“All the world seems sad and dreary, everywhere I roam”
-Stephen Foster
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
On September 23, 1800 one of our country’s greatest leaders, Thomas Jefferson, wrote these immortal words; “I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man”. It is one of history’s cruelest ironies that, in The Declaration of Independence, he unwittingly destined his beloved country to a future of unimaginable oppression when he proclaimed, that we, by Divine decree, were granted the unalienable right to the pursuit of Happiness.
Now, 300 years later we deal daily with the consequences of this pronouncement. Our national psyche is permeated with a voracious hunger, a sickness of materialism that can never be satisfied. We have become a culture that seeks inner peace through consumerism. This insane avarice is incessantly fueled by an advertising-industrial complex that aggressively promotes, supports, and encourages our individual and collective quest for the holy grail of happiness. Jefferson’s heart would surely break if he could see that his dream of democracy is now owned and controlled by a monolithic corporate monstrosity.
Each day our lives are brought to us by a mass media that spends $350 billion-per-year to feed us the narcotic that happiness can be ours at any mall for the right price. In the wake of the horror of September 11th, our president consoled the nation by urging us to go out and buy a new automobile. We were persuaded that it was our patriotic duty to splurge. The result, “the bottom line”, of this endless pursuit has given us precious little of the happiness we were promised by our founding fathers.
To appease our unhappiness, as a nation, we now consume over 13 billion dollars of Prozac and other “anti-depressants” annually. We, long ago, lost the war on drugs, not because of the drug lords, but sadly, because of our own domestic demand. What is even more tragic is that, the drugs, both legal and illegal, simply keep us anesthetized enough from “going over the edge.” The 60-hour workweek is now normal. Wives and mothers, long ago, went to work to help pay for all the “necessities” of happiness. Yet, over half of all marriages end in divorce, domestic violence is rampant, and our prisons are filled to over-flowing. While Jefferson magnanimously granted us the right to pursue happiness he, unfortunately, neglected to tell us how to attain it.
In 350 B.C. Chuang-Tzu, a Chinese philosopher wisely observed that happiness is the absence of striving for happiness. The philosopher Immanuel Kant taught that, to realize happiness, one must first become worthy of it, which begs the question; why, in the midst of all our wealth and riches, are we a nation that cannot handle joy and contentment? We deserve all the happiness we can attain; however, we have no right to expect that it be awarded us by decree.
When I take the time to observe my own experience of happiness I find it rarely concerns a trip to the mall. My happiest moments usually involve my family, friends, or some creative endeavor. It is no accident that joy and contentment evolve from being with those I love, or doing something I love. These occasions are gifts given me with little effort on my part, and I can define them in no other way then pure, authentic happiness.
However, like most struggling mortals, my life is not devoid of periods of discontentment and unhappiness. But, when that occurs, if I take the time to analyze my situation, I can usually determine that I am not taking responsibility to observe the mechanics of my unhappiness – the habits and tendencies that are the cause of my discontent. I am back on the merry-go-round of seeking fulfillment in something or someone outside of myself, and one essential element is always missing; love.
My wife, another of God’s struggling mortals, is, despite some life challenges, essentially a happy, optimistic woman. When I surrender to one my states of unhappiness she always greets my foolish lamentations with her favorite verse from an old song:
“You can’t roller skate in a Buffalo herd,
But, you can be happy if you’ve a mind to.”
Thomas Jefferson died on July 4th, 1826 the 50th anniversary of the signing of The Declaration of Independence. It is interesting to note that, after a lifetime of reckless spending, he died with debts exceeding $100,000, more than the value of his historic Monticello; its lands, all his possessions, including his slaves. In January 1827 on the front lawn of Monticello, 130 of his slaves were sold at auction, along with furniture and farm equipment. Finally, in 1831, after years of standing idle, Monticello, too, was sold for a fraction of its value.
John Lee is a freelance writer, teacher and lecturer.e is a freelance Hh
