Persuasive Essay : The Right To Pursue Happiness?

In the article “What is Happiness?” researchers discover the sources of happiness by saying “50% of our happiness is set by our genes, 10% by life circumstances beyond our control, and 40% by our own actions.” In summary, the government is only slightly responsible for our happiness, and the rest is dictated by our natural-born instincts and our gene pool, which the government cannot control. The government cannot interfere with our natural rights because statistically they only affect 10% of our source of happiness, even if the government went to great lengths to help us they would not make a significant difference. In the video “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” the protection of our rights is discussed when saying “Where you live, work, learns and play affects your health and medical care.” Since the government is not able to influence where we work and what we do, the government cannot ensure our happiness as individuals. Both quotes support the argument that the government does not protect our natural rights to the full extent, but in fact ourselves and the things we do influence the way we feel and how secure we are about ourselves. This sense of feeling secure and happy has grown since our country’s founding because our

The pursuit of happiness has an interesting collection of meanings behind it. Americans are free to become whatever they want to be. To study what interests a person is what makes them happy. Once something deeply interests a person, he or she is drawn in to want to learn more about it. Pursuing a career that is related to someone’s likes is the essence of what can make a person content. To choose to or not to have a family is a personal decision that Americans are allowed to make. One person might enjoy living alone while another likes having the company of family. Creating a family is a pursuit of happiness for certain people, but for others, living alone is peaceful and a comfortable way of living. How one chooses to live is a choice made pertaining to the normal routine of daily life. One might watch television with dinner or sit his or her family down to have a meal together. While one person enjoys exercising regularly, another could be perfectly happy with the use of electronic devices daily. A home might be clean and organized or messy and scattered; it is the choice of the home owner. The pursuit of happiness is made up of different components depending on the

On July 4th, 1776 our founding father's got together to create, “The Declaration of Independence” One of the quotes that benefit all U.S. citizens is that all people living in the United States are entitled to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Life, meaning every person has the right to live, to literally be alive. Liberty, meaning every person has the right to be whatever they choose, and to live their life however they want. The Pursuit of Happiness, meaning every person has the right to pursue happiness and do whatever makes them happy. These are inalienable rights that can never be taken away. John Locke is the person that created the phrase “The Pursuit of Happiness”, but Thomas Jefferson is the person that thought it was a good idea to put that in The Declaration of Independence. What does this phrase mean for us today? What did it mean for people in the past? What was

Happiness is one of the great themes that makes our lives better. It’s a motivation to commit toward something to keep the feeling active. Whether it’s getting high on substances, making money, or even having enough to get by, Americans desire happiness in one form or another. Walter Mosley, author of, “Be Happy”, expresses his opinion in his article, towards who is responsible for one’s happiness. His confidence lies on believing that it’s an individual's complete obligation to be content with themselves and not anyone else’s. He suggests that the following statement, "the pursuit of happiness is an ‘unalienable right’.”, in the Declaration of Independence, claims that the government is responsible for ensuring most to all Americans’ path to happiness. I believe that the happiness of the American people, should be partly dependant upon by the individuals themselves, and by the government. It builds upon the approach a person has towards everything, but also Uncle Sam initially, pledged to attempt to satisfy the people of America.

According to another source, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” Andrew Sullivan stated, “I believe in the pursuit of happiness. Not its attainment, nor its final definition, but it's pursuit” (Doc B). People need to work for their happiness. The United States gives people many opportunities to pursue whatever they would like.

The pursuit of happiness is unlimited happiness, and not happiness that goes away quickly. Pursuit of happiness is a right that everyone has, and it is obtained by the enforcement of power in the Declaration of Independence.

From the beginning of our lives, our parents, for the most part, want us to be happy. Pursuing that happiness becomes a goal that we strive for on an everyday basis. In America, it’s the American Dream. People come to this country in search of that elusive happiness. Ever since Thomas Jefferson wrote a very important sentence in our Declaration of Independence: “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” (Jefferson), our goals have been the same; searching for that happiness no matter what. However, as Ray Bradbury writes, if we focus too much on those aspects that make us

This statement begs the questions if everyone is content with life even if they are denied all imaginable freedoms is it a utopia? Is it a life worth living if you do not get to choose your own destiny? Conditioning people to feel a certain way today is certainly wrong and we are told we have the right to the”pursuit of happiness.” is that more important than happiness?

The path to happiness is not a smooth sail, but more of a curvy road where there are bumps and turns that are unexpected, with no signs to warn you. As Lebron stated in his article, there are three ideals of being a part of a free society, that involves happiness and the path to it. "First, to plan for a life one must be able to see an open path to basic resources necessary to make good on a plan, such as education, housing and health care"(Lebron). The ups and

‘We have no Right to Happiness’ makes a very good argument on the point the author is trying to make. Some people believe that happiness is a right and is supposed to be given out, or is required to be provided by the government, like a right. In all reality that is true, but to an extent, we do have a right to

Our parents always told us that we should have goals and dreams in our life, and through them we will gain happiness. There are some things in life that get in the way of our dreams and goals. In the Declaration of Independence, It states that we have the right to pursue happiness. For example having everybody in the world be equal, and not be shamed upon or looked at differently due to the color of their skin. The poem ¨The Negro Mother,¨ the play A Raisin in the Sun, and the article Innocence Is Irrelevant, all show how our society and they way people can get in the way of our happiness.

In the U.S. Declaration of Independence the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental right, but what exactly is happiness? According to Webster 's happiness is defined as a mental or emotional state of well being by positive emotions ranging from contentment to joy. But if we considered happiness as a trait rather than a transient state of being, than happiness wouldn’t be considered “joyful” or even feeling content with life. Instead happiness would perhaps include a sense of hopefulness and serenity and would be looked at as more of a contributor to one’s happiness. Ed Diener is a psychologist and a professor at University of Illinois and was the first person to identify the contributing factors to happiness and speaks about it in his book Happiness. Diener explains that happiness does matter in many different ways and uses three decades of research to explain happiness, suggesting that,“There is preliminary evidence that people who score higher on the well-being scales have better social and work relationships; make more money, live longer, healthier lives, and are more contributory societal citizens”(Conkle). Happiness comes in many different forms depending on the person. Family, friends, health, peace and values can all mean something to someone 's happiness but that doesn 't necessarily mean it’s a contributing factor(Tamayo). The extent of happiness is determined on not only actions but contributions, therefore if these

Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Health, United States, 2002. Flegal et. al. JAMA. 2002;288:1723-7. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, 1998.

Why spend money that is really needed for other things? Why live uncomfortably? Why be trapped in this hole called a home that belongs to another person? Why not live free and peacefully? When a person rents he or she usually throws away money that could be used to purchase something that belongs to them. Money is not easy to come by so why pay out hundreds toward something that is not benefit to the person paying it out. There is no good explanation for making a decision like this. The best option in a situation like this is to buy a house. Buying a house is a better option than renting an apartment.

Having escaped rule from a tyrannical British government, the United States was founded on ideals of freedom and equality for all people. These fantasies of universal egalitarianism turned out to be merely that: fantasies. American history is full of stories of the oppressed struggling to get the rights they deserve and of the controversy over these issues that consequently ensues. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” by Frederick Douglass and “We Shall Overcome” by Lyndon B. Johnson are two speeches made confronting two of these issues. Douglass’s speech, delivered in 1852, condemns the institution of slavery and maintains that slaves are men and are therefore entitled to freedom. Johnson’s speech, on the other hand, was written in 1965 and discussed the civil rights movement. In it, he implored local governments to allow all American citizens, regardless of race, to vote. Despite the significant gap in time between these two addresses, both speakers use similar persuasive techniques, including ethos, pathos, and parallelism, to convince their audience that change needs to be implemented in America.