Private and Public Pursuit of Happiness

 I am willing, and find it necessary, to delegate a great deal of my public pursuit of happiness to other people, elected or not. I vote at every opportunity, make small donations to people and non-profits, express my interests via blogs and petitions, and keep track of how the people and institutions to whom I have delegated my public pursuit of happiness are performing. The opportunities for all this are best supported in a democracy.

My private pursuit of happiness mainly involves reading, cooking and eating out with my spouse. It is easy to see from my choices that I am not one of the people who find a great deal of their self-satisfaction in public pursuit of happiness. Some of the remarks made by long-serving US senators on the senate's institutional practices seem to indicate the type of people who do take a great deal of their self-satisfaction from the public pursuit of happiness. I am glad such people exist. They seem to have a very high tolerance for the difficulties and frustrations of translating my tiny bit of public pursuit of happiness into public good.

But what about public apathy, corporate campaign contributions, lobbyists and self-interest? Consider again the barriers to converting my public pursuit of happiness into government policy. These barriers exist for corporations, lobbyists and self-interest. Even when all these barriers are overcome and laws, regulations, and policies are enacted, the result may be undone by the public outcry. It is impossible to depend on the public to be apathetic, and people can be incited. This is self-government in a democracy. Self-correcting imbalances are the norm.