Welcome to Gaia! ::

In the gay marriage thread, a lot of people argued that, as long as it didn't interfere with their "life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness" that America apparently so freely gives, they were okay with it.

At a glance, it seems like a perfect addition to the constitution. It's just a cute little quote that makes us comfortable, no?

I have a hard time seeing it as cute, though, because it tries to make us too comfortable.

It starts with "life."
Hey, that's great! No problem there.

Then "liberty."
Yupyup, it's all good! =D

It ends with a grand slam "the persuit of happiness."
Bam, take that, America will totally make you happy . . . right?

This discussion is about the last part of that quote.
Just what is happiness, and how is it gained through rights the constitution gives?

Happiness could be something as simple as doing things that make you happy or being with people that make you happy, but it is impossible for the constitution to enforce that.

Instead, the constitution enforces "happiness" in forms of things.
In a nutshell, the persuit of happiness, according to the constitution, is materialism.

Hey, I won't lie. I like things. I like videogames and ice cream and high defenition televisions just as much as the next person.
However, this "persuit of happiness" means that America is a "marketing-saturated culture that encourages selfishness as a human right."

Not all Americans live in this "persuit of happiness" world.
Of the Americans who do live in the persuit of happiness," how many are actually happy?
Statistics list America as one of the UNhappiest countries in the world.
Canada made top ten list of happiest, btw XDD!

For most of those who actually do put aside the persuit of things to help people, they often assume that people can only be helped in other countries, that because our constitution gives us the right of "happiness," as if it can be given by a constitution, there must not be anyone nearby in need of help.

Often, we'll rush to Africa or a big American city.
No matter where you live on planet Earth, there are people in your neighborhood that lack basic necesities.

"Why do we step over hurting, dying people to get to hurting, dying people?"

I understand this isn't beautifully constructed or anything, but any general opinions, insights, ideas, or thoughts will be interesting to read, whether they are on the topic in general, poverty, or what you think the constitution implies by "the persuit of happiness" or even "life" and "liberty"

I, personally, don't like it when people quote the constitution, because I don't believe the constitution is legit anymore.
It was founded on a country with ethics and morals.
Heloooo! Ethics? Morals? Where have you gone? Not to America XDD!
Thus is why I believe the constitution no longer fits.
I understand things done in the past like racism and sexism are not moral in any way, but thoes issues occure today as well.
The only difference is that they are more dangerous today because people may not realize how prominent they are in almost everything, so they happily skip along and go, "Yay, I have the right to life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness woot!"

That is all. =D

Grammar is no problem, and I cannot expect you to have a formal reply when the argument was informal XDD!

Very nicely put!

I simply think that society focuses on the material more than anything else.

Indeed!

That's one of the reasons I delight so much in other countries.
I am a culture nut, and the American culture gives me no satisfaction.
Therefore, I immerse myself in other cultures.

Yupyup, I see!

I mention the material aspect because "the persuit of happiness" as mentioned by the constitution is defined materialism by the same constitution, I believe.

I could be wrong though.
This is something I mearly heard from several resources, none of which I can truly say are entirely credible.

Well, it was also mentioned here that the constitution was written for a country with morals.
I don't feel like there is as much religious freedom as there was.
A lot of Atheists are arguing that religious people shouldn't talk about their religion at all to anyone.
"Keep thy religion to thyself."
*barf*
These are the same people that go, "Oh, if it doesn't mess with life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness, then I'm all for it."
They're also the same people that say "All Christians are hyppocrites." instead of a truthful "most."
Nao you know why I have a problem with most aitheists.
Sorry if I offended anyone in any way.
I am merely stating what I have heard from so many people, and I clearly said that "most" Atheists bother me.
The select "some" are more thoughtful, in that they think first.
Also note that I do not hold "most" Christians at higher standards at all.
They're worse, in fact. XP

True, America does have much more religeous freedom than most countries.
I just think most people who don't have a religion forget that there is religeous freedom, because I've seen debates where they argue basically taking away the freedom, and they don't even notice it.
However, as far as the countries that don't have it, the people are much stronger.
If you get sent to jail for being a Christian (like the countries I'm talking about, btw), then only the strong ones will stay.
You'll see really quick who the ones who are actually serious are XDD!
So, in a way, it kind of has a good aspect to it, in that you can't get the Americanized Christianity that is pretty much bogus in a box.

Indeed, indeed!
But descrimination based, not on race or sex but on biases, seems to be the most common today.