The Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness

John Ikerd

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: these are among the unalienable rights of all people, according the American Declaration of Independence. This historic document goes on to state, “That to ensure these rights, governments are instituted among men.” Government assurances of rights to life and liberty have been warmly embraced throughout U.S. history, even though the actions of government have at times fallen short of ideals. On the other hand, the pursuit of happiness has been pretty much left to the economic marketplace. If every person is afforded an opportunity to acquire and accumulate private property – to become wealthy – we seem to assume their right to pursue happiness has been ensured. However, it may be time to admit that this part of the American experiment in democracy has failed.

Americans obviously have succeeded in amassing wealth, controlling about 1/3 of all global assets with only about 5% of global population. However, our success in the pursuit of happiness has been far less impressive. Various studies rank the United States between 15^th and 23^rd in overall happiness, typically ranking well below “less developed” countries such as Puerto Rico, Bhutan, and Brunei.

The lack of translation of wealth into happiness is not unique to the United States. A 2004 review more than 150 scholarly studies relating wealth and happiness confirmed a growing consensus among researchers that wealth doesn’t bring happiness.[i] Beyond some very modest level of material well-being – the researchers suggest around $10,000 per capita income – there is little if any correlation between wealth and happiness. A 2003 British cabinet office report also confirmed, “Despite huge increases in affluence compared with 1950, people throughout the developed world reported no greater feelings of happiness.”[ii] The unalienable right of all to the pursuit of happiness cannot be ensured by simply providing people with an opportunity to become wealthy.

The “happiness research” is confirming what our common sense already tells us. Once our basic needs are met, our happiness depends far more on the quality of our personal relationships than on our income or wealth. No amount of additional wealth can offset our basic need for positive relationships with friends and family, and perhaps most important, our need to be treated with equity and justice within our society. Equally important, our happiness depends on our having a clear sense of purpose and meaning in life. Without purpose, there is no right or wrong, good or bad; no amount of wealth can give meaning to our thoughts and actions. We are multidimensional beings – physical, social, and spiritual; happiness requires a life of harmony and balance within the whole of our being. All we have to do to understand this is stop and think about what really makes us happy or keeps us from being happy.

So what is the responsibility of the U.S. government with respect to the pursuit of happiness? First, the government has a responsibility to ensure that the basic physical needs of all its citizens are met. Article 25 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights at least provides a good starting point for a national discussion of basic economic rights: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” By one means of another, the U.S. government must ensure that the basic physical needs of its people are met, if it is to meet its fundamental responsibility for ensuring the rights of all Americans to the pursuit of happiness.

Second, the government must be willing to give priority to the common good of all over the accumulation of wealth by individuals. The most obvious social responsibility of government is to ensure equity and justice for all. Furthermore, if the economy is to function for the common good, it must function within the context of an ethical and just society.

For example, the government cannot ensure positive relationships within families and communities, but it can ensure that families and communities are not subject to economic exploitation. No one should be forced to make a choice between a family and a job. Certainly, adequate time must be devoted to work to justify one’s economic compensation, but working people must also be afforded the opportunity to carry on normal personal and family lives.

In addition, communities often lose the ability to function socially or civically when their natural environment and local economy are degraded or destroyed by outside investors seeking access to “underexploited” economic resources. The U.S. government currently gives priority to individual economic interests over the common interests of communities. The U.S. Congress has the constitutional authority to regulate commerce and thus could act to allow people to preserve the rights of people to protect the sociability and civility of their communities. Government seems instead to favor commerce over the pursuit of happiness.

Finally, the unalienable rights encoded in the Constitution provide the moral and ethical compass for both our society and our economy. They define what it required to be an American. Anytime our constitutional rights are compromised in the pursuit of wealth, particularly wealth beyond basic needs, the quality of American life is diminished. Access to more natural and human resources will not enhance our happiness, if constitutional rights are compromised in the process of acquiring them. The Constitution is a creation of the people, not the government. The Constitution proclaims the right of all to the pursuit of happiness, not wealth. The government has a responsibility to ensure that right.