How to be Happy?

As my frustration with things political and economic grows, and as I always feel I am on the cusp of a rant, I wonder how so many around me remain happy, at ease, and content.  I am not sure, but I have a theory.  I look closely at the areas of my greatest angst and wonder how I might release those feelings to achieve a state of daily bliss.  Perhaps if I believed the following I would be happier:

If I believed that the wealthy in our country not only had a right to be wealthy bestowed upon them as almost a divine right, they have a right to increase their wealth even at the expense of the poor, I might be happier.  I should absolve the wealthy of all notions of responsibility for others.  I should argue that promoting the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few somehow benefits those who are most needy.  If I believed that, I would feel less angst.

If I believed that our nation was founded on Christian beliefs and that the purpose of government is to enact law that promotes Christianity, especially certain conservative versions of Christianity that view homosexuality as sinful, same sex marriage as blasphemy, and that females should not have a voice or choice in their ability to reproduce, I might be happier.  I should argue that the state has both the authority and the purpose to promote this form of belief, that there should be staff led prayer in schools, there should be Christian symbols at public buildings, Christians of my ilk should be allowed to discriminate against those with a different sexual orientation, and if push comes to shove, that Anglos are superior to other races, and males are superior to females.  If I believed that, I would feel less angst.

If I believed the Bible was not only the literal truth, but that the book should serve as a superior resource to science for our understanding of our world, I might be happier.  I would argue that the earth is 6,000 years old, that Darwinism is a flawed assumption, that there was no big bang, that God created the universe in 6 days, that humans and dinosaurs co-existed on the planet, that women should submit to their husbands, that God blesses the wealthy, and that the poor and the victims of disaster and violence must have sinned in some way.  I would argue that what we believe is more valid than what we know.  If I believed that, I would feel less angst.

If I believed that our government was in fact our enemy and should be curtailed as much as possible, I might be happier.  If I oppose all governmental intervention in the private sector, I should argue that there should be virtually no regulations controlling businesses, especially Wall Street, banks, environmental pollutes, safety in the workplace and fossil fuel companies.  I should further argue that discrimination in the private sector is OK, paying workers the least amount possible is OK, denying workers expensive benefits is OK, and that forces that work against such beliefs such as unions should be abolished.  If I believed that, I would feel less angst.

If I believed that global warming was a myth; more, that if there is global warming human behavior has not influenced such warming, I might be happier.  I should argue that this is merely a historical cycle and has nothing to do with consumption of fossil fuels and has nothing to do with deforestation, etc.  I would further argue that any governmental effort to curtail possible human influence on the environment is a clear example of government over reach in the private sector.  The pursuit of profit is more important than the environment.  If I believed that, I would feel less angst.

If I believed that America’s public schools are a huge failure, a source of incredible wasteful spending of huge amounts of tax dollars, and lacking the components of the private sector, I might be happier.  I should argue that any strategy that makes public schools look bad such as standardized high stakes testing, labeling schools A to F, holding teachers and schools accountable for student test scores, is a good thing because it helps reduce funding for public schools and promotes shifting tax dollars to the private sector via charters and vouchers.  I should argue there is something inherently wrong with a system of adults who perform public service for children and are immune to a sense of competition, incentives to increase income, and seek to perform more as professionals than technicians.  Such a group is very scary and market forces must be implemented in the school systems to warp them.  I should also argue that the most important function of public education should be to promote the status quo and support the beliefs outlined above.  Schools should never teach students to think critically, to look at problems from multiple angles and to question what we know and what we do.  Any such effort should be quickly squashed.  Further, if we find a public school employee who does not adhere to these beliefs they are dangerous and must be removed.  If I believed that, I would feel less angst.

I guess those are the main areas that are causing me such angst.  If I could just adopt those beliefs outlined above I would be happier, I think.  Should I adopt those beliefs I would find myself surrounded by like thinkers, I would find myself in the majority (at least in Texas), and I would celebrate the efforts of the current state leadership and national congressional leadership.  Oh, to let myself believe those things.

But:  I am the victim of an education.  I learned to read, to read a variety of sources and a variety of opinions.  I learned to think, to systematically analyze what I read looking for consistency and fact.  In short, I believe I know too much to support any of the above beliefs.  My knowledge conflicts with those beliefs and I when there is conflict, I choose knowledge over belief.  Hence my angst.

So I know that every time our nation has moved to promote wealth accumulation rather than provide a safety net for the poor and working poor, the economic system has approached collapse.  And yet we are doing it again.  I know that all those government regulations exist because the market and profit motive is not ethical.  Producers can make more money if they sell goods and services that may harm consumers or harm the employees.  When we have allowed producers to operate without government oversight we have faced terrible consequences for our well-being.  I know that our founding fathers were deathly afraid that our government would endorse or support one religion over another and took great care to separate the function of the government from any belief system.  I know that global warming is not a myth, and human influence on the warming is not a myth.  We helped create the current crisis by pursuing profit over well-being and the long term health of our planet.  I know that the Bible is not a science textbook and I would no more look to it for scientific understanding than I would look to it for help with a computer virus or to tune the engine of my car.  I know the universe is about 14 billion years old and that planet earth is about 4.5 billion years old.  I know that dinosaurs were on the planet from about 230 million years ago until 65 million years ago.  I know that the great apes, including humans, first evolved about 15 million years ago, that modern humans evolved about 1 million to 500,000 years ago.  No way is the planet 6,000 years old, no way dinosaurs and humans co-existed, and no way that evolution is not valid.

And I know that American public schools are doing great, thank you very much.  We are doing great despite the ongoing assault of the private sector to prove otherwise.  Each of the experiments developed by billionaires has failed; each of the efforts to divert public dollars to private efforts has shown no improvement, and each of the efforts to increase accountability has in fact pushed our education system in the wrong direction for selfish reasons.

I cannot forget what I know.  I cannot suddenly believe the sun rotates around the earth and that the earth is the center of the universe when I know so much more.  The beliefs that seem to be the majority in public opinion are for the most part wrong, misinformed or blatant lies.  I do believe that men and women of conscience must speak out against such false beliefs.

And I know that as long as I do not believe and speak out I will not live in a state of daily bliss.  That’s OK.  I firmly believe the knowledge revolution is here and growing and that in the long run knowledge will win over conflicting beliefs.  It always has and always will.  In that I do find some happiness.