Rededicating ourselves to the unselfish pursuit of happiness
If we are not careful, a misunderstanding of liberty can cause our pursuit of happiness to be inverted – to pursuing unhappiness instead.
The two-sided coin of democracy has rights on one side and obligations on the other. The Founders did not disagree that personal responsibility must regulate an otherwise unrestrained sense of freedom. They did not disagree that rights and freedoms for their upper class were easier to obtain. They did not disagree that equal access to the “inalienable rights” is democracy’s greatest challenge. They disagreed, however, on whether a strong central government would be necessary to force equal rights upon us, or if “we the people” could self-govern and self-regulate our actions with our shared rights and obligations in mind.
Substance vs. sales pitch: What did the Trump vs. Biden presidential debate mean for Florida?
Nearly 250-years later, where are we? Antonio Fins’ excellent piece on the preparations for July 4, 2026, America at 250: Claiming Credit, (Palm Beach Post, July 3, 2024) is an excellent answer to that question. Concerns that political extremist could hijack our 250th birthday are real and a central element to the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission’s approach to recruiting organizers and planning commemorative events. An opportunity to heal as a nation and to relearn what equality has meant to American’s growth and maturity over the last two-and-a-half centuries is central to the commission’s high hopes for its potential.
Happiness is the one and only thing we can choose in and of itself. All other things, per Aristotle, are chosen for the happiness they may bring us – fleeting as they are. Happiness is, therefore, a state of mind. A place we can go to by our choosing. A place that is virtually inaccessible if we misunderstand freedom as a selfish pursuit. My happiness does not supersede yours. In fact, bringing happiness to others is among the things we can chose for our own sustainable state of happiness.
Our view: Look at Biden and Trump, and the true picture emerges: There’s no comparison.
Anger, retribution, villainizing, and grievance-stating are the opposite of pursuing happiness. They are, in fact, contrary to leadership, as well. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us the difference between finding consensus and forming consensus. True leaders do the hard work of forming consensus around ideas and wisdom and guide us to a better place. Finding consensus is an uninspiring race to the bottom that merely gathers us around what is popular. Ephemeral happiness is found in the latter, while sustainable happiness is found in the former.
It may be unpopular but Fins’ quote of Lynn University historian Robert Watson is a call to change course. “… the semiquincentennial should be a moment of healing renewal, to reboot consensus behind a national purpose and a chance to unite in celebrating an extraordinary moment in time where the most brilliant minds in history gathered in Philadelphia to change the world.”
What’s fascinating about Professor Watson’s advice is that it is a reminder that the world was changed by a very simple idea – freedom. But, selfish freedom directs our country’s aim toward the bottom and happiness, as the present makes clear, is hard to find there.
Timothy Hullihan is president of the Kevin Clark Hullihan Foundation and a resident of North Palm Beach.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Americans' freedom and happiness not sustainable through selfishness
