Still Pursuing Happiness – Reuven Brenner

According to the recent World Happiness Report , Americans are so unhappy that one wonders why anyone wants to come to the United States at all.

But the Declaration of Independence , where they said the U.S. will adhere to the principles of “ Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness ,” deviates sharply from the term in the Declaration .

The word “happiness” derives from “hap” which means chance, fortune and is associated with randomness.

The U.S. Declaration of Independence did not dwell on the meaning of "happiness" but on assuring its pursuit of its pursuit.

The Declaration’s use of the terms meant committing formally, in writing, to the new Republic putting institutions in place to let people “have options, and try and make their luck” This is an open-ended commitment subject to changes in meaning.

The most recent evaluation of “happiness” draws from Gallup World surveys between 2022 and 2024 of over 100,000 people in more than 140 countries.

Peter Bergen : Answers to these last questions cannot distinguish between happiness, “selfishness” or passive contentment.

The Founding Fathers’ debates made it sharply clear that such decline was one of the things that worried them most.