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Americans are constantly craving more. As they continually push the boundaries of debt, they never worry about spending money they don’t possess. Driven by their greed and selfishness, America is never satisfied with their bountiful blessings, therefore taking most things for granted. Most products say satisfaction guaranteed. Americans cannot say the same. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was written. In 1776, America made an excuse for their society of gluttony. The Declaration of Independence says, “...they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights: that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” (Source B). What is the “Pursuit of Happiness.” They describe this emotion as though it were an object you are chasing, or a goal you have set out to achieve. It is a race. To finish this …show more content…
race, you have to have obtained happiness, for if you have not, you are still in pursuit. Americans believe happiness and materialism are directly proportional to one another.
In terms, the more stuff we have, the happier we are. Aristotle illustrates this well in his Nicomachean ethics stating, “...happiness, we claim, is an end and something in every final way....” (Source A). Aristotle suggests the idea that something is needed to find the society deemed definition of happiness. Without it, happiness is nonexistent. Aristotle continues his ethics by saying, “He is happy who lives in accordance with complete virtue and is sufficiently equipped with external goods” (Source A). Today, Americans are growing into this society of selfishness and greed. Happiness has become the main focus of many people, obtaining whatever they can, no matter the situation in hopes of findind what they are missing. They strongly believe that “just a little bit more will finally buy happiness” (Source E). They have been given the free right to buy what they feel will successfully buy happiness. However, just because America has given everyone the same unalienable right, the pursuit of happiness, does not mean everyone crosses the finish
line. America has truly bought into, “the malaise that currently grips our country” ( Source E). They have committed to thee mindset of buying happiness, a feeling up for sale. In a cartoon illustration by Jim Sizemore, he identifies the struggle of Americans today. In this drawing there is a couple lying on a bed in a room. The room they are in consists of everything possible materialistic item. When you look on their faces, they do not have any sign of emotion signifying happiness. Sizemore follows this cartoon with a caption, “Something is missing” (Source D). Figuratively speaking, nothing is missing. However, the unhappy couple does not complete the true pursuit of happiness because they are unhappy. In spite of everything they have, there is still a hollow feeling in the place of happiness. Sizemore truly depicts the statement that money does not buy happiness. Americans still live in the mindset of constantly wanting new things to satisfy them, and are yet to be satisfied. Without satisfaction, America continues to fill the void with my these goods, causing them to fall into this never ending cycle of wanting, receiving, and wanting more. We hold these truths to be self evident, the more we want, the more we spend, and the more unhappier we become. As we continue to push for more goods to temporarily satisfy the present needs, we become unhappier until we become distraught in our own greed. “No intelligent human being would consent to be a fool” (Source C). As America continues to advance, are we becoming smarter, or becoming more foolish. Through our blindness, we refuse to see our own downfall until it hits us like a maxed out debit card.
The first Age of Enlightenment, which started in Europe around the 18th century, spread to the American Colonies where it caused colonists to believe “that all men are created equal [and] that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” (Decl. of Ind. 1). The influence of the first Age of Enlightenment is simply shown in this quote because it refers to John Locke’s, an influential Enlightenment philosopher, work, The Second Treatise of Civil Government, which states that laboring men have a natural or God-given right to “life, liberty, health, and indulgency of body; and the possession of outward things,” (A Letter Concerning Toleration). The phrase “pursuit of happiness” comes from Richard Cumberland’s philosophy from his writings in De legibusnaturae; Richard believed that the pursuit...
The Declaration was for the colonists to seek for independence. The quote most widely known is “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”(Jefferson) The Declaration of Independence was written mostly by Thomas Jefferson who stated the above quote. Like the Declaration of Sentiments, all men are created equal. The Declaration of Independence allows the people to have the right to abolish an proposition that they do not agree with. They also have the right to institute a new government if they do not feel it is not ensuring safety and happiness to everyone; they can vote in a government who will ensure this. It is also the peoples right to throw out a government when laws are abused. Every year on July 4, people in the United States celebrate Independence day, also known as the Fourth of
The society uses one’s happiness to seek their own. Starting with the ancient Adam Smith’s theory of a market economy where commodities are sold and bought in a market freely, where sellers and buyers exchange to achieve profit, and happiness is derived from profit. Thus “happiness is both produced and consumed” (Ahmed 3). Happiness is a matter of research for corporates of big companies. They try to figure out which product makes the buyers feel the happiness they need, so that they can produce more for their own profit. So, they cunningly make commercials with people having a good time. Which when watched by the buyers they get the false sense that their life would be so much better if they bought that small bottle of happiness. Once they buy their “Pandora’s box” they hope that underneath all the unnecessary objects there will be happiness, but they are dispirited at the end. Unknowingly the markets are making the society a more dull and sad place rather than distributing
"It's a small phrase when you think about it: "the pursuit of happiness." It's somewhat over-shadowed in the Declaration of Independence by the weightier notions of "life" and "liberty." In today's mass culture, it even comes close to being banal. Who, after all, doesn't want to pursue happiness? But in its own day, the statement was perhaps the most radical political statement ever delivered. And when we try and fathom why it is that the United States still elicits such extreme hatred in some parts of the world, this phrase is as good a place to start as any." "What power four little words still have. And what carnage they must still endure to survive. "
In our contemporary American life we have the desire for things that we do not really need to make us happy. Our commercial world intends to sell us substitutes for the things we truly need in order to be happy. We replace our real needs with things like clothing, furniture, cars, nice houses, and many other unessential items. Many individuals place the blame for an unhappy lifestyle on their occupation, and search out alternatives such as material items. We are happy when we receive things fast, because of our lack of patience, and because we simply enjoy the hassle free lifestyle. Our technological advances have made many things easy for us and it brings us some joy. Examples include that we rather drive than walk, and eat from unhealthy fast food restaurants than cook a meal ourselves. We see advertisements everywhere selling us products to make us happy, however the happiness from sex, food, and excitement are pleasures that are short lived. If we took away all unnecessary items for survival from our society today, could we still be happy? ...
America is built on materialism and it created the idea that happiness is formed from consumption. Advertisements have successfully turned every major holiday into an opportunity for people to empty their pockets. For example,
A large part of this problem is that many Americans buy into the ploys of capitalism, sacrificing happiness for material gain. “Americans have voluntarily created, and voluntarily maintained, a society which increasingly frustrates and aggravates” them (8). Society’s uncontrolled development results in an artificial sense of scarcity which ensures “a steady flow of output” (78).
When faced with the decision of whether or not to kill ones self, the deontological thinker would argue using the categorical imperative, saying that in order to act morally one must do as if their actions were to become universal law. If this is the case then making the decision to end ones own life is egregiously immoral because by doing so the person would be forcing all other rational beings to do the same. However a consequentialist would state that if the person is causing more pain and suffering to themselves and those around them alive than they would dead, then it would be beneficial to the world as whole for them to complete the action.
It's true that this desire for things is what drives our economy. The free market has given us great blessings, but it has in some ways also put us on the wrong path -- the path to a selfish, unhappy society. Michael Lerner, who worked as a psychotherapist to middle-income Americans notes that
When talking about the Declaration of Independence in regards to the pursuit of happiness, individuals often tend to have an inaccurate definition of this phrase. When Jefferson referred to the “pursuit of happiness”, he defined it as giving people freedom and liberty to develop upon their unique talents, abilities, as well as attributes to their maximum potential. However, given the age in time, Jefferson had lived in a self-sufficient community, where people would integrate their unique abilities to help better the community by meshing it together like one large well-oiled machine. He had imagined the ideal character who fits this definition, that is, a self-made farmer that worked to raise crops and other goods to meet him and his family’s
A huge part of being an American is being a consumer. Consumerism is a social and economic order and ideology that encourages the purchase of goods and services. Consumers play an important role in a capitalist society, which we as Americans are a part of. “Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals or private corporations can own and operate the production of goods, make decisions about the price of those goods, and distribute them as they deem appropriate” (Carl 99). “Starting at the young age of two, children are exposed to advertising through different media perspectives. The average child is exposed to over 40,000 TV commercials a year” (Dittmann 58). Due to the fact that Americans of all ages are exposed to advertisements, many Americans believe that they need to buy unnecessary items and think that these material things can buy their happiness in life. Can you honestly say that money and material things make you happy? The truth is, no, money nor materialism can claim your happiness in life. What you do and make of your life is what truly makes you happy.
Human life is full of meaning. As humans, we assign value to many things. However, what happens when we assign a specific value to a human life? This is the issue being presented in the article, “What is a Life Worth,” by Amanda Ripley. The government is determining a monetary value to a human life, and it does not appeal to the masses. There are many problems with the cold calculation, and most people cannot see the other side of the numbers. The economic value of a human life is calculated based on the income the person was receiving, but when the check is given to a loved one of a small amount, the compensation is misinterpreted as an overall value of the human life. The true value of a human life should not be combined with the monetary value that is determined by the government, or the value of life would be worth very little.
In life, it certainly seems that for most people, happiness is the end goal. People do what they do for many reasons, but quite often their motives are simply fueled by their desire to be happy. However, happiness is attained in many different ways. As Aristotle points out, happiness is achieved through goodness, which is also very complicated. After all, life is not black and white, and our actions are not just good or bad. Rather, our actions can have ends that are intrinsically good or instrumentally good. If they are instrumentally good, then they will allow us to attain something that we can "trade" for something else that will bring us happiness. For example, if we win tickets at an arcade, they would be considered instrumentally good because although they don't bring us happiness, we can trade them in for a prize that does. On the other hand, some things are intrinsically good. We want these things simply because we want them; they bring us pleasure or security. When we obtain these things, we are satisfied with them and we experience happiness.
What exactly is happiness anyway? Happiness is when you feel complete and satisfied. It is when you’re content with where you are and what you have. It is the joy of doing something you love, or spending time with someone you love. It is an emotion and the best one yet. Money can easily make a person temporarily happy with the possessions it can buy, but true happiness is more than that. People can have everything material wise and still not be happy. Sure it can buy you many things, but the happiness from it is only temporary and limited. There’s only so much happiness you can buy with money. Money can easily buy you food, a clock, a house, education, make-up or medication; however it can’t buy you nutrition, time, a home, knowledge, beauty or health. It can buy you infatuation, but not love, acquaintances but not friendship and hierarchy but not respect. People spend their entire lives trying to make more and more money thinking that it means success. They neglect family and friends, don’t care about who they take down to reach their ...
Material goods don’t make us happy. Acquiring things like houses and cars only have a transient effect on happiness. People’s desires for material possessions crank up at the same, or greater rate, than their salaries. Again, this means that despite considerably more luxurious possessions, people end up no happier. There’s even evidence that materialism make us less happy.