The Happiness Police
Happiness has been outlawed! It seems that just about every where one looks now a days there is a cop on the corner looking for happy people and doing whatever they can to bring a stop to this outrageous pursuit. It would appear as though there are growing number of people who cannot stand to see anyone happy. They seem to have a trait described by H.L. Mencken, as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy" Our Declaration of Independence begins with these words: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Why is it then that some would prevent others from enjoying their stay on this planet? Perhaps Mencken said it best with this quote "It is the fundamental theory of all the more recent American law...that the average citizen is half-witted, and hence not to be trusted to either his own devices or his own thoughts". Over the past few decades we have been invaded with people who seem to believe that they know what is best for everyone else. They cannot stand the thought that every citizen of this country has the same rights as the next. It is about control, plain and simple. It is hard to control the masses when everyone is off in so many directions pursuing happiness in their own way. They feel that they must limit the choices and definitions of happiness. They do this by demonizing behavior and creating boogie men out of those who know and live the true meaning of the pursuit of happiness. A few good examples come to mind, the first is smoking and the other are those who enjoy shooting sports. These activities are made evil by those who do not seek the same pleasures. I don't understand why some people enjoy certain activities, the game of golf comes to mind, but there must be something there that so many people spend so much time and money pursuing a low score. Why if I had the time and nothing better to do I could get real envious of those happy people who find such satisfaction in wasting their time hitting a little white ball and chasing it around. I could start a campaign to get golfing outlawed! Don't you know that those irons and woods could be used as weapons and people get struck by lightening on golf courses just about every day. This is a dangerous activity and should be halted. I wonder how many people have used golf clubs as murder weapons. Didn't I see an episode of Perry Mason where this happened? There must be more crimes committed with golf clubs than is being reported, after all don't folks get outraged when they miss a gimmie on the coarse? Where's my badge?
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So what is happiness and why do people want to prevent people from enjoying it? There are as many definitions of happiness as there are humans on the planet. Some like to sit in front of the television, play baseball, watch baseball, eat chocolate candy, smoke a good cigar, go for a long Sunday afternoon drive, practice their marksmanship, fly a kite, go swimming in deep water, ride a bike, go for a hike in the mountains, sew a dress, build a cabinet, race model boats and airplanes, stare at the clouds, run a business, raise a family, make love, play hide and seek, we can add to the list infinitum. Everyone has the unalienable right to pursue happiness as they see fit.