Poll: Happiness

[apmpnmdslkbk]

Happyness is an illusion distracting us from reality.

That being said it's not a bad thing it just causes people to lose sight of right from wrong sometimes due to the pursuit of it (happiness).

P.S. I TIRED NO GOOD TYPE NOW.

 

[EeveeElectro]

Of course we have the right to be happy, and we have no right to make people unhappy.

I just live in my own little bubble half the time, so I'm usually quite happy.
*thumbs up*

 

[Sane Man]

Making it a right would mean that there would probably be a law made for happiness, as it would be constitutional. Then the government would HAVE to make everyone happy and some very weird things make people happy. That could be a good and bad thing but mostly bad. I'd love to have the government make me happy by doing whatever for me, but it's just dumb and really takes away the whole "working for it makes it even better once you have it" idea.

You'd love to have the government make you happy? That means you want every other person of that nation to subsidize your happiness? We all know where this goes.

Equality in misery is no equality for me.

God forbid I want happiness to be scotch free. =P
But you, you must be a saint. Good thing you were there to set me straight. Back to the road of goodness and peachy sunshine and selflessness.

Yes, I would love for the government to make me happy. It would make me... hum.. happy. Hurhur. But I wouldn't be the spoiled child that gets everything in the whole government-is-mommy-and-wants-to-make-you-happy-all-the-time theory because it's virtually impossible to keep anyone happy all the time and in this case it would be everyone in the United States. Once they're happy they'll be unhappy because they're happy all the time. Then they'll become some weird kind of masochist and I don't even want to see how that works out.
However, I digress. Having the government make you happy is wrong, I guess, to a certain extent. I mean, hey, they work hard to quiet the bitching already.
But (I'm assuming by your tone) your notion that no one should ever, ever want the government to make them happy all the time by fulfilling their every need/want/craving is just silly. Of course someone wants the easy life sometimes, but morally it's bad. Probably not good for our health either, haha. :]

I was just pointing out it is not the government's place regardless if it could or could not make everyone happy. If you want to make someone else happy (whether or not because it makes you happy) then do it! No one is stopping you. We do not have to create a National Happiness Agency to do what people will do on their own.

Although it is all rather silly, I agree, as discerning one's happiness from another person's happiness is impossible and so will never really be in the cards. Personal responsibility goes a long way and would certainly remedy many things wrong in America.

 

[matrix3509]

I for one always thought that the people that wanted to be happy were incredibly naive and unrealistic. All I ever wanted was to be content and/or satisfied, but the more I think about it nowadays, the more I believe that those goals are also unrealistic. Humans by their very nature are always struggling to improve their quality of life, and are never satisfied with what they have now. Its why Bill Gates went on to earn all those billions of dollars when he could have just stopped at 2 billion and still be set for life.

The higher the quality of life is, the harder it is to get to the next teir. You certainly, didn't hear about suicides and depression back when humans were still low on the food chain.

I am reminded of the Q Race from Star Trek: TNG. What if humanity somehow reached a state of existance where every individual knew every mystery of the universe from birth? What a boring, pointless existance that would be, there would be nothing the strive for, nothing to discover, and nothing to learn. All we would have left would be mass suicide.

 

[azriel84]

A more interesting question would be if you think people are 'owed' happiness.

There is a real sense of entitlement in this country. Many think that these entitlements are owed to them and that the governments responsibility is to fulfill them. Those people tend to be liberals, lol.

 

[Silver]

Yes, I think people have the right to be happy.

I also think that the reason we aren't today is because of the way our society is turning out. Sure, we have better healthcare, and a "better standard of life" than ever.

We also have a more impersonal society than ever, with people being resources instead of individuals, we have profits and money that mean more than lives, not to mention mental wellbeing. We still have wars, and racism, and we have excellent communications not only between happy people but between unhappy people, and crazy people and bigoted people all around the world as well. We have people digging themselves and others deeper and deeper into depression because of this.

We have people slaving to make a few extra bucks, sacrificing their lives to get promotions, or advance their careers.

Even the pursuit of happiness doesn't exist for many any more, as they are forced to work every hour of every day. We have tons of people just burning out every day, because they work too hard, too much is expected of them.

We have demands coming from every direction, about how we should live, how we should be, how we should look, how much we should make, we are told that we have to be better than the grey mass, and we are at the same time told to conform, that grey mass that doesn't exist, since every single one of the people that make it up, at the same time try to free themselves of it.

And I haven't even gotten started on the developing countries around the world yet.


Yes. I believe every person in the world has a right to happiness. I think it should be the responsability of every person on the planet to pursue their own, as well as help other people pursue theirs. I believe that it is the current shape of our society that causes this, and that we need to change it.

We have advanced far enough to know better, to be able to do better. Yet we don't, because we don't like change, and we don't like other peoples' ideas. They could never know what's best for us, after all, especially not when they have such strange ideas as atheism, or religion, or communism, or capitalism, or socialism, or nihilism. Why would we listen to weird people like that? Let's stick to our own kind.


Eugh... It makes me sick.

 

[EzraPound]

40-40, complete deadlock.

 

[mcgooch]

A more interesting question would be if you think people are 'owed' happiness.

There is a real sense of entitlement in this country. Many think that these entitlements are owed to them and that the governments responsibility is to fulfill them. Those people tend to be liberals, lol.

Yeah well that's kinda what I meant by thinking its your right. If something is your right then it is owed to you you should have it.
P.S. I'm a New Zealander, I was using the US constitution as an example for support of my view not as a way of starting a debate on US politics

 

[santaandy]

I put no. Happiness is something you have to make (not take). Happiness is something you must pursue and earn, which is the very nature of happiness and what makes it worthwhile.

 

[Ryuzix]

Everyone has the right to be happy, unless if the thing that makes them happy is to extreme.
Wasn't going to read through a bunch of comments so I apologise in advance if this has already been said.

 

[azriel84]

A more interesting question would be if you think people are 'owed' happiness.

There is a real sense of entitlement in this country. Many think that these entitlements are owed to them and that the governments responsibility is to fulfill them. Those people tend to be liberals, lol.

Yeah well that's kinda what I meant by thinking its your right. If something is your right then it is owed to you you should have it.

Not really. Having a right to something mean that no one should stand in your way, and prevent you from getting it, not that someone else has the responsibility to provide you with it. Big difference, no ?

 

[MelziGurl]

I've worked hard for my happiness thank you very much. Anyone who thinks that anothers happiness isn't deserved can go shove it.

 

[Scarecrow38]

I have absolutely no idea how to answer. It's good for people to be happy, and I personally enjoy being happy. It isn't something you can force/ legislate though, it just happens. So I wouldn't think it's a right. If I say no though, it sounds like I think happiness is something that not everone deserve which is wrong.

 

[mcgooch]

A more interesting question would be if you think people are 'owed' happiness.

There is a real sense of entitlement in this country. Many think that these entitlements are owed to them and that the governments responsibility is to fulfill them. Those people tend to be liberals, lol.

Yeah well that's kinda what I meant by thinking its your right. If something is your right then it is owed to you you should have it.

Not really. Having a right to something mean that no one should stand in your way, and prevent you from getting it, not that someone else has the responsibility to provide you with it. Big difference, no ?

I see where your coming from and I agree, except I don't necessarily think the difference is that great. If you look at the basic human rights and situations where such rights could potentially be removed (e.g. prison) then you can see that when you have power over someone you are responsible to ensure their rights are not infringed upon. You have a responsibility to ensure they receive their rights. If happiness was a right then Schools, employers, Government, prisons, etc. would all be responsible for ensuring our happiness. So I agree that random people would not have to make you happy but you would be entitled to be made happy by those with responsibility for you. This is why I think it is unfair and unreasonable to make happiness a right.