiest countries in the world, we were a more equal country.
The tax rate on the wealthiest Americans was over 80 percent, unions were strong and there was a vibrant middle class, and families were getting education and new houses, financed in part by the GI bill (though African Americans were excluded, often through “red lining” by real estate brokers and financing companies from much of the GI bill).
Since that time unions have been attacked and weakened; there are many fewer jobs that pay an actual living wage and/or offer benefits; manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas; the tax rate on wealthy Americans and on corporations has been lowered dramatically, and corporations and individuals are keeping much of their wealth offshore so they aren’t taxed. The U.S. is a less equal society and is less healthy as compared to other countries.
So how do we build this allegiance to a healthy society, even into our lives locally? The small country of Bhutan has one answer. Instead of measuring “a healthy society” with indicators like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is primarily a measurement of the exchange of money, they measure the health of their nation in Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH).
They set the measurement criteria with values they hope to improve like “How much affordable housing,” “households with access to clean water,” “infant mortality rates” or the “age at death.”
Can you imagine a daily news report in Bhutan? “THE GDH SCORE TODAY is 495, a setback from yesterday’s score of 550 due to storms that closed the nation’s largest water treatment plant. The government hopes to have it back within a month.”
In the Franklin County region we have a good start on the development of something like a Gross Domestic Happiness Score Card through a regional Community Health Improvement Planning (CHIP) process hosted by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.
The CHIP is a highly collaborative group of many regional agencies, schools and community groups that are using the County Health Rankings to assess the health of the region. Counties across the U.S. are compared based on everything from premature death to residential segregation, from diabetes rates to the rates of social associations in which residents participate.
The rankings allow us to compare our Franklin County to others across the state and nation, and to benefit from the success stories of other counties, nationwide.
And the CHIP Team is making concrete plans, based on strong evidence, to improve our region’s health and social equity across a spectrum of measures.
Want to be involved? The next meeting is on May 30, from 10 to nooon at the Olver Transit Center, on Olive Street in Greenfield.
Doug Selwyn retired from SUNY Plattsburgh where he was a professor of education, and moved to Greenfield. He is currently finishing a book on the connection between health and education. Contributing to this article: Phoebe Walker on the CHIP Program at the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, and Pam Kelly, Board, Nolumbeka Project on “Bhutan and GDH”.