Some South American countries have incorporated into their constitutions the indigenous sumak kawsay code (the “good life”), which guarantees not only the right to happiness, but also gives concrete details about what such a life entails in terms of access to education, clean air and water, time for human relationships and for creativity, and other practicalities. While most Western countries measure societal wellness strictly in terms of national production-a measurement that might work for Wall Street investors but doesn’t tell us much about the real quality of life of the average citizen-Burma and other Buddhist countries have for many years utilized a national happiness index. Many nations recognize that wanting to add to our pleasure and take away from our pain is a sign of compassion and humanity on the part of government and on the part of a society. The most obvious example is the battle for marriage equality, but other struggles-like legalization of marijuana and the struggle for the right to die with dignity-should make us think about the best ways in which humanism can coherently influence policy. Religious attacks on civil rights and liberties oftentimes constitute, in essence, attacks on the right of individuals to pursue happiness. “We must, therefore, pursue the things that make for happiness, seeing that when happiness is present, we have everything but when it is absent, we do everything to possess it.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |