01/05/2005 5:50:34 pm
The Pursuit of Happiness. Recently, I have studied the economic research on well-being, which was one part of a debate recently. I accused the professors, who had written about what policies are necessary to produce the most well-being for people, of being ideologically biased in a socialist direction. They were very selective in picking parts of the reserach showing that big government makes people happy, whereas economic growth does not, for example. But it is more fundamental than that. As a matter of fact, their first statement is a normative, ideological principle. They say that society should aim at giving the most well-being to the largest number; a kind of utilitarianism. This principle is in opposition to individual rights. It is a choice and which one you choose will determine much of the policies that follow. The American constitution states that everyone has the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". That is, we don′t have a right to happiness and the state is not going to try to make us happy. But we are guaranteed our freedom and to try to increase our well-being. This is totally different; the responsibility is mine, not the state′s. And it is ideology.