Nobody suggests we send the Marines into Bhutan or Finland because these two countries hold nothing we desperately need. Since most Americans agree, those two countries are safe. But is that true they’ve nothing we need?

This isn’t fair

We in the USA enjoy wealth, global military power, education, and science plus great stature. But what good are all those if we’re miserable, troubled and unhappy? Little Bhutan with none of our advantages ranks very high in the annual happiness index. They even measure and publish their Gross National Happiness Index every year.

The people of Bhutan are sad sacks compared to the Finns who are all chirping with happiness. Every year they or their Scandinavian neighbors claim the world top happiness prize. How can that be? Why do Finns get to spend each day in gladness while we mope along joyless in our sullen effort to remain a superpower? It’s unfair.

It’s ironic that our founding fathers guaranteed us the right to “pursue happiness” and we do little with that entitlement. Nobody here is proposing a trillion-dollar remedy, or even a congressional investigation. This is not just a disaster but a constitutional shortfall. Before we send in the Marines let’s make a case to the Supreme Court: Why is our “pursuit of happiness” failing?

If it came to a war with Bhutan and we lost, they might rebuild our country’s GNHI, kind of like the Marshal plan did for Europe. The King of Bhutan knows a thing or two about putting smiles on faces.

There’s a simple solution

How about a more straight forward path? Don’t bother with the Marines or Supreme Court case. We’re now in  election season. The candidates are all smiling, but where are the smiley-face voters? If voters are serious about happiness, they should write-in a new candidate: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. It’s a long name but Jigme is the King of Bhutan with a proven record of bringing smiles to his 775,000 people in that small country. He knows something our guys missed.

Of course you may be so immersed in the money world or scampering up the ladder of commercial success that you won’t convert to the King’s Buddhism. You can’t be bothered with Jigme, and a Bhutanese economic model for America.

Would you consider writing-in a vote for the beautiful and happy Ms. Sanna Marin, the leader of Finland? Just looking at her in the White House on the nightly news, that would perk us up a few points on the index.