The Recession and Your Happiness

The world deserves a good laugh, and the authors of the World Laughter Pledge know it. Given all the disheartening events of this past year – chiefly, the financial meltdown, but also the protracted conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, new wars in Georgia and Gaza, natural disasters in Asia, and the specter of a John and Kate Plus 8 spin-off – don't you think it’s high-time for a worldwide chuckle? After all, humor is what sustains us in hard times like these. The efforts of Robin and Belachew, prophets of good cheer, have been met by some degree of success, inspiring a classroom of teenage girls in India to laugh for an entire half hour. Sounds tiring.

They won’t just stop there, however.  Their ultimate goal is to get everyone around the world to laugh at 9AM (in their respective time zones) every Saturday morning. While people seem to relish the idea of synchronous (and seemingly impromptu) events (like flash mobs or the video of that guy doing a jig in different countries that received 12 million hits on Youtube), I think they prefer their laughter less scripted. In this regard, something lighthearted from the media would be much appreciated.  In any case, I wish the World Laughter Pledge the best of luck.  I hope it is more successful than this campaign.