Happiness Is a Worthy Pursuit

Who Are We? The People Who Should Be Happy (DN 4.20)

Jefferson’s famous phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” had a lovely aspirational quality to it—one that could not quite be matched by the far more common Enlightenment-era trio of “Life, liberty, and property.” (It would have been better for all of us if he had added property back in and made it a quartet, but that is a separate subject.)

The phrase “pursuit of happiness” served multiple purposes for Jefferson and the Committee of Five. It added lilt to the soaring language of the passage in the Declaration beginning with “We hold these truths….” It avoided the thorny association of “property” with the issue of chattel slavery.

Its primary purpose, however, was to serve as a catch-all for any activity in which people wish to engage. Rights, after all, are theoretically infinite, limited only by the rule that one’s activities must not trespass upon the person, property, or liberty of another. Pretty much anything can be placed under the pursuit-of-happiness umbrella.

Still, Jefferson did not choose the pursuit of one’s “objectives.” He chose happiness (likely borrowing from Francis Hutcheson’s “the right to pursue happiness”).

We need to pay attention to this word, not just in its broad, catch-all sense, but in its more common definition.

The importance of being earnestly happy

I know it’s not easy. Happiness can be elusive for a variety of reasons.

Negativity bias

Even in the best of times, we are evolutionarily wired to spot and solve problems:

I cannot possibly take time to savor this success—there could be another saber-toothed tiger right around the next corner!

Negativity bias isn’t just some personality flaw. It is a survival mechanism. It takes work to manage it in a way that one’s emotional state is not too negatively affected.

Future-orientation

Then, of course, there is the problem of time preferences:

Once I have _______, THEN I’ll be happy.

As Hans-Hermann Hoppe painstakingly demonstrates in his magnificent Democracy: The God That Failed, having high time preferences (being present-oriented) may be the single greatest predictor of failure and poverty.

Poor people are more likely to use their money, and even their bodies, toward present gratification rather than trying to preserve them for future use.

Richer and more successful people, by contrast, have lower time preferences. They are more likely to plan, delay gratification, and consider the longer-term ramifications of present action. Having low time preferences is a formula for success.

Unfortunately, this success comes at a cost. We are so focused on sacrificing moderate present gains for greater future gains that we forget to be happy in the present. Overcoming this tendency requires conscious effort.

Internal vs. external

And then there are all the external forces impacting our happiness:

How can I be happy with so much _______ in the world?

It’s hard to be happy when _______ are doing _______ to us!

Overcoming this is especially difficult for people with a strong sense of justice or tendency toward empathy. They say ignorance is bliss, but so is not caring so much.

Obviously, we are not the kind of people who can simply stop caring about justice, truth, oppression, or suffering. So we have to find a way to balance these tendencies with the need to be happy.

Because we really do need to be happy.

The beatings will continue…

However hard it may be to overcome all this, we must do our best, as I have been insisting for quite some time now:

(After a time, my archives fall behind the paywall. If you are not yet a supporter, here is a special offer: 50% off a supporting subscription.)

• A Romantic Encounter Spoiled by the First Gulf War

• Be As Happy—and Grateful—As This Donkey

• Have Babies. Emit Carbon. Be Happy.

• Forget the Bear. Enough with the Video Games. Make Babies!

• Is the End Coming Soon?

• When Is Enough Enough?

Indeed, we even spoke of happiness in an earlier installment of The Distributed Nation. But since happiness really is a serious problem, we will speak of it again.

And we will keep speaking of it until morale improves, haha!

Practical considerations

As James Goodrich recently pointed out, there are many good reasons to try to be happy:

We should make it our business to bring joy everywhere we go. There are already enough sour people around. There is healing power in laughter. Laughter can break the bondage of their desperation, their despair. Our body was never meant to constantly be sour. Laughter is like medicine. Laughter reduces blood pressure. Laughter activates the body’s natural tranquilizers, helps us to sleep. Humor stimulates the brain. If you have a sense of humor and you laugh regularly, you’ll be more creative.

Of course, it isn't easy to laugh by oneself. Laughter is a social phenomenon—it takes place primarily with others. Happiness is contagious, and there are many good reasons to be the happiest person in the room.

Do you want to be the gloomy cloud who darkens every room you enter, or the person everyone is glad to see because you bring joy and optimism wherever you go?

This has bearing on our lives and the lives of those around us. But it also has bearing on our quest for freedom, and our plans to make common cause as a free people.

We have spoken of setting an example of nobility (here, here, here) and civility (here, here, and here). We have talked about color and individualism and the importance of not being lonely. Being known as pleasant, sociable, noble, civil people will help our cause.

So will being happy.

Colorful, happy people make friends and allies. Being happy forges connections. Connections make your life better.

Also, when things melt down, the people who like and feel connected to you will be more inclined to support—or at least respect—you. By contrast, if you are the dark-cloud curmudgeon who glowers at everyone in the village, you will have few allies when the need arises!

As we become more of a tribe, how we behave impacts the impressions others have of all of us. Our distributed nation will never be about conformity or control. I am not telling you how to live. I am noting, however, that setting a good impression really will benefit us in our shared quest for greater freedom and independence.

You can be happy in spite of everything

Yes, forces are conspiring against our happiness. Do not be a victim of those forces. DEFY THEM!

You are a freeholder of your own life. Your person, your property, and your liberty are YOURS. You control your own actions and choices. This is your life to live.

Your life does not belong to Biden, Trump, Obama, or Congress. Your life does not belong to Kier Starmer, Anthony Albanese, or Vladimir Putin. It does not belong to CNN or the doomscroll. It belongs to you.

You are precious and irreplaceable, and your lifetime is unrepeatable. There are no do-overs. Enjoy your time!

There will always be trouble in the world. There will always be another hour of breathless coverage of this atrocity or that outrage. There will always be another damn war.

We can be aware. We can work towards change. But that does not mean that we must dwell within the misery of the world.

Your life also does not belong to the system. You are more than any system. You are free right now!

The system will take time to dismantle. We're not going to solve all the world's problems. We can only do what we can do within a lifetime, so we should also focus on ENJOYING our lifetime.

Our children will take the banner from us and carry it to the next mountain. Teach them well!

Should we be warriors? Yes. But happy warriors.

Togetherness without collectivism

Freedom lovers are often very individualistic people. We are not joiners by nature. We can handle the emotional weight of being alone far better than collectivist types. But we are members of an ultra-social species, and even more independent personalities will suffer if we are alone too much.

It's fine to be single if that is your jam, but if you want someone, you should get out there and find him or her. (Maybe we will start our own dating service someday!)

It's good to be self-reliant and prepared. Very good. But subsistence farming is a one-way ticket backwards—especially if everyone does it. Specialization is a major key to success. Can we form communities of strong, self-reliant people who know they can also depend on each other? Of course we can. And we should.

It's good to be wary of one's fellows. Human beings, in the aggregate, can be dangerous. But too much fear can isolate us from the good people in the world—robbing us of the natural happiness and joy of social interaction.

What is better—freeholders laughing and talking and eating and drinking together, or freeholders glowering in our separate redoubts? Why not have those redoubts AND laugh together?

I won't belabor this further. It's time to move past talk and to action.

Our distributed nation will have no central authority. We are, and will be, a diaspora of freeholders. But that doesn't mean that we cannot have community for any who want it.

This is not just some theoretical post. The time for pure theory has passed. We need active solutions. Active communities.

So tell me—what are your impediments to being happy? How can I help? How can our fledgling nation help?

And, since it’s Friday, here is a whole album of music that seems expressly written to make you feel happy and alive.

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Cover page | Preface | Introduction 1 | Introduction 2 | Introduction 3 |

(Part I) Why: 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.10 | 1.11 | 1.12 | 1.13 | 1.14 | 1.15 | 1.16 | 1.17 | 1.18 | 1.19 | 1.20 | 1.21 |1.22

(Part II) What: 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.10 I 2.11 | 2.12 | 2.13 | 2.14 | 2.15 | 2.16 | 2.17 | 2.XX | 2.18 | 2.19 | 2.20 | 2.21 | | Where: 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.10 | 3.11 | 3.12 | 3.13 || Who: 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.XX | 4.XY | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.10 | 4.11 | 4.12 | 4.XZ | 4.13 | 4.YX | 4.14 | 4.15 | 4.16 | 4.17 | 4.18 | 4.19 | 4.YY | 4.YZ | 4.ZX | 4.20