There’s no doubt that some people are born with significant advantages that are denied to others. Of course, we must ensure greater access to opportunity for a greater diversity of people. Like any startup, this project was a risk even before Congress passed its bill defining what “happiness” looked like, but now it’s an impossibility. There is no way for you to get your dream, an entrepreneurial venture that could have helped countless consumers across the country, off the ground. What’s more, your friend tells you that not only have funds dried up, but there has been a serious decline in interest in the tech industry altogether-applications from college students and recent grads to tech firms have decreased greatly across the country. And the banks are far less willing to give out loans. Angel and institutional investors simply do not want to invest as much. But your friend says that, unfortunately, the wealth tax has seriously affected the health of the major tech giants, as well as the smaller startup scene. Excited, you approach a friend who works at Silicon Valley to feel out the marketplace. And recently, you’ve had a breakthrough in developing the app. The program would decentralize publishing and allow people to sell their books directly to their readers online. But you soon come face to face with the downside of Congress’ redistribution plan.įor several years, as a side project and in pursuit of your true passion, you have been developing an app with several friends from college. Things generally seem okay, especially in light of the new wealth tax bill. It’s a decent job, though there aren’t many prospects for career development. You are hopeful that Congress will use the wealth tax to excuse all student debt, which would take a significant weight off your shoulders.īut let’s take a closer look at your story.Īfter college, you go into management at a retail company. After all, it will help equalize the playing field and might even raise your quality of life. Academic experts who claim to have investigated the ideal amount of happiness in one’s life testify that they’ve determined that anything significantly beyond basic needs (housing, healthcare, education) counts as “excess happiness.” These experts have offered estimates for how much people should be expected to spend on vacations, houses, dining out, and other such “disposable pleasures.”Īs an ordinary American and relatively recent college graduate (you graduated 5 years ago), you make far less than six figures, so initially you are OK with the plan. And after months of deliberation and hearings, Congress imposes a significant income tax, whereby anyone making over 100K annually in income is taxed at 75 percent.Ĭongressional hearings on the bill are centered around the new and burgeoning field of “well-being” studies. In response, a new group of political leaders looks for a unique way to tackle these problems. And too many Americans don’t have adequate health insurance. Income inequality has continued to be a serious problem. Imagine a world where Jefferson hadn’t written those two little words - “pursuit of” - in our Declaration, a world in which happiness itself was guaranteed. It is hard to imagine an America without our right to pursue happiness in our own way, as it is such a profound reflection of our people and nation. This freedom has been at the core of American life ever since. And above all else, it was about people deciding for themselves what constitutes a happy life and having the freedom to strive for it. It was an aspirational document charting a new course for a new country, reflecting the entrepreneurial, inventive, and explorer ethos of our people. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson enshrined the “pursuit of happiness” as a basic right, writing: “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.”īut why did Jefferson include the qualifier, “pursuit of”? Couldn’t he have just left those words out, indicating a right to happiness in and of itself-as do certain constitutions around the world, such as the one in Turkey (See Article 5)? Jefferson’s deliberate word choice reveals that the Declaration of Independence wasn’t just a declaration of grievances or even of our rights.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |