No. The pursuit of happiness is a right, but happiness itself is not. So therefore, everyone has the chance to, oh, let's say, send their kid to college with their own money, but it is not entitled to them. They have to work for it. Try. Attempt. so does the student. They have an oppourtunity, but not a guaranteed ride. Obama will try to entitle American's to this right by spreading some wealth. It isn't what America is founded on. We are a country of pursuit. Not one of laziness. Yet. So, we need to stop trying to make happiness a right, and start working on the real mission. The Pursuit of Happiness. I'm sure Will Smith and his son would agree. Haha.

In 1776 the Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, drafted of course by Mr. Thomas Jefferson. Among the most memorable phrases of this history changing document are: "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..." Of the three unalienable rights mentioned the first two are dare I say it, obvious in both intent and meaning. The third right, however, as evidence by this debate is considerably less clear at least to modern society. Read literally it clearly indicates that mankind is not entitled to happiness, rather we are entitled to the opportunity to achieve happiness. Many scholars have chosen to interpret this third right as a right to property, which fits well with the rest of the Declaration and later the Constitution's themes. Still, the begs the question what is happiness? Is it pleasure? Is it complete contentment of wants and needs?

Happiness is such an abstract and elusive concept that can any one of us truly claim to have ever achieved utter bliss for more than a passing moment? The realities of life inevitably pull us from the greatest high. Religion claims that only through spirituality and doctrine can anyone hope to achieve true happiness. Modern consumerism would have us believe that material wealth is the road to lasting happiness. Are either of these paths right or wrong? Not necessarily, and perhaps the answer lies somewhere between the two.

So then, is happiness a right? I do not believe it is; simply because there is no guarantees that we can achieve happiness in our lifetimes. Perhaps, in a Utopian society it might be possible to guarantee happiness but we do not now, nor is it likely we will, live in a Utopian society. The most we can ask for is the opportunity to attempt to achieve happiness; whether it be through material wealth, or though spirituality. In think that we can agree that if by liberty, Mr. Jefferson meant that mankind is free to choose how we are governed and to govern ourselves; by "pursuit of happiness" it is mean that we are free to choose our actions. That society should not impose it's will on the individual. We each should have reasonable latitude to find true happiness without the interference of any other individual. Perhaps then what the Continental Congress was trying to tell us is that the ends are not nearly as important as the journey that brings us there; that happiness cannot be given or found; it must be achieved.

I think we have a right to want to be happy. Whether or not we get it is our choice.