Wait, I thought that proper food socialization and nutritional enforcement was the “top government priority.” Seriously. You government types need to pull your czars together and figure out some sort of centralized hierarchy. LAT:
Someday in the not-too-distant future, the U.S. departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice and Labor could be joined be a new executive branch entity: The Department of Happiness.
That’s right. There’s a growing movement among economists and other researchers to make the psychological well-being of citizens a major government priority. The first step, they say, is to come up with a way to measure a nation’s happiness. Ideally they’d like to be able to boil it all down into a single statistic that will resonate with voters – think of it as a mental health equivalent of GDP or the unemployment rate.
[…]
If policymakers were to prioritize happiness over economic growth, they might favor policies aimed at keeping employment stable and unemployment low instead of policies that helped companies maximize their profits. They might also do more to protect the environment and preserve open spaces even if that meant sacrificing a few ticks of GDP […]
I’m sure it’s just coincidental that happiness is largely equated here with a kind of equality of outcome — and that equality of outcome as pushed by a centralized government is tied to the democratic socialism that many on the left support as a matter of foundational ideology.
But leaving that aside, isn’t “the pursuit of happiness” one of our unalienable rights — and so is a right that the government is there to guard, not devise and disperse?
(h/t Darleen)
falling down the rabbit hole. Looks like if the hole is deep enough, you really do end up in China.
I’ve got a book those numnuts should read. “Gross National Happiness” by Arthur C. Brooks. Conclusion? FREEDOM makes people happy.
I mean you can/should read the book yourself – it’s good. But, basically freedom to make your own decisions, even if you fuck up, makes people happiest.
That means the freedom to choose your own healthcare, or not. Freedom to eat what you want, freedom glorious freedom.
You will not feel happy until you are told you can feel happy. “Got a permit for that smile, citizen?”
There’s a growing movement among economists and other researchers to make the psychological well-being of citizens a major government priority.
So which critter has better psychological well-being: a critter in the wild or a critter in the zoo?
After all, the zoo critter gets waited on hand and foot, whereas the wild critter is exposed to the elements and predators.
If the zoo critters are better off, we’d better cancel all those animal rehab programs. What are they thinking, releasing the dears into the dangerous, filthy ecosystem?
Wasn’t this in one of those futuristic novels,”This Perfect Day”, or “The Tomorrow File”?
Life imitates bad art, badly.
newt’s idea of gov’t happiness
Link
I can haz Soma?
In this book I read once there was a Ministry of Love.
That would be even better.
Knowing our political class, we’ll probably get both. Two Minute Hates and Victory Gin on even numbered days, Soma and orgy-porgy on odd.
they don’t really want to know what would make me happy to no end
Two Minute Hates and Victory Gin are how soccer hooliganism got started.
Those odd days sound sorta sweet though. All hail Ford!
We are well and truly screwed.
Where do these twat waffles come from?
I think journalism schools would be the first place to look.
From self esteem to happiness.
Government will leave no feel good social experiment untried.
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Hah, newrouter, I was thinking the same thing.
But leaving that aside, isn’t “the pursuit of happiness” one of our unalienable rights
You know, I’ll confess that til now that particular right in the Declaration kinda stumped me. Seemed awfully broad to me.
Now I get it. It’s so simple.
I guess I just never conceived the government(our government) actually deciding what would make me happy. Them founding fathers were some visionary dudes.
The current bunch? Think soccer is more fun if they don’t keep score.
They know happiness like Obama knows humility.
If they pull that Misery Index out of mothballs and rename it the Happiness Index, Orwell would be happy. Or at least bemused.
Happiness is a government approved warm gun.
Awesome takedown of a cretinous fool.
It they were honest folks, they’d call it the Department of Brainwashing.
“The Computer is your friend. The Computer wants you to be happy. Happiness is mandatory. Failure to be happy is treason. Treason is punishable by summary execution.” — Paranoia
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HappinessIsMandatory
Fitter happier more productive comfortable not drinking too much regular exercise at the gym (3 days a week) getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries at east eat well (no more microwave dinners and saturated fats) …
Fitter, healthier and more productive a pig in a cage on antibiotics
I am already resonating with anticipation.
You know who I’ve noticed always seem happy? Retard people.
The Gross Underlying Mental Product.
That’s because Jefferson was too much of mealy-mouthed, wishy-washy, feel-good, limousine-liberal pussy to include something as crass and commercial as “property” in his holy writ.
You know who I’ve noticed always seem happy? Retard people.
You have no idea how happy we are over here, Abe. Positively beaming with happiness.
I am so happy I could just
shitresonate.“..make the psychological well-being of citizens a major government priority.”
Which undoubtedly means that our government betters will be defining what psychological well-being looks like. Somehow I’m imagining something along the lines of that “Equilibrium” movie. Don’t want any pesky emotions, they’re so messy and lead to passions, such as anger. Nope, that’s not happy at all.
So, government is shortly to start handing out warm puppies?
For dinner?
With you in phase and amplitude, B. Moe.