MORE THAN a month ago, I was struck by an article with the bold headline 'Jamaica is the third-happiest nation on Earth'. The happiness ranking given to Jamaica was based on the New Economic Foundation (NEF) Happy Planet Index. Further inquiry into what the article meant by happiness led me to discover that the happiness to which it referred was not "the sheer joy of living" people generally associate with this virtue.

The Happy Planet Index emphasises the connection between the environment and human well-being. Therefore, the NEF's ranking of happiness is a measure of the extent to which nations achieve "long, happy lives without overstretching the planet's resources". So while recognising the academic value of the Happy Planet index, I dismissed it and set myself the task of discovering if Jamaica was genuinely a place of sheer joy, inside-out happiness. And while I pondered this monumental question, I walked the streets of downtown Kingston and saw the derelict buildings and the teeming multitudes. And indeed, ruin and decay were everywhere. Then I travelled eastward to Mountain view Avenue in the vicinity in which it is not unusual for the calm of the evening to be fractured by the thunder of guns. There, I saw a homeless woman with a palm extended towards me and in it I placed a note. Then in the silence of that moment, I saw a toothless smile, as radiant as the glow of dawn, and I saw happiness.

Poverty and misery

Then I journeyed to Top Jungle, the place where I grew up, and I saw unemployed youths sitting on the corners, old men drinking rum in a bar, and two women quarrelling in a yard. Indeed, there was much poverty and misery all around. Then I heard the voices of the children playing in the streets and it was sweeter than music, and I knew that was happiness. And in the days that followed, I saw a great contradiction - people who had little possessed much joy, and in the midst of unspeakable hardships, there was inexplicable happiness. As such, I concluded that Jamaicans are happy, and yet to me, that was a great mystery.

Therefore, I set myself another task - and that was to find out the source of human happiness. All I have learnt from childhood tells me that there is a reason for everything. I certainly wanted to explain in rational terms why Jamaicans are happy. So I went back to the philosophers of antiquity and found Epicurus, the originator of the idea that we should "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die". Epicureanism is a passive acceptance of fate; an attempt to forget defeat by embracing uninhibited pleasure. But, when I considered the character of the Jamaica - the never-say-die spirit, the indefatigable fighters we are, I found the doctrine of Epicurus lacking.

Convincing explanation

Then I examined the ideas of the philosophers of the Enlightenment period, and I developed a particular appetite for Voltaire. Voltaire saw a link between ignorance and happiness. Yet, when I look at some of the happiest people around me, I will admit that their lives are devoid of luxury; I will confess that they do not have university degrees, but they are certainly not ignorant. Jamaicans understand the hard realities of life and often ask, "why?" And so, I reject Voltaire's explanation.

My quest for an answer took me to the French philosopher, Descartes, who wondered if he existed. Interestingly, he presented a convincing explanation as to why he might not. In essence, Descartes argues that what we as human beings perceive through our senses comes from impulses to the brain. Therefore, it is possible that we might be living in the 'Matrix', and the things we see, feel, smell and taste are not happening in reality. They might, in fact, be mere signals that are sent externally to our brains. Therefore, Descartes suggests that there is the possibility that right now you might think you are reading this newspaper, but you are not. Chances are there is a being somewhere out there that is feeding your brain with signals that cause you to believe that it is so. Consequently, Descartes argued that if that was the case, we did not exist. But in the end, I rejected it, just like Descartes did. To accept this notion is to hold the belief that I do not exist and that Jamaica does not exist, which is evidently false.

Then I visited the philosophy of the existentialists and found the ideas of Jean Paul Sartre, clever but bleaker than the grey shifting skies an hour before a hurricane. Then I concluded that the answer to the source of happiness would not be found in the monumental volumes of Western philosophy. And this was a great mystery to me.

Magnificent blur

Then last week Sunday, I watched the men's 100-metre finals at the World Championships games. Frankly, it was not a race; it was a magnificent blur - 9.58 seconds. Then the answer struck me like a Bolt from out of the blue. Jamaicans are happy because, at every point in our history, there is always one among us who rises and elevates the mood and the aspirations of the nation. That is what Bolt did when he broke the two sprint records.

Before him there was Marcus Garvey who, through his message of black pride, black self-reliance and international black unity in the 1920s, created a stupendous vision that continues to burn today. Then there was Bustamante, whose outspoken advocacy and unflinching courage inspired the working class in the 1930s to struggle to improve its lot. Michael Manley arrived in the 1970s and towered above his peers. And with his mesmerising eloquence, he demanded a change in the social construct and a rearrangement of the international order. Controversial as he was, Manley was an inspiration both nationally and internationally.

Then there was Bob Marley, who wove his lyrics into songs and a rhythm that is authentically Jamaican and who set the whole world chanting. Yet, at every point, there is always one among us who causes us to see the vision, dream the dreams, sing the songs, defy the odds and achieve the unthinkable. This, I concluded, is the source of perennial happiness.

Cedric Wilson is an economist. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.