Coming back from a trip to Ohio, I entered Pennsylvania and was greeted with a very big road sign that said, “Welcome to Pennsylvania – Pursue Your Happiness.” I know our state officials who designed this welcome sign probably thought they were clever in borrowing a partial phrase from the Declaration of Independence. It is timely, given it will be celebrated in two years for its 250th anniversary and also just so happened to have been written and signed in Philadelphia.
But since I had a long slog of 210 miles on Interstate 80, I pondered what that statement meant to the original audience of those words. When we see the word “happiness,” we think of fun activities or a joyful disposition. Yet, in 1776, it meant something very, very different.
It comes from the famous statement in the second paragraph of the document, “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.”
Thomas Jefferson, a man deeply steeped in Enlightenment philosophy and author of this document, emphasized that we were created to be individuals who could pursue our own goals, desires, and ambitions for this individual liberty and personal autonomy is what separates us from the animal kingdom and is the essence of mankind. The word “pursuit” had a meaning, such as the “pursuit of law” or “pursuit of medicine” as an occupation. So, what Jefferson was basically saying was that this new country was not going to be controlled by a royal or ecclesiastical government but by the people themselves, as they desired it to be. “Happiness” is essentially the purpose or benchmark for freedom.
This concept has resonated throughout the world for centuries. Ultimately, the best government is one that allows people to live life as they see fit. I saw this when the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, and the former USSR republics were developing their own governments. While living in Latvia, I talked with one parliament member, and I asked him what his goals were. He smiled and said, “I want people to go to bed at night in peace.”
Believe it or not, there is a study that comes out of the UN known as the World Happiness Index. It is their conviction that economic development in nations is more based on gross national happiness rather than gross domestic product. If this is true, the United States is in deep doo-doo because we are not happy.
Comparing Gen Z (ages 18-26) with Baby Boomers (ages 60-77) shows a dramatic difference in values, which impact their perspective of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Only 32% of Gen Z consider patriotism as “very important,” while 76% of Boomers consider it very important. Is America the best place to live? 66% of Boomers think so, but only half of that, 33% of Gen Z’s thought so. Even having children, 23% of Gen Z’s think it is very important, whereas 52% of Boomers think so.
No, this is not a worldwide phenomenon among this generation. The UN study ranks all the countries in the world in these areas, and it turns out that the United States is ranked 10th in the world for happiness among Baby Boomers and 9th from the bottom of all countries in the world among Gen Z!
Which begs the question, why are young people so depressed? There are lots of theories that we can examine later, but the result is deadly. Since 2000, the number of young people who commit suicide has been increasing every year. In fact, every 100 minutes, a teen takes their own life in our country. It cannot be because of economics because surveys done back in the Great Depression show there were five times fewer anxiety and mental health issues than we see today among high school and college students.
Quite frankly, the future of our country is doomed if only one-third of the population is functional and the other two-thirds are dysfunctional. The wake-up call is right in front of us, just as it has been for over two centuries and even two millennia. We have been endowed by our Creator with the potential to succeed in life, not by our standards, but by His. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter five, Jesus stood on the Mount and gave a listing of those areas that ultimately bring happiness. It is a worthwhile read. “Happy are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Happy are those who are pure of heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:5,6,8).
