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A Formula for Happiness

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By ART HUR C. BROOKS Publi shed: December 14, 2013

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HAPPINESS has traditionally been considered an elusive and evanescent thing. To some, even trying to achieve it is an exercise in futility. It has been said that happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Social scientists have caught the butterfly. After 40 years of research, Readers Comments they attribute happiness to three Reader s shar ed their major sources: genes, events and thoughts on this article. values. Armed with this knowledge Read All Comments (256) and a few simple rules, we can improve our lives and the lives of those around us. We can even construct a system that fulfills our founders promises and empowers all Americans to pursue happiness.

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Psychologists and economists have studied happiness for decades. They begin simply enough by asking people how happy they are. The richest data available to social scientists is the University of Chicagos General Social Survey, a survey of Americans conducted since 1972. This widely used resource is considered the scholarly gold standard for understanding social phenomena. The numbers on happiness from the survey are surprisingly consistent. Every other year for four

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decades, roughly a third of Americans have said theyre very happy, and about half report being pretty happy. Only about 10 to 15 percent typically say theyre not too happy. Psychologists have used sophisticated techniques to verify these responses, and such survey results have proved accurate. Beneath these averages are some demographic differences. For many years, researchers found that women were happier than men, although recent studies contend that the gap has narrowed or may even have been reversed. Political junkies might be interested to learn that conservative women are particularly blissful: about 40 percent say they are very happy. That makes them slightly happier than conservative men and significantly happier than liberal women. The unhappiest of all are liberal men; only about a fifth consider themselves very happy. But even demographically identical people vary in their happiness. What explains this? The first answer involves our genes. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have tracked identical twins who were separated as infants and raised by separate families. As genetic carbon copies brought up in different environments, these twins are a social scientists dream, helping us disentangle nature from nurture. These researchers found that we inherit a surprising proportion of our happiness at any given moment around 48 percent. (Since I discovered this, Ive been blaming my parents for my bad moods.) If about half of our happiness is hard-wired in our genes, what about the other half? Its tempting to assume that one-time events like getting a dream job or an Ivy League acceptance letter will permanently bring the happiness we seek. And studies suggest that isolated events do control a big fraction of our happiness up to 40 percent at any given time. But while one-off events do govern a fair amount of our happiness, each events impact proves remarkably short-lived. People assume that major changes like moving to California or getting a big raise will make them permanently better off. They wont. Huge goals may take years of hard work to meet, and the striving itself may be worthwhile, but the happiness they create dissipates after just a few months. So dont bet your well-being on big one-off events. The big brass ring is not the secret to lasting happiness. To review: About half of happiness is genetically determined. Up to an additional 40 percent comes from the things that have occurred in our recent past but that wont last very long. That leaves just about 12 percent. That might not sound like much, but the good news is that we can bring that 12 percent under our control. It turns out that choosing to pursue four basic values of faith, family, community and work is the surest path to happiness, given that a certain percentage is genetic and not under our control in any way. The first three are fairly uncontroversial. Empirical evidence that faith, family and friendships increase happiness and meaning is hardly shocking. Few dying patients regret overinvesting in rich family lives, community ties and spiritual journeys. Work, though, seems less intuitive. Popular culture insists our jobs are drudgery, and one survey recently made headlines by reporting that fewer than a third of American workers felt engaged; that is praised, encouraged, cared for and several other gauges seemingly aimed at measuring how transcendently fulfilled one is at work. Those criteria are too high for most marriages, let alone jobs. What if we ask something simpler: All things considered, how satisfied are you with your job? This simpler approach is more revealing because respondents apply their own standards. This is what the General Social Survey asks, and the results may surprise. More than 50 percent of Americans say they are completely satisfied or very satisfied with their work. This rises to over 80 percent when we include fairly satisfied. This finding generally holds across income and education levels.

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Arthur C. Brooks is the president of the American Enterprise Institute, a public policy think tank in Washington, D.C.
A version of this op-ed appears in print on December 15, 2013, on page SR1 of the New York edition w ith the headline: A Formula for Happiness.
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256 Comments
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jtbeer

new jersey

"When I taught graduate students, I noticed that social entrepreneurs who pursued nonprofit careers were some of my happiest graduates. They made less money than many of their classmates, but were no less certain that they were earning their success. They defined that success in nonmonetary terms and delighted in it." But wait I thought liberals were surv ey ed as being less happy .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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tim s.

longmont

Well written piece on meaningful work being important to one's ov erall happiness. Howev er, the summarizing paragraphs are pure polemics reflecting the AEI party line. Of course, this is an opinion column. I agree with other comments: NY T, don't carry the AEI's water; they hav e plenty of media shills to do it for them.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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Two To Beam Up

illinois

so basically "don't worry - be happy ." And ignore the labeling "commentators" here - who need someone to blame, ex cept themselv es of course. Time to practice for the Christmas Cantata.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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Sherry Wacker

Oakland

The TAO teaches that the only way to be happy is not to desire. This is against ev ery thing we learn in America where success is defined by the dream of becoming rich or powerful and the belief that ev ery one is on a lev el play ing field to get what they want. Desire giv es us driv e to succeed. It also makes us discontented with the liv es we hav e. If conserv ativ e women hav e a higher happiness quota I feel it is because they hav e a naiv e faith that god and paternalistic males will take care of them.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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Dr. LZC

medford

I hope the NY T will also print an op-ed on "happiness" or "lov e" or the "meaning of life" from someone of a progressiv e political persuasion who doesn't feel the need to pee on teachers in an aside, as though it had somehow been scientifically prov en that their pay and benefits, v s. say the pay and benefits of corporate leaders or members of Congress

directly took bread and opportunity out of the mouth of babes. In reality , teachers and students are united; how y ou treat either party affects the other. Resources for all, including parents, are required; it's not either/or choice as Mr. Brooks seems to suggest. Moreov er, if a middle-class standard is a happiness fundamental, is Mr. Brooks suggesting a socialist prescription to prop up the three-legged stool of "happiness"?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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R Head

editorial

Tell that to the millions of working poor who get a bare minimum wage, often hav e two jobs and still lack. Then there are the happy Goldman Sachs guy s getting $1000 per hour. Follow y our passion, an age old say ing that gets people in serious financial trouble. If we had a fair sy stem that allowed for child care, health care , education and retirement (can y ou say Sweden?) then people would hav e the basics and could practice this idea of doing what fulfills them. Howev er , in our inequality sy stem taken ov er by the Rich , thats is not an option.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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MLHE

Phoenix

Y esterday a friend said, "The reason we came to Earth is to learn how to communicate with one another. Relationships are like y oga--they are a practice!" Happiness is relational. It is relativ e. It is theory !
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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Jeff

Evanston, IL

I think liberals are less happy because they face the truth. They don't ignore other people's suffering. They don't hold beliefs that reliable scientific discov ery has shown to be false. They don't think that their own personal happiness is more important than the happiness of others. This is why , for ex ample, they are against cutting off food stamps. It's why they want to lower the unemploy ment rate by hav ing the federal gov ernment inv est in infrastructure and education. It's a cruel joke that the author, who is the president of the American Enterprise Institute, should point out that unemploy ment is a huge cause of unhappiness while the Republican Party is doing ev ery thing it can to push austerity and keep the economy mov ing slowly so long as President Obama is in office.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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211

Me

Here

What about phy sical maladies? Don't they play a significant role? I would hav e labeled my self "satisfied and happy " until I dev eloped chronic nerv e pain. Someone much wiser than me said "phy sical pain is the greatest ev il".
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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Bob Tube

Los Angeles

Mr. Brooks' recommendations for preserv ing the social safety net and creating more social mobility are the v ery soul of irony , coming from the president of a think tank that is a wholly -owned subsidiary of country club Republicans, at a time when 25 Republican gov ernors hav e refused to ex pand Medicaid and House Republicans whack unemploy ment benefits and food assistance for those Americans most desperately in need. That's really rich.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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Hanrod

Orange County, CA

Well, I should first hav e noticed the source of this, conclusionary , report of these "conslusions", i.e. Brooks and the, conserv ativ e, right-wing, American Enterprise think tank folks. An ex ample of the weak, pathetic statements here, near the end, is the one: "It is not enough to assume that our sy stem blesses each of us with equal opportunities". "Not enough"? How about "inaccurate" or ev en "flat wrong"? Dream on Professor Brooks, y ou are just not liv ing in the real world; and a fix ed amount of resources and a growing population is only making that real world worse. Y es, y ou

will need y our "faith" to believ e that any thing good is coming our way .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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Lynn

Nevada

It is great to hav e someone who works for a conserv ativ e think tank understand that income inequality is not good for America. But there are sev eral important points that he muddles to probably appease his conserv ativ e mind. First of all, he still applauds competition and free enterprise, but does not address the fact that most of the rich get rich using the labor of others and increasingly that means stagnant or declining wages and benefits, which also means tax pay ers hav e to fill the gap between low wages and the cost of liv ing. I help pay for those rich to get rich off of the labor of the working poor. Conserv ativ e don't understand that. Second, I hope that Mr. Brooks recognizes that faith does not equate with religion. "Faith" can be completely dev oid of God, it can be faith in the fellow man and one can hav e great happiness as an atheist. Rather than faith and v alues, I would say state of mind. We really can control our reactions to things and ev en adjust our moods and outlook. That is the ty pe of self-gov ernment we really need, but it is hard to learn especially in a consumptiv e society where we believ e ex ternal rewards and material possessions bring us happiness. It takes practice to be emotionally and socially intelligent, but when we behav e in those way s and get into that state of mind we are much more content. To make his arguments more relev ant, I would adv ise Mr. Brooks to broaden his language and perspectiv e to include the other half of the population.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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TMSG

Chicago

It's not really surprising that people, for whom the controllable portion of their happiness depends on building their own life and doing well in the things they can control are happier than people, for whom the controllable portion of their happiness depends on controlling the actions and perceptions of reality of other people.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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Runaway

The Desert
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How about hedge fund trimming?

Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m. 18

Maureen O'Brien

Middleburg Heights, Ohio

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So, Arthur, we all should be free sty ling entrepenuers?

Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m. 5

Guy Spector

Chicago

Amazing to me how many comments seem obsessed with who the author is. Either the message is correct, or it isn't. I don't see how y ou can argue with the message. Does the part about religion bother y ou? Well, I'm an atheist, but I'm willing to admit that being inv olv ed in a religion is one path in giv ing an indiv idual a sense of community . IMO, the only thing missing is the importance of one's standing, relativ e to others in y our sphere. May be y ou buy y our clothes at Target, and y ou're perfectly happy about that. Ev entually y ou realize that y our friends shop at Nordstrom. I'm guessing y ou'll be (at least) a little less happy . Y es, this is a response that many of us would regard as shallow, but it's human nature.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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JumpinJack

San Diego

I think that we are most content when our jobs coincide with our abilities. I thought that I, with parental consent and enthusiasm, was going to be a civ il engineer. The V ietnam War interrupted that. I took a job as an apprentice mechanic as those were the only jobs av ailable for future draftees. I remained in the trade all my life and lov ed it! The

teachings of Carl Jung as ex pressed by the My ers-Briggs Indicator confirmed this. I am an ISTJ; the decider. Auto mechanics is a series of problem/solution ev ents. Civ il engineering was ex actly wrong for me. Civ il engineers can spend their whole career working on a freeway sy stem and nev er complete it. It is the "process" that they like. More happiness in Europe might relate more to being able to find a trade to work at, rather than hav ing to ex ist in a job that y ou are not suited for.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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js

washington, dc

"Faith" is required for happiness? Sounds like he's condemned atheists to eternal unhappiness. I was immediately suspicious of this article as soon as I saw that word.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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51

new york ,ny

"half genetic" means that, half of the time, the difference between y our and my happiness is due to genes. so the cause is 100% genetic. also, that's just the genes that we understand. it may all be mostly genetic but we simply cannot prov e it y et because the genes hav en't been identified y et.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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Guitar Man

New York

Dear Arthur, Ex cellent, ex cellent article. The paragraph containing the first reference to Kahneman hit home - I'v e been a believ er of this for many y ears. A request: Please find a way to get this article into the hands of one Democrat in the House and one in the Senate and allow each to use it as a speech to be read v erbatim. And force the conserv ativ es to listen to each and ev ery sy llable.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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Jason

North River, NY

Ev en though Mr. Brooks is president of the American Enterprise Institute he doesn't hav e a clue about genetics of so-called identical twins. They are not identical--same genes, possibly , but those genes are differentially regulated. It is called epigenetics and I suggest he do a bit of reading before he spouts any more of his nonsense science. Secondly , what genes hav e been identified that predict happiness? The NY T needs to dev elop some standards for their op-ed contributors.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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daved

Bel Air, Maryland

I'd be much happier if I liv ed in a world where there was less disparity of income, where the precious fragile env ironment of our planet was protected, where so many creatures were not threatened with ex tinction, where the numbers of our human species was stable and liv ed in balance with our natural world. I don't think the American Enterprise Institute can help me much - in fact I suspect they 're incapable of dealing with any of these really fundamental problems.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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CEO

Houston, TX

Wish the author tell us what he means by faith, family , community and work, before his associations to empirical ev idence. Another propaganda for "free enterprise" and the infallibility of the founders who foresaw all and all from the beginning of whatsoev er to the end of what? Sad note of our times and the corruption of "science" for the sake of ideology .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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28

personwithabrain

planetearth

In 30 y ears of reading the NY Times, this is without a doubt the most intellectually dishonest article that's ev er been published in this pages. So v ery disheartening ...
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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Susan

Seattle, WA

Oh, for heav en's sake, sound science or not, the tone of this article is rev olting. The author comes across as a guy with sev eral not-just-silv erbut-actual-gold spoons sticking out of his self-satisfied mouth. Oh, and BTW, the science itself was presented much more effectiv ely on public TV last week, in a program called "Happy ".
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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62

imagiste

currently in motion, CA

Of course those percentages only really apply to subsets of indiv iduals and at particular points or interv als in time, not for ev ery one at all times. So the aggregate conclusion tends toward uselessness for the indiv idual. Y ou can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but y ou cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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Marty f

California

The 40% is NOT only random short term happiness. Each indiv idual subjectiv ely knows what ex periences bring them JOY . This can be ex periencing a SUNSET or watching children play on a beach. The writers focus on the 1 2% does not recognize that a concerted daily effort on the Discov ery and enjoy ment of finding and repeating the 40% random ev ents when added to the 1 2% v alues pursuit can bring happiness into our liv es 52% of the time. In summary . We should not wait for the 40% as if we were waiting for Godot Jefferson adv ised that we hav e a right to PURSUE happiness As a lifelong pessimist,I would agree
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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Ivo

Whistler

On the other note: if making ov er certain amount does not really increase happiness, while making below certain amount clearly destroy s happiness, then we should redistribute income - so nobody is below the happiness threshold, and nobody takes in more than necessary to be happy , instead of blabbing about the free enterprise.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.
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Floretta

NY

In short, to those to whom much is giv en, much is ex pected. And, follow y our bliss.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
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AZ

DC
RECOMMENDED

Hmmmmmmm...I think this might be propaganda.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m. 26

G. Sears

Johnson City, TN

Got it. Well sort of, kind of, may be. Now someone please tell just what in the world happiness is? Ah, eureka, must be something akin to the opposite of unhappiness. Well sort of, kind of, may be. And by the way , which gene was it that makes ev ery thing copacetic?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
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barrie a wigmore

ny, ny

It requires some twisting of the meaning of "a job" to ex plain the happiness of women before they were emancipated to join the work force (assuming their happiness has held more or less constant).
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
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NM

NY

There are so many intriguing elements in this article! Happiness can be seen not only as a state in itself, but also as the absence of unhappiness. When I consider what often makes us unhappy isolation, insecurity , aimlessness - I see why employ ment has a positiv e effect. Work offers routine, focus, stability , dignity and social connections. Ev en when I bemoan a try ing day , I am grateful to hav e my job keeping me grounded. I agree that happiness, like other aspects of personality , is significantly innate and genetics seem to outweigh other v ariables. Within my family , the sibling who has the least money is by miles the happiest. This brother has had a positiv e outlook all his life and his disposition has alway s endeared him to others and facilitated relationships like his strong marriage, which, in turn, increase his happiness. We all hav e to take the bitter with the sweet in life. Hopefully , there is more of the latter than the former and we hav e good health to carry us through it.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
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jrpardinas

San Diego

Since the author is by his own account one of those predestined to imperturbable happiness, I do not feel as guilty about say ing that this article reads like pabulum and leav es the impression of mindlessly superficial ov er-generalized "happy talk."
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
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nlitinme

san diego

This strikes me as being near useless. For one thing, what makes a study from 197 2 relev ant today ? To say 48% of our happiness is genetically determined is a little absurd. This is a science and math thing, an area where we in the USA are really challenged. There was a book on happiness written a few y ears ago, a simple study , international and what was found makes a lot more sense. The happiest people in the world hav e this in common-strong family and social ties, a gov ernment that promotes and supports general wellbeing and safety and a spiritual foundation of some sort. The happiest places in the world? There was a place in Mex ico, a city in Denmark, Singapore and a place in India. There is a documentary on happiness as well- strong social/family ties and support and spiritual beliefs are big factors.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
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Susan

Abuja, Nigeria

One of the silliest articles I'v e read in a long time. It must hav e made Mr. Brooks v ery happy to write it.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
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Vikram

Brookline

Any one who believ es that ~50% of our happiness is genetic would do well to run some basic research, they will quickly find Mr. Brooks' number to be a false one. Why would a 1 per-center care at all about the happiness of others? It's plain as day this is not the case, from Walmart's food collection driv e for its grossly underpaid employ ees to the remov al of food stamps at Christmas, to the hard fight against a health care sy stem whose purpose is to prev ent the bankruptcy -inducing costs of a bloated health care sy stem. Quite interesting that someone who adv ocates for keeping the middleand lower-classes down by lobby ing the more conserv ativ e members of

congress and who works diligently to further empower the 1 % should author this article. Not surprising that his findings show conserv ativ es to be happier on av erage than liberals. Sad to say , simply because of Mr. Brooks' affiliations I cannot trust the numbers in his article. Conserv ativ e republicans hav e prov en themselv es to be any thing but moral and honest, in fact this article wound up twisting from the source of happiness to adv ocating for free enterprise. Disgusting.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
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HN

New Orleans
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I stopped reading this mess at the faith part.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m. 20

Tom

NYC

I don't know why the Times insists on publishing such driv el. It's perfectly suitable material for a church newsletter. But it's the concerted efforts of groups like the AEI ("think tank" is a far too generous characterization, I think) ov er the past 30-40 y ears that hav e bullied editors of mainstream publications into publishing sheer nonsense for the sake of appearing "balanced." The effect has been to giv e v oice to cooks and false legitimacy to cherry -picked or purely fabricated data presented as empirical ev idence in support of a purely political aim. That's not balance. It's certainly not journalism. It's just nonsense, and any good journalist or editor would present it as such.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
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Paul

11211

I would say of course conserv ativ es are "happier" than liberals. It's to easier to be so when y ou distance y ourself from the suffering of others, and y our responsibilities to help those in need. In their univ erse all unhappiness is due to one's own failures ( so why is it my problem?"). It is much more difficult t be happy when suffering is so prev alent in this world, and when we understand that the real distance between y our own well-being and theirs is an illusion at best. I guess I fall into the category of "unhappy " liberal male. But hav ing a "happy " life was nev er a goal of mine. Rather it was to hav e a full one. And if that means ex periencing the unhappiness of others as it it were my own, then so be it. I may not feel happy often, but I alway s feel human. A trade I v ery "happily " would make any day of the week.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:56 a.m.
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Bathsheba Robie

New England

I liked the article until 1) I saw what "job" the author had and 2) read his pean to free enterprise. No hedges on hedge funds. Come on. I note that in his discussion of the impact of ev ents on one's life that barely a word was spent on analy zing the impact of a disastrous ev ent on happiness. Getting that raise or promotion may only make y ou happy for a short time, but I can guarantee that being fired and becoming permanently unemploy ed and/or dev eloping a serious uncurable diseases will hav e a long term impact on y our happiness index . And unrestrained libertarian capitalism will not buffer the fall. Unemploy ment usually means uninsured and unless y ou're 22, priv ate health insurance premiums were laughably high. All it takes is a major uncurable disease and y our misery index will soar. Hopefully the financial impact of a health disaster will be mitigated under Obama care, something his "think tank" was adamantly opposed to. Finally , the loss of a job which y ou lov ed, gav e y ou status and the inability to find another due to age discrimation or no market for y our skill set because of a down market, is not helped by unemploy ment benefits which equal what a part-timer at McDonald's would make. Perhaps the Times should allow someone to discuss the impact of our free market on our misery index . May be those Northern Europeans are happier because of the benefits they receiv e and their greater limits on unrestrained capitalism.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:56 a.m.
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James Murphy

Providence Forge, Virginia

As a Democrat, I would be supremely unhappy to wake up one day to find that my nightmare had been real--I really was working for the American Enterprise Institute or, worse, the Heritage Foundation. As it is, I'm a v ery happy member of the fiv e percent.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:56 a.m.
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scholastica8

Inglewood, CA

As a genealogist, I'v e long believ ed that genes hav e a far greater impact on our psy chology & emotions than credited in the past. I see generation after generation of families repeat the same behav iors... make the same mistakes or repeat their successes. I see suicide run in families... & not parents & children... or siblings... but a great-uncle, a cousin, etc... who didn't know each other & didn't liv e remotely similar liv es. The older I grow, the more I recognize my behav iors, etc as those of my parents... sometimes I'll realize, that's my mother... or that's my father. At the time, what they did or said made no sense... or I didn't giv e it a thought. When I was 1 0, they were 50... Now that I'm finished with my 50s... & I'm finally entering their period of life which I remember, but as an adult. My dad slept with a radio on under his pillow. I sleep with the TV on, turned down low. Why ? It acts as white noise & helps stop anx ious thoughts. Now I understand the radio, whose murmurs drov e me nuts.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:56 a.m.
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c2396

SF Bay Area

For me, happiness is freedom and enough money to enjoy it. Not riches, just enough money to pay for life's essentials, with a little left ov er for things like trav el; entertainment such as opera and dance performances; v olunteering in unpaid positions to support organizations whose goals y ou support; ongoing univ ersity education; and little lux uries like an occasional meal at a terrific restaurant. The best work I ev er did was as a newspaper reporter and editor, which combined elements of immediate gratification with the ability to benefit people in some v ery concrete way s. Being selfish in a healthy way (meaning not being selfish in a way that hurts any one else) while helping others is, for me, as good as it gets on the job. I'v e alway s been a liberal. I alway s will be. And throughout most of my life I'v e been happy . But nev er happier than since I retired. My time is my own, and I'm ex traordinarily fortunate to be financially secure, although certainly not rich. Freedom and financial security . That's my recipe for happiness. After that, it's all about choices. And this is a world in which there are so many opportunities to be happy , it would be impossible to take adv antage of all of them.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:56 a.m.
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Kathy Roberts

Orange County, NY
RECOMMENDED

If I had enough money to liv e on, I'd be happy , too.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m. 26

jept54

New York City

Didn't Mr. Brooks intend for this to be published in the Wall St. Journal?? I am astounded that the New Y ork Times has inflicted this clap-trap on us. Thank y ou to all who hav e commented to illuminated the flaws in this sort of self-serv ing spin.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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JD

CA
RECOMMENDED

Three words... Ignorance. Is. Bliss.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m. 28

Ivo

Whistler

A conserv ativ e think-tank is telling us we shall be more happy if we are conserv ativ e, what a shocking surprise. Embrace v alues like faith, family , community and WORK, and y ou will be happy . This should be read with Trent Raznor's "Happiness in Slav ery " humming in the background. Although, Arthur C. Brooks, the president of the American Enterprise Institute, who wrote this, did depart from conserv ativ e orthodox y , adv ocating capitalism with a more humane face. May be those who play music can't truly be ev il. Still, his main prescription is more free enterprise. Which seems to me like a homeopathic remedy .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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Kyle

Elkhorn Slough, California Central Coast

Near the end of the article he sight countries that hav e much higher rates of social mobility ; Scandinav ia and Canada. These are some of the most renowned social welfare states. Then in complete rev ersal he states that we need more free enterprise. The two are complete contradiction. So what we need is a more social welfare state and less laizze faire economics is what I take away from this artical, not more "free enterprise"
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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Jill

Minneapolis

I lov e when NY Times writers write about how happiness is only linked to income before reaching upper middle class as if this is some easily achiev able goal. For the rest of us, those of us who were not born into priv ilege, it isn't. It's a daily struggle. This kind of attitude and this study makes me think the pursuit of happiness is nice for those who can afford it.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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Douglas

Wisconsin

There is no debate about most of this article about happiness. There is no debate that capitalism and free enterprise are essential. The bulk of the article outlines the problem. It is unfortunate that the last 3 paragraphs are included, address only one facet of the solution and hav e drawn the attention they hav e in the comments. The point they fail to discuss is to what ex tent is tax ation and regulation of free enterprise appropriate to support the goal of societal success and that is the sticking point.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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Christine Mcmorrow

Waltham, Massachusetts

I liked this essay until it drifted into work, mobility and the wonders of free enterprise. What an economic sy stem has to do with indiv idual happiness is any one's guess. It seems to be a forced segue. So let me address the first part, about the co-efficients of happiness as the author sees them: genes, ev ents and v alues. I fully agree with the genes part, to which I would add "nuture"--the thoughts and attitudes instilled in us from an early age by our families. A depressiv e by nature, it's taken me a lifetime to ov ercome my dad's innate Irish melancholy and glass half empty worldv iew. I also agree with ev ents, although I see them more as triggers than personality driv ers. Ev ents do hav e the power to test, and challenges, but they also hav e the power to teach, helping us learn new response mechanisms. This has been true in my life since I joined a recov ery program 33 y ears ago. As for v alues, well, I believ e v alues don't hav e to be all carv ed in stone. Since the author suddenly went political, I will too. Most of my life I followed my dad's leanings towards conserv atism. In the past 5 y ears, I'v e turned dramatically liberal. While this switch may not hav e made me happy , it's made me happier with my self. I simply feel that the tolerance, lov e, and serv ice I hold dear to day are better ex pressed in the v alues of the Democratic party . But in the end, I also believ e happiness is a choice, as Lincoln famously said. Today , I choose to be happy more often than not.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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GH

Princeton, NJ

Mr. Brooks makes an illogical leap when he say s that we must "declare war on barriers to entrepreneurship at all lev els, from hedge funds to hedge trimming". Reasonable regulation of entrepreneurship, ev en regulation that some see as a barrier, is necessary for the general welfare. Unregulated hedge funds? Ridiculous.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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missjadwiga

Omaha, NE

I can believ e that many people enjoy the kinds of jobs that other people disdain. My mother enjoy ed being a waitress because it gav e her a chance to talk to people, and my father truly lov ed being a policeman (who only once drew his gun in the line of duty , so that wasn't the appeal for him). But I hav e my doubts about enshrining the founding fathers' inalienable right to "life, liberty , and the pursuit of happiness" as a "moral conv enant." I thought Jefferson borrowed the phrase from John Locke, whose original words were "life, liberty and the pursuit of property ," and that the founding fathers changed it to "happiness" not out of any moral impulse but because they were the ones with the property and they didn't want ev ery one else pursuing it. I could be mistaken.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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Ignacio Gotz

Point Harbor, NC

I think that any research on happiness based on surv ey s is flawed, for the simple reason that it relies on what PEOPLE think happiness is, and people hav e a v ery narrow v iew of happiness; therefore the results are going to be skewed. World-wide, and across centuries, people hav e defined happiness as contemplation, as possessing things, as contentment, as ex hilaration, as striv ing, and hav e written ex tensiv ely about this. Think of saints and scholars, millionaires, sy barites, athletes, and ex plorers: all such people found happiness in something specific and identifiable. Moreov er, what makes a person happy at one age may shift when the person matures and grows older. And then there are Christians and Muslims for whom earthly happiness does not really count, the only one being the happiness of the "elect" in heav en. The sensible thing to do is to admit that happiness wears many faces in different climes and cultures ov er time. It is a truly cross-cultural ex perience whose definition is not contained by any formula. One could say that happiness is the preponderance of satisfaction ov er desires ov er a lifetime, a formula that can then be filled by whatev er satisfaction the indiv idual or the culture may propose. I find happiness in reading, listening to music, pray ing, and just pondering "things," all of which are contemplativ e activ ities; but I hav e also found enjoy ment in play ing basketball or soccer, in eating a good meal with friends, and in trav eling. And in just liv ing!
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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A. Harris

Billings, Montana

"We would do well to remember that before scoffing at 'dead end jobs'. ". These, he say s , are jobs that lack prestige and are low income and worked at by people with the least educations. I don 't personally know of any one who scoffs at or derides low pay ing jobs. I do know a lot of people who feel the minimum wage should be raised to be the liv able wage it was 40 or so y ears ago. I don't think the Walmart sales associate reading this opinion piece necessarily scoffs at his or her job. I do think that person might wish that he or she did not hav e to take a second job in order to pay the rent.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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NTS

Virginia

I do believ e I am the opposite of what the author poses. I am alway s happy and hav e situational sadness based on 'off' ev ents. I tell my husband that I hav e a human imperativ e to help those less fortunate then my self. We are not rich, we hav e steady income, but my spare time is spent try ing to adv ocate for things that reduce homelessness, pov erty , disease, etc. We are less a community and more a corporate structure leav ing so

many stagnate at the bottom with no hope of bettering their circumstances. That seems to be OK with those at the top of the earnings scale. And why shouldn't it be? They don't hav e too worry about going hungry , or bankruptcy from medical ex penses, unemploy ment or any of the other situations that are lumped in to that my sterious 47 % of takers. Free enterprise only works when all things are equal. Access to and the ability to take adv antage of the bounties only work when we hav e laws and policies that render inequality a thing of the past. When money equals v otes how are the less wealthy supposed to compete? I don't resent rich people, I am happy for them. I do howev er resent the rich working so tirelessly to tip the scales in their fav or. The interesting thing is, I don't see much difference between corporate socialism that benefits the current top earners and true socialism the fear mongers claim we are leaning toward. But may be I don't hav e enough faith, don't work hard enough, or possibly I am genetically defectiv e.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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Naushad Khan

Thanjavur

Human wants are unlimited. Happiness is not hav ing or possessing more but y ou need no more. Driv en by greed and try ing to achiev e more than what we deserv e and need is the reason behind all miseries of life.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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Alexia

RI

Once I saw bumper sticker that said: "happiness is coming". Lets not forget that fun is the reason why socializing makes people happy . The right kind of socializing is important though, and more elusiv e now; 'meetups' with a bunch of strangers as a way of building a social circle of support is difficult, and fleeting.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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J Voigt

Sewanee, TN

CORRECTION: "These researchers found that we inherit a surprising proportion of our happiness at any giv en moment around 48 percent." Close. John Hodgman informs me that the actual proportion is 47 .35 percent. Therefore, it would hav e been more accurate to say "around 47 percent". That leav es an ex tra 1% unaccounted for in the ov erall portfolio of factors contributing to bliss ... v iz., high thread-count linens.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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zb

bc

What a pile of hy pocritical rightwing rubbish. First, since the AEI was the "intellectual" backbone of the Bush administration and we know what that got us (a trillion dollar war, an economic meltdown, collapsing real estate market, ex ploding deficits, and endless joblessness to name a few) as a practical matter they are a complete disaster. Considering that the AEI preaches that unions, workers, the poor, the old and the sick, and the gov ernment are all pariahs to be harshly dealt with; Considering further, that the v ast majority of businesses - meaning the workers that make the business actually run - are engaged in an activ ity that is basically destructiv e of either other peoples liv es or our planet, Therefore how is there any thing about most jobs that can lead to happiness unless one liv es in a complete delusion? Y ou mean that person who designs packaging for tobacco products is happy knowing he is helping kill millions of people; Y ou mean the person who works for the gov ernment is happy with y ou say ing to get rid of his job because its a waste of money ; y ou mean the wounded v et is happy hav ing gone to a war ov er a lie pushed on us by AEI and its polities. Wake up. Ev ery thing the AEI has said and done has prov en to be nonsense.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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Terrence

Milky Way Galaxy

RECOMMENDED

How simplistic a presentation. I wonder if stupidity makes for happiness.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:35 a.m. 39

Quazizi

Chicago

A key insight that doesn't appear to hav e been considered is how much happiness do people think they deserv e or ex pect. We hav e been in an age of diminished ex pectations for a few decades now (thanks for the phrase, PK). With the co-opting of our gov ernment and society by big business, militarism, and v arious forms of social darwinism these past y ears, I suspect the v ast majority of Americans hav e been conditioned to ex pect much less in terms of opportunity , justice, and security . Horatio Alger is long dead, spinning in his grav e. Were we fools to believ e?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:35 a.m.
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Sunny

New York

My mother is an "ultra-conserv ativ e" (her term) Republican, a born again Christian, who, if a participant in this surv ey , would hav e declared herself Happy ! Happy ! Happy ! and Paradise-bound. It's the Kool Aid. Trust me. There's not a more consistently miserable human being on the planet. But admit it to a surv ey taker? Not in this life. Cly de Wy nant nailed it. She would and does claim to be blissful because she thinks it makes her sound like a "better person," a good Christian, counting her blessings. Narcissism from the word go.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:35 a.m.
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Anders Pytte

Vermont, USA

Is happiness a v irtue? May be not, when associated with ignorance, insularity and dogmatism. I'm sorry to see so many liberals responding defensiv ely to this article. I mean, so what if it's true that conserv ativ e women are the happiest of the lot? The word "compassion" deriv es from the latin "to suffer together". A compassionate person may hav e a more difficult time feeling at peace in a world filled with v iolence, bigotry and injustice. The author glosses ov er the big 50% of happiness he terms "genetic" to focus on the little fraction that fits his tidy theory . But what if this bigger part is associated with an inherited propensity for personal integrity and caring for others?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:35 a.m.
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hdb

Tennessee

Is happiness ev en the right goal? If y ou are concerned about y our fellow man and y ou see injustice and suffering ev ery where, should y ou be spending y our energy wondering about how to be happier? That sounds sociopathic or, at least, disconnected. Ironically , many hav e found that the best way to be happy is to help others and forget y ourself. The right-wing religion of self-interest has clearly failed to make the majority richer, happier, more free, safer, or well-fed. This author tries to put a scientific spin on business as usual. Or may be this is not businesses as usual. May be they are abandoning the prosperity gospel bait-and-switch because people hav e realized that they nev er intended to share that wealth. New strategy : sell happiness instead. It's genius on so many lev els. Happiness can't really be measured and lack of it can be blamed on y our genes instead of economic hopelessness. And it's a distraction from the v ery real issue of wealth inequality . I'm just speculating; I don't know that this is what it really is. But if so: clev er. Diabolically clev er.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:35 a.m.
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Robert

Victoria BC

"...conserv ativ e women are particularly blissful" Ignorance is truly bliss. Ignorance of being poor, marginalized, powerless and v ictimized in a society where the zip code of y our birthplace is an ex cellent indicator of y our future economic status.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:35 a.m.
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Joe

New York

Good article ex cept his stroke to his funders there at the AEI: "we should declare war on barriers to entrepreneurship [at] hedge funds. Really ? Priv ate equity and hedge fund are the chief source of wealth concentration in the US and prov ide no social benefit. Its just borrow, pump up a company and dump it. Its immoral.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:35 a.m.
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Hugh CC

Budapest

Good grief! After reading a column on a formula for happiness I encounter the same unhappy , miserable bickering in the comments as alway s! Perhaps a portion of the happiness formula should be regular and ex tended v acations from online commenting.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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John Crowley

Massachusetts

Is there a way to distinguish -- I'm sure it's been thought about -- between people who say they are happy and people who are happy ? Or between happiness and the assertion of happiness? May be conserv ativ e women are simply more likely to claim to be happy -- more likely to assert happiness about the present circumstances -- than liberals or leftists. Conserv ativ e men might confess to more grumpiness.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Aaron Barnhart

Kansas City, USA

He had me right up to the point where he blamed teachers. But AEI is too busy churning out data to "prov e" that teachers are the real scourge of American education for him to care. If this were coming from the other Brooks, who is actually a paid disinterested observ er, it would carry more weight.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Naomi Wood

Kansas

It does seem as though the logical conclusion of this piece would be the opposite of the general recommendations of conserv ativ e think-tanks such as the Heritage Foundation. If happiness does not increase past accumulating enough wealth to liv e comfortably and without anx iety , and if happiness inheres in hav ing a decent job, why does not the Heritage Foundation recommend tax ing the super-rich and using that money to create employ ment opportunities for those who want and need them? After all, our founding document upholds each American's right to "Life, Liberty , and the Pursuit of Happiness."
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Rich

Washington, DC

Brooks cherry picks a study that has a rather small sample and that has been cited as ex aggerating many genetic features by people who hav e more depth in genetics than the study inv estigators. He then trots out this old right wing nonsense about happiness and remaining "in ones place" and traditional v alues, etc. It's no surprise that he works at a position paper mill and I wonder if he'd be as happy toiling as a Wal-Mart greeter. He'd hav e essentially the same employ e (rich conserv ativ es), but far less income, although he'd be doing something that requires more thinking than this kind of v anity piece display s.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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MDV

Connecticut

I hav e not read the research upon which some of the questionable and sweeping generalizations contained in this article hav e been based, nor am I a social scientist. Still, this does not strike me as a particularly scholarly piece of writing. I would much rather read about the elusiv e subject of human happiness written by someone who does not hav e a political agenda.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Magloire

Niagara Falls, NY

A bit like lov e, it is impossible to agree on a definition of happiness but the two may hav e something else in common - reciprocity at a personal lev el. Lov e is a two way street and most often an honest attempt to contribute to another's happiness will be rewarded in kind.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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evd

Pike, NH

The last few paragraphs sound much to sane to becoming from the AEI. But there y ou hav e it. Most of the stated ideas are endorsed by responsible thinkers both on the right and left. Aside from the oblique promo for a school v oucher sy stem, ev en as an av owed left wing liberal (think Bernie Sanders) I was impressed and heartened by Mr. Brooks observ ations and admissions of the unjust and unfair dev elopments in civ il society .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Sarah

Arlington, VA

"To share happiness, we need to fight for free enterprise and striv e to make its blessings accessible to all". Oh dear, the sarcasm of that sentence at a time when food stamps are cancelled and unemploy ment benefits for the long term unemploy ed are not ex tended can hardly be outdone.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Larry Bole

Boston

I almost snorted my milk through my nose when I read this gem of 'wisdom': "And according to the General Social Surv ey , nearly three-quarters of Americans wouldnt quit their jobs ev en if a financial windfall enabled them to liv e in lux ury for the rest of their liv es. Those with the least education, the lowest incomes and the least prestigious jobs were actually most likely to say they would keep working, while elites were more likely to say they would take the money and run. We would do well to remember this before scoffing at 'dead-end jobs.' " All this demonstrates is that people say what they think they 're SUPPOSED to say when answering a certain ty pe of surv ey questions-questions that address the core issues of American cultural norms and biases, starting with the strong current of Puritanism in American culture. I don't know if any one is keeping track of these things, but how many people who hav e won enough money in the lottery to REALLY nev er hav e to work again, hav e continued working at the job they had at the time they won?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Alan

Chicago

I lov ed reading this! Some of my happiest moments inv olv e reading newspapers with my coffee in the morning of a day off.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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hal9000

Orlando

Show me where the AEI has fought for the definitions of free enterprise found in y our article ( not shredding the social safety net, reflex iv ely cheering big business, etc) and I'll eat my hat.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Roy Shane

Tn

Not work...as much as productiv ity is essential. People inherently want to be productiv e... Also one other crucial ingredient to happiness is gratitude...no matter what y our circumstance. People that practice gratitude ..like a discipline...become grateful for ev ery thing in their liv es.

There is no surer way to unhappiness than concentrating on the things y ou dont hav e. It can only make a person an ingrate and ev entually bitter
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Brian Hagerty

New York

I found this essay interesting and enjoy able, ev en if not persuasiv e. I am impressed that the author chose to publish this in the Times, where I ex pect he'll be met with harsh criticism. I look forward to reading the comments.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Mark

New York, NY

I wonder whether the social scientists here are consistently *measuring* any thing, ev en if the same proportion of people are say ing "v ery happy " or "pretty happy ." May be how people *report* their lev el of happiness depends on the situation or contex t. Brooks say s that psy chologists use sophisticated techniques to "v erify " the responses, but I don't see how y ou get around the basic problem of subjectiv ity . By analogy : it might be that, with some consistency , people say that ice cream is "ping" and soup is "pong," rather than the rev erse, but it's not at all clear what that would be measuring.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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andrew

durham nc

When I saw "American Enterprise Institute", I assumed that Mr. Brooks had liberalled up his writing to appeal to us lefty Times readers. But going to AEI's website, I was surprised to find sev eral position articles that I strongly agree with, particularly on education and the state of the Republican party , as well as ones I strongly disagree with, such as freeenterprise health care. Well, as long as he's not being disingenuous about job creation, improv ing economic mobility , "not shredding" the safety net, ending ov erpaid Peter-principle positions, and countering our culture of greed, I'm pleasantly surprised and hav e to giv e Brooks props where they 're deserv ed.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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David Boyle

New Jersey

The tone of this piece is that of an all-knowing master - such is the confidence of the v ery wealthy . Such opinions, and their writers, are praised and warmly approv ed, dev eloping in complex ity ov er the y ears. But their support is due only to their happy alignment with the interests of the v ery rich. Shallow, but they serv e their purpose. Debate and analy sis are quite superfluous in this cozy scheme.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Shawn

Wyoming

What about gratitude? Of that 1 2% of things we can control regarding our own happiness, I believ e that acknowledging and appreciating what we do hav e is central to one's happiness. Not just phy sical assets, but things like good health, freedom and relationships really do matter.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Paul

Brooklyn

Happiness like beautiful is in the ey es of the beholder and ev en then the beholder doesn't ev en know for sure if they are happy . Happiness is a nev er ending quest for most people. Society can teach hints like to hav e a family , children, hobby , etc etc. but the bottom line most people hav e to find it on their own and their are infinite combos and definitions of happiness. The key thing in looking for happiness is not to obv iously harm y ourself or

others.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.

weekend

manhattan

At the end of it all, the head of the American Enterprise Institute offers "free enterprise" as the panacea for unhappiness. This should be rich territory for Colbert and Stewart. Surely y ou're joking, Mr. Brooks.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:25 a.m.
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Sara

Minnesota

I'm reliev ed that this piece appears under the Opinion column. Was the author able to pay off his student loans, if he had them? Hav ing returned to college as an adult I was deeply saddened to witness the surv iv alist mode of most of my y oung classmates. The pursuit of happiness wasn't ev en on their radar screen - only graduating from the for-profit "univ ersity " which could prov ide clinical sites and hence graduation for only 7 of the 22 students in our cohort. The owners of the school? Education Management Corporation, nearly half owned at the time by Goldman Sachs. Perhaps eating our y oung is satisfy ing.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:25 a.m.
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Tom

NYC

That's an awful lot of print to simply affirm that ignorance is bliss. That 40% of a group of people say s they 're v ery happy is proof of one thing: that 40% of that group SAY S they 're v ery happy . Simply knowing that statistic is enough to make a lot of people I know jump to categorize themselv es as unhappy . The word "empirical" that appears in the ensuing paragraph has no place in this article, no matter how long sociologists hav e been study ing happiness. I hav e a wonderful marriage and family , a close but v aried community of friends and colleagues, and a fascinating and fulfilling career; and I hav e faith that humanity will continue to progress despite its demons. This article, howev er, makes me unhappy .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:25 a.m.
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Z in TX

Austin, TX

For me, this article reinforces the fact that when y ou talk about big issues in the most abstract terms, conserv ativ es and liberals don't really v iew things too differently . They both want essentially the same things. It's only when y ou start talking about specifics -- for ex ample, how ex actly to go about building a sy stem that prov ides "opportunity for all" -- that they begin to div erge. Unfortunately , "specifics" are how the world runs day -to-day .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:25 a.m.
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fuzzcheeks

Brooklyn, NY

If y ou're try ing to conv ince us that money is not that important, y ou hav e a long way to go. As Sophie Tucker once said, "I'v e been rich and I'v e been poor - and believ e me, rich is better."
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:25 a.m.
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nc

Until I noticed that Brooks is head of the Enterprise Institute, I thought the article had some merit. But he is feathering his own nest.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:25 a.m.
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djg

Tuscon, AZ

a lot of conserv ativ es aren't troubled by a thorough rev iew of facts or logic - deductiv e reasoning when applied creates ambiguities reaching conclusions unless y ou use selectiv e facts coupled with subjectiv e interpretations that the conserv ativ e woman is v ery good at - Sarah Palin is a fine ex ample!
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:25 a.m.
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Ralph

Norwich, NY

Mr. Brooks affirms that finding happiness can require hard work. It does not often just land in our laps. To be happy , one must regard happiness to be important enough to change life direction and to take risks. Some will disapprov e. In our culture, it may be seen as irresponsible to make happiness a priority . Happy people are not necessarily selfish. In fact, the more happy y ou are, the more generous y ou can afford to be.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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E.H.L.

Colorado, United States

RECOMMENDED

It seems to me the the Buddha tackled this ov er 2k y ears ago.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m. 8

Rob Porter

PA

And how much freer would we all be if we were free to make career decisions without hav ing to consider whether we would lose our access to health care? How freeing would that be? How self-enabling would that be? How un-free enterprise would that be?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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Shirley Marquez

Boston

The author fails to discuss one fact about finances: although wealth does not seem to make people happier, research has shown that pov erty makes people unhappy . The social safety net is important because it lifts people out of the ex tremes of depriv ation that make people unhappy .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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AA

NY

"Reliev ing pov erty brings big happiness" sounds to me like the author did say ex actly what y ou claim he failed to discuss.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.

JS27

New York

Sorry , but no matter what the science say s, I still can't trust any one who say s they 'v e "caught the butterfly of happiness" and will share it with us as long as we click the link that (unknowingly to us) takes us to his Y ouTube v ideo, thereby increasing his page v iews. Sounds more like a used car salesman to me!
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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19

Make

Oregon

Mr Brooks. Please consult a genetics tex tbook on how to properly interpret heritability .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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17

Bill Croke

Martha's Vineyard, MA

Happiness is all about feeling v alued. Feeling v alued is all about feeling part of. Feeling part of is all about giv ing. BTW, how come nobody checked with Gretchen Rubin? She's NY C's happiness guru.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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xxx

xxx

It goes completely against the grain of US culture to admit publicly that something is not well in ones life. One automatically ex pects a greeting of how are y ou to produce a posotiv e response. It is the socially accepy table, and ex pected, response.

Therefore we should assume that notwithstanding all the controls social researchers would like is to believ e guarantee the v alidity of responses, I am disinclined to believ e that so few are less than happy , particularly in the dramatically unhappy state of our nation at this time.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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Pecus

NY, NY

There is a strange air of childishness about this article. It's as though a seemingly reasonable and kind creature suddenly woke up from some long slumber, to find out that it didn't really know what it was looking at. He touches this and that part of life softly with an index finger, tries to taste a bit of workplace disappointment, thinks kindergarten thoughts about "genes," and hears distant v oices calling for "opportunity and liberty ." And when befuddled by all the confusion, rushes to find consolation in the Catechism of Social Science. This man knows the notes, but not the song.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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22

Timothy Barksdale

Montana

This article began wonderfully . There are some wonderful points which allow for immediate identification with Mr. Brooks and his story . But as I got to the end with a conclusion which glorifies the free enterprise sy stem, I was left with - "Huh?". Another article in today 's Times is about 3 specials- one about Michael Morton and a film called "An Unreal Dream". Mr Morton spent 25 y ears in prison for a crime he did not commit. Y et, he has achiev ed a lev el of inner happiness and peace - unattainable to the v ast majority of humans, let alone Americans. Some how the jux taposition of these two articles leav es me with the feeling Mr Brooks has had an ephemeral touch of happiness while Mr Morton has reached a state of lasting grace achiev ed through pain. This irony is one of the great paradox es of religious thinking. My short response to Mr Brook's conclusion- the Beatles may hav e put it the best in the 1960's - "Money Can't Buy Y ou Lov e".
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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Mtnman1963

MD

"Psy chologists hav e used sophisticated techniques to v erify these responses, and such surv ey results hav e prov ed accurate." No details. No credibility .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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15

raydc

USA

I find it humorous that some smug liberal commentators use this fuzzy study on happiness to attack conserv ativ es for their happiness by asserting that their greater happiness must be because they ignore facts, hav e religious faith and ex ploit the poor. They left out the screeds on guns, gay s, racism, abortion and Fox news but I am sure it will be cov ered in other comments.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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Peter

Cleveland, OH

Mr. Brooks sounds a little too liberal here for the American Enterprise Institute. I suspect that his day s there are numbered.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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Carolyn

Saint Augustine

I hate to say it - perhaps it's in my genes to be skeptical - but this sounds like pure propaganda. There seems to be an underly ing message which is that we should stop ex pecting so much and be "happy " or "satisfied" with our underpaid jobs and stop aspiring for more, because the happiness of achiev ement is only temporary any way . In other words, accept our

"status." The rich may get richer, but we should find our satisfactions someplace other than a better economy or the hope of upward mobility . We should be happy with our friends and family and our 12 y ear old car and stop wanting more. That's the key to happiness. And although the author is careful to point out that social safety nets and liv able incomes are important, I still hav e an unpleasant taste in my mouth with regard to what he's really say ing. I dispute his claim that most people in mundane jobs would continue to do them if giv en a financial alternativ e. Happiness may not be predicated on wealth, but hope and freedom of choice are significant factors to a sense of wellbeing. Feeling trapped in a job or struggling to make ends meet are certainly not causes for contentment, close family or not. I suspect that this is another Obama apologist column for why we should accept our fates and stop looking for more equality . The one percent, after all, are probably no happier than we are. Right?? Bah, humbug.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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Janet

Salt Lake City

Trust the president of the American Enterprise Institute to conclude that if we are to be happy we must believ e that "free enterprise is a moral imperativ e."
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:15 a.m.
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Lucy Horton

Allentown PA

My life ex perience has been that happiness has a lot to do with liv ing in a phy sically safe env ironment, and I deeply believ e that people can't really be happy without some contact with nature. I also believ e the role of pets is underestimated. People truly lov e their dogs and cats in a way that might not be possible with the people in one's life, ev en those who are dearly belov ed. As for faith--leav e me out of the religion, please, but key to my happiness is the fact that ev ery day I hav e pleasant encounters with people who seem to be of good will. So my life is based on the faith that where I liv e, dogs aren't eating dogs (to bring the pet theme back in).
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:04 a.m.
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12

s.brown

cincinnati
RECOMMENDED

My mother alway s said,"Ignorance is bliss."

Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:04 a.m. 21

Maggie

New Orleans

Blah, blah, blah. How can any one with half a brain be truly happy when much of the world is underfed, when children die needlessly , when we force women to be second class ev ery thing?Those conserv ativ e women are comfortable, not happy . They are comfortable because they don't think about the real world. Free enterprise is a joke in the world of runaway capitalism. Satisfaction from screaming about the problems in the world and seeking a better world though education and social reform is far different from this article's obsession with the definition of canned happiness. I am nev er HAPPY with the state of the world. It is in my genes to seek a better world. No matter what job or family bliss we ex perience, we liv e in a world of drones and war and greed. Come on, can this really mean any one can be happy ?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:04 a.m.
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24

new york ,ny

may be they are smart enough to realize they shouldn't constantly compare their liv es to the absolute lowest common denominator or the worst case scenario.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.

AJ

Burr Ridge, IL

"We need schools that serv e children's civ il rights instead of a adult's job security ." Why does the media, now the New Y ork Times, assume, 1) that schools are failing and 2) that it is the teacher's fault (tenure) and 3) that without tenure are economy /jobs would turn around. There is not enough room to elaborate on these false assumptions (read Reign of Error by D. Ratv ich), but just some quick responses: 1) the fiv e states

with the highest test scores hav e the strongest unions and those states with the worse scores are non-union; 2) somehow the last decade of "poor schools" hav e not stopped our economy from still being number one in the world; 3) do y ou blame colleges for graduating students who can only find jobs at Starbucks; 4) whatev er happened to pov erty --could hav ing the highest child pov erty rate for an industrialized nation hav e any thing to do with mobility and success in school. Would the pundit class, and I place the NY T in that category , stop talking to Michelle Rhee's and start talking to professional educators before they drag out the tired assumption that our schools are a mess and that tenure is the problem.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:02 a.m.
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11

Raton del Desierto

the bathroom

Wow. Mr. Brooks just basically plagiarized the documentary "Happy " and then added some conserv ativ e spin at the end of it blaming our public schools (kids' civ il rights v s. adults' job security ) for America's unhappiness. Incredible.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:59 a.m.
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35

Mayngram

Monterey, CA

"But scholars like the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman hav e found that once people reach a little bey ond the av erage middle-class income lev el, ev en big financial gains dont y ield much, if any , increases in happiness." Based on this statement, it would be compassionate and caring if the "happy conserv ativ es" of Congress helped high income and wealthy Americans understand this by increasing their tax rates. It would not only force the wealthy to deal with the illusion that more money = more happiness. It would also help the lower-middle class and poor come closer to realizing the happiness of reaching av erage middleclass income lev els.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:59 a.m.
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36

shivashankrappa Balawat

india

Happiness is a state of mind. Budda has said " Aashe ( want ,desire ) is the root cause of unhappiness and misery ". We should learn to be happy with what we hav e. look to the people who are in less adv antage positon than us, not to those who hav e more adv antages than us.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:59 a.m.
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J-Dog

Portland, Maine

Mr. Brooks, hav e y ou considered that y our finding that conserv ativ e men are apparently nearly twice as likely to report being happy as liberal men may reflect differences in how people with differing sets of v iews answer this question, as opposed to actual differences in their objectiv e happiness lev el (if any such thing ev en ex ists)? I can imagine plenty of reasons why people who identify as conserv ativ e might report greater happiness than those who identify as liberals, without actually being any happier. For ex ample, I would think that being religious would make one more likely to tell an interv iewer one was happy , but I don't think it follows from that self-report that religious people are necessarily any happier.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:59 a.m.
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Rocketscientist

Chicago, IL

The flaws in most of the studies quoted in the article seem to be that the poor working class is under-represented. In my work as an engineer Iv e met many hard-working carpenters, electricians and mechanics. Iv e worked alongside them; in the torrential rains, biting snow and unrelenting heat. Though happy in their work they were paid so meanly that they worked to surv iv e and doing so robbed them of their satisfaction. I think the author of this article understands this. What he is say ing is that if an electricians health care is free ---wholly separated from depending on a company , if there is a safety net to protect him when he is laid-off, if he makes enough money to prov ide for his children, if he is protected from disability , then he is free to

appreciate his good works. Believ e me, disability is a great fear. It is hard for a working man to make it to 65 without becoming injured. And, those are such long y ears. If work truly is the key to happiness, as this article suggests, then the rich must giv e up some of their gold for the betterment of the society they pretend to share with the rest of us.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:59 a.m.
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24

Joe independent

Ann Arbor, MI

Any effort to ex plain the emotional with a rational scientific argument is fraught with risk. A noble effort by Mr. Brooks but I think he falls short. I support his conclusions but mostly on an emotional lev el. His reasoning has the appearance of a conclusion in search of v alidating science.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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jah

usa

First, I suspect it's only the economic top 20% or so in this counrtry that hav e the lux ury of pondering happiness - if they simply recognized that fact that would lead to grreater happiness in that population, which in turn would lead to more positiv e leadership from them. Second, this article seems to hav e a Western focus. Try measuring happiness, and what elements contribute to it, in other parts of the world, and I suspect this thesis and research would fall apart. And, that would likely poke a hole in the genetics aspect of this. So, those of y ou who come from dreary families, take heart, y ou can ov ercome it, just with y our ATTITUDE.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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JD

Arizona

Not many people I know are "v ery satisfied" with their jobs (highly educated folks who point out that they are hav ing to work harder and harder as each y ear passes). Many , ev en most perhaps, bemoan that they hav e less and less time for faith, community , and/or family . Y es, that's anecdotal; but the first page began not to ring true with my ex perience. Scroll to bottom of page 1 where we see "American Enterprise Institute." At that point, I quit reading. The AEI is a propaganda machine. If I wanted the AEI's v iews, I could watch Fox News. If I wanted my head full of unex plained, incomplete, ev en distorted figures and ideas, I could hav e kept reading to find out how "free enterprise" will make us all happy . Work makes y ou free---hmm, where hav e I heard that before? I could read the v iews of Mr. Brooks, a work peer of people whose work I scorn: AEI Fellows and Scholars [partial list] Ly nne Cheney , wife of Vice President Dick Cheney and former chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House. Dav id Frum, a presidential speechwriter for President Bush, contributing editor to the right-wing magazine Weekly Standard. Christina Hoff Sommers, anti-feminist crusader, author of Who Stole Feminism? How Women Betray ed Women. Charles Murray , author of The Bell Curv e, a book that asserted inherent intelligence differences between the races.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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40

Paul Adams

Stony Brook

V enenum in cauda. Quite why "free enterprise" jumps out to sting at the end of this hitherto promising piece was obscure - until I read the author's affiliation. Giv en that, as Brooks writes, such a large component of happiness is freedom from immediate want, I ex pected the obv ious, and highly reasonable, conclusion: shifting reward slightly from the financial industries to other occupations would achiev e an enormous and straightforward increase in national happiness. But instead, free enterprise, which as Willy Sutton said ensures the real money is in banking, is the unex pected, and quite illogical, conclusion. It reminds me of the trickster who saws a lady in 2, who then emerges intact and smiling at the end of the show.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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20

Fred

Marshfield, MA

Other key s to happiness: treating all with respect, all people, the env ironment, y our body ; working hard; giv ing back; being honest with y ourself and others; and taking time to enjoy the endless gifts that life offers.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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princeton08540

NJ

Who would hav e thunk it? II nev er would hav e guessed that nature, nurture, life, and religion all contribute to whether we are happy . Thank God for the American Enterprise Institute. And remember to thank Him in y our pray ers, be they at school, public office, or gov ernment meetings.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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jrpardinas

San Diego

Amen! :-)
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:09 p.m.

BusSchDean

Ewing, NJ

A careful articulation of happiness as it connects us socially and economically . Of course, the author may be in trouble when some conserv ativ e leaders see the comparisons to Canada and Scandinav ia. Goodness me, these countries prov ide national health care, worry about the y oung and the old (regardless of income), make a social inv estment in the mother-child relationship during that first critical y ear, AND hav e social mobility ? This past summer when a member of Copenhagen's City Council described himself to me as a conserv ativ e he quickly distanced his v iews from what that can mean (though it doesn't hav e to) in the US.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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historylesson

Norwalk, CT

Words of wisdom from the American Enterprise Institute? Surely the editorial board jests. Why , New Y ork Times? Why legitimize such a right wing "think tank" by giv ing one of its mouthpieces so much space in the paper? The AEI has multiple outlets for their propaganda. Please, not the NY T, too. This isn't an ex ample of journalistic "objectiv ity ." It's PR for conserv ativ es and their agenda. Happiness is 48% genetic? Right. Where's the science to support this opinion? A sociology study doesn't qualify . Then again, the author is part of a group of people who deny climate change, and consider the Bible science. Really , one doesn't know where to ev en begin to unpack this "opinion" with its four simple steps to happiness, it's so rife with pseudo-facts and assertions as facts. It would take all day . Let the National Rev iew print this stuff. And tax the rich, as we were meant to do when we initiated the progressiv e income tax in 1913.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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77

Interested

New York, NY

Sir, y ou hav e a slightly faulty perception that the NY T is any thing but the "main" in the "main stream media." It ain't called the "Gray Lady " for nothing. The Times occasionally surprises but for the most part it is as predictable as the sun rising in the East and as "moderate" as a cup of decaffeinated coffee.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.
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phil

mamaroneck ny
RECOMMENDED

conserv ativ e women tend to be happy because ignorance is bliss.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m. 43

Lucille Hollander

Texas

What a fat juicy worm Mr. Brooks baits the hook with. Ev ery one wants to be happy , ev ery one lov es to talk about what makes them happy . By the end of the article, though, we find that he is a salesman and he is selling his concepts of free enterprise. Just like ev ery adv ertisement, the adv ertiser has to make y ou want what he is selling. And how clev er this ad is, ev ery one wants to be happy . Ev ery hen thinks her chick is the best and Mr. Brooks is no ex ception. But to say (as he does) that "free enterprise giv es the most people the best shot at earning their success and finding enduring happiness in their work" is not necessarily born out by history , on the contrary , early unfettered free enterprise was great for the entrepreneurs but created a huge class of worker bees who faced a life of drudgery . Be wary of fat juicy worms.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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36

Miss Ley

New York

The eternal pursuit of happiness? The other day a wonderful acquaintance at a small international workshop chose to address the topic of 'Happiness'. Clapping her hands, she encouraged us by say ing: 'Come on! We can all use some fun (true) and we all would like to be happier!' Here I was tempted to chime in and declare that if I felt any happier, I might go through the ceiling but instead I smiled. Parental genes? My father was the happiest person I hav e ev er met in my life and one would think he had nev er had a bad day in his life. Great fun and he lov ed ev ery one, but there are times when in hindsight, I throw my arms up in the air and say 'too much, too much!'. Today I might tell him to take a seat and simmer down. We are now heading in the direction of Manic. And, the only child, from his marriage with my flamboy ant and passionate mother, I used to be somewhat melancholic and v erging towards depression in y ounger day s. The rev erse side of the coin. Now in my golden age, I hav e finally learned to laugh often from the heart with conv iction while casting a sober ey e on lov ed ones who are going through troubling times and asking for emotional, or more concrete support in some way . At this juncture, I am more interested in the topics of Joy , Flourishing and 'The Art of Giv ing and Receiv ing'. Some of us in life prefer to 'Be', and some of us to 'Do', or 'Both', but whatev er in the end makes y ou happy is perhaps one answer to this topic among many others.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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MLHE

Phoenix
RECOMMENDED

This is ex actly The Practice!

Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:17 p.m. 1

Ronnie Lane

Boston, MA

I hav e made as little as $18,000 and well into six figures. I can promise y ou that I am far happier on the latter income.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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23

Rudd Crawford

Oberlin, Ohio

Socrates (I think): Happiness is the ex ercise of one's v ital energies, along lines of ex cellence, in an arena affording them scope.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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AuDREY WALKER

Verbank, NY

The Chinese say there is no such thing as happiness - there are only happy moments.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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LAT

Brooklyn, NY

So let me get this straight - y our argument is that y our job as a professional musician, one that most people who aspire to can nev er

achiev e, made y ou unhappy so y ou became and tenured professor and then the director of a think tank, which made y ou happy . Therefore, people working at McDonald's for less than a liv ing wage should realize their jobs actually make them happy .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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Paul Kramer

Poconos

Mr. Brooks is clearly among the 20% of liberal men who appears to hav e achiev ed happiness.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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VV

Boston

So the head of AEI (which nurtured the neocon mov ement, which brought us the inv asion of Iraq and other unmentionables) thinks that wage slav es laboring at dead end jobs are probably just as happy as those with good jobs at good pay . I'm shocked.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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20

Bill Croke

Martha's Vineyard, MA

Happiness is all about v alue. Value is all about feeling part of. Feeling part of is all about giv ing. Hey , how come nobody checked with Gretchen Rubin, she's the happiness guru?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.

Steven

Austin, TX

By these metrics, members of Satanic death metal bands are the happiest among us. I think I'v e found my new community , faith and v ocation, thank y ou.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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Fred White

Baltimore

After spending months with a priest working with him in the French Resistance, and realizing how many confessions this guy had heard, Andre Malraux asked him what he had learned about people from all those confessions: first, people are much unhappier than they admit; second, there's no such thing as a grown-up human being.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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18

Fred White

Baltimore

I'm happy my self, but I absolutely do not trust surv ey s of Americans about their lev el of "happiness." People in America are ashamed to admit it if they are unhappy . In France, unhappiness might simply be judged to be baked into the ex istential cake of the human condition. Here, it's like a social disease. To admit y ou're unhappy suggest to Americans that they are somehow "losers." Trust "happiness" surv ey s in America about as much as y ou trust "Are y ou racist?" surv ey s.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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58

Stiv

Carmel, Indiana
RECOMMENDED

Dude needs to look up definitions for causation and correlation.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m. 10

blackmamba

IL

There is no more science in the social than there is in the political or the historical or the economical. There is only socioeconomic political history . What does "happiness" mean? What does "satisfied" mean? "It all depends on what the meaning of is is." William Jefferson Clinton ...a political and legal "scientist" There is plenty of science in human biology . That science is subject to the

being disassembled and misrepresented by self aggrandizing narcissist scientific impersonators.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
RECOMMENDED

Bernie

Sault Ste Marie, Michigan

Regarding social mobility , Richard Wilkinson said "Americans who want to liv e the American Dream should go to Denmark." He discusses a wide v ariety of social problems that are worse in societies with higher lev els of inequality in a wonderful 18 minute TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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14

RAB

Jamaica, Queens

Ev en a considered response is fraught with inherent errors of selfreflection.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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Ann

new york

Faith, if based on religion, means that the islam fanatics or the christian fanatics, or the jewish fanatics, who believ e in god, frequently hav e a narrow understanding of politics and society as a whole, are happier? Wow, may be hav ing one goal in mind, to destroy the others faith, or chase them out of their land, creates happiness? I would not want to be one of those. Would be interesting to see if the Republican women, with more money , are happier than the democratic woman who are usually a bit more liberal? I met quite a few republican women, I don't see them happier. Quite a few are tunnel v isioned and clueless to their own bias and ev en racist undertones. IT shows in their answers and believ es. BUt if clueless makes one happier, then so be it. I do howev er believ e that close family ties, I can attest to that, and good friends, are v ery important to my happiness. But certainly not religious faith, if thats what y ou meant regarding faith, or being a Republican.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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11

Margaret

Atlanta

But does "conserv ativ e" equal "Republican"? I think y ou are reading too much into the words used and what was asked in the surv ey .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.

India

Midwest

Goodness! Hav ing just come home from church, I can say that I hav e nev er heard that the goal of my church is to to "destroy the others faith, or chase them out of their land"! That couldn't be further from the truth. And the Republican women I know are not clueless, or tunnel v isioned or racist, either. Y ou must know some v ery strange people. The goal of religious faith is not happiness but grace - two v ery different things. And the gift of grace from God can bring true contentment. I know happy members of both political parties. For the life of me, I can't see how one party can bestow happiness. The old say ing that a woman is no happier than her unhappiest child is v ery true. It is our close relationships that bring us joy , but our happiness comes when we see our own children and grandchildren happy . It's pretty hard to be happy when they are not. As to those genes - well, some families tend to melancholia. Also, some families pass on genes for terrible illnesses. It's a challenge to be happy when one has poor health, but some do achiev e this. And then there's money . No, money does not buy happiness but it can sure make unhappiness a lot easier. When I lost my belov ed husband, my money could not replace him, but at least I didn't hav e to worry about how I was going to pay for my home, health

insurance etc - it made my loss less unbearable.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
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Wally Weet

Seneca

From the perspectiv e of 82 y ears as parent, mate (for 63), laborer, and professional, all of this, Mr Brooks, from my point of v iew, is nothing but shallow crapola. I like the Italian word for happiness: contento. I am and hav e long been content. Zen taught me the secret: chop wood, carry water. Scrubbing the floor on y our knees works too. In other words, let go of any need and dev ote y ourself to the simple tasks y ou lov e. Those tasks could be any thing from shov eling to doctoring to working on abstract math, to writing. Just get deeply into what y ou lov e to do and focus on that doing. It has worked for me for a long long time.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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27

Oceans One

Waterford, CT

From the 40's until the 60's the supply of jobs and the demand for American workers was balanced. Companies had to prov ide good wages, benefits and pensions or risk losing their employ ees. Happy people worked 8 hours a day at a pace that could be described as an av erage walk so they had enough energy left after work to spend it with their families and community . Then, In the 60's other countries and our own businesses found out they could buy politicians with promises of consulting fees paid after they left office. Those countries got access to our markets v ia trade deals and our businesses got a supply of cheap border crossing illegal labor. Regan was paid 5 million for a 10 minute speech by the Japanese for selling out the auto industry . Bill NAFTA Clinton has earned 500 million. Obama just signed a trade agreement with $4 a day V ietnam. As job supply /demand became unbalanced, greedy CEO's like Jack Welch fired thousands of workers and forced those left to work for less money and at such a fast pace they had no energy left at the end of the day for family . Profits soared, money poured into lobby ing groups such as the Chamber, and alliances were created with the military industrial complex to ensure a supply of cheap labor and military recruits. But people are finally waking up. Soon a third party Ross Perot ty pe candidate will unite workers, get elected, end the wars, secure the borders, and rev oke bad trade deals. And happiness will return to America.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
RECOMMENDED

Mark Dunau

Hancock, NY
RECOMMENDED

If today were April Fool's Day , I might hav e laughed while I read this.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m. 24

Hope

Change

Many big lottery winners say they 'll keep working as if nothing had changed - most quit within less than a y ear. Happier for it? Who knows, but hav ing someone who works far less and gets paid much more telling y ou what to do is as unsatisfy ing as it is commonplace. Minus the financial need few would choose such a situation.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
RECOMMENDED

Rebecca Theim

Las Vegas, NV

It's refreshing to read the president of the conserv ativ e American Enterprise Institute acknowledge the terrible toll the consequences of the Great Recession has ex acted, including on such amorphous and difficult-to-measure concepts as happiness. And BTW, the correct link for the Stanford Univ ersity study cited on page 2 is http://www.stanford.edu/~cy 10/public/Losing_a_Job.pdf.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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r mackinnnon

concord ma

the key to happiness is much simpler than the author suggests, and has little to do with genes or work. Just be kind.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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tomjoad

New York

American Enterprise Institute... isn't that the right wing think tank and lobby group which spreads so much hate and div isiv eness? Oh happy day s.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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interested

Washington, DC

Denmark is or has been selected as the happiest country in the world. But it is more socialist than America. Please ex plain.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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Interested

New York, NY

We would all do well to keep in mind that this "happiness" guru is Arthur Brooks, formerly of the American Enterprise Institute, who has an ax e to grind about free enterprise and who, though making some throatclearing noises about income equality and mobility , has ardently sponsored and promoted political and social policies that hav e made many , many people unhappy , ev en in the terms he uses to define happiness.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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confetti

MD

Mr. Brooks works for a conserv ativ e think tank. We ought to take a good look at what he means by happiness. Some people, narcissists and anti-social ty pes among them, enjoy what's called an egosy ntonic psy chological organization. People who approv e of themselv es and their behav iors regardless of the effect upon others, are at ease with their own opinions and beliefs no matter what ev idence contradicts them and who are willing and able to filter out any information that might disrupt familiar, self-protectiv e, habitual assumptions are indeed more "satisfied" than those who subject themselv es to the scruples of social conscience, admit uncomfortable ev idence and dissenting v iews to their intellectual processes and tolerate the painful emotions that accompany the capacity for genuine empathy , humility and moral self-restraint. Read closely - Mr Brooks lov es this study ! It indicates that "unremitting labor" for minimal financial gain is a real gas. Take a dead-end job! Y ou'll be happier than "elites"! Well, it's his job to spin data, isn't it?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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michael

marfa

Confetti- Y ou sound like y ou'd be a real gas at a dinner party . Not ev ery thing need be filtered through the political lens. Y es, the author went off the rails a bit at the end of the piece, but this was hardly a spin job.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.

Interested

New York, NY

I mean this sincerely : Sir, I salute y ou for the use of "egosy ntonic psy chological organization."
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:56 a.m.
RECOMMENDED

Bill Kremer

Hackensack, NJ

I beleiv e that the 40 percent is also under our control. We do not hav e to accept as destiny the ev ents of the recent past. Certainly the day to day decisions we make allow us to gain control ov er another large segment of our liv es. Good decisions bring happiness, poor decisions do not
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Erica Paige Schumacher

Northport, New York

An ex cellent article, and True. I do think genes make up nearly half of our temperament, and that a Society that promotes meaningful work is key for a Democracy and a healthy culture and Economy . People define

meaningful work differently based on their temperament, too. What is meaningful for one is not necessarily meaningful for another; this seems to be a huge blind spot for the Nation, where Group Think is the Norm, and not necessarily Normal.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Petey Tonei

Massachusetts

Firstly contentment is different from happiness. Contentment is a state where one accepts things as they are, without resistance. Happiness may be a side effect of contentment, but a contented person understands that being unhappy is transitory . Secondly ex pectations also hav e an effect on our state of mind. If we ex pect one thing and another happens, it's bound to disappoint us. So setting and resetting ex pectations is a healthy way to operate and nav igate through life. Thirdly , self lov e is v ery important. Unless we lov e ourselv es fully and wholly , we will alway s find something missing, wanting outside of us. If we cultiv ate self lov e, we become it and then become the source of lov e for people around us. Beating ourselv es up for coming short, shows on our v ery being, and sends a message of lack, outside of us. When we lov e ourselv es, we are willing to forgiv e ourselv es and forgiv e the outside world as well. Happiness needn't be hahaheehee kind of fair weather friend. It is more about acceptance of reality , which includes dualities of good and bad, low and high. If we were to teach our children how to lov e themselv es fully , they will learn to liv e happy liv es.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Mitch

Alabama

Mr. Brooks sounds like a liberal who knows that what happy U.S. conserv ativ es call capitalism is nothing more than corporatism; that by "free enterprise" they mean continued corporate welfare and opposition to anti-trust legislation, opposition to the financial regulations that could make for a truly transparent sy stem (a basic prerequisite of free market capitalism). Perhaps he intends to use the organization that brought us The Bell Curv e and other such nightmares to modernize American conserv atism, to improv e rather than shred the safety net (as he say s); to create schools and policies that will rev erse the horrify ing inequality trends (as he say s); to create a kinder-gentler nation and thousands of points of light and all that jazz. Unfortunately we hav e heard it all before from some well-meaning conserv ativ es. Y et ov er the decades those same folk hav e stay ed in bed w the religious ultraright, the homophobes, and nowaday s the tea partiers, and taking such an immoral approach has only marginalized them within their own party .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Dan

Chicago

Actual and perceiv ed inequity offends one's dignity and generates either learned helplessness or motiv ation to right the balance. If happiness is not improv ed with incomes greater than $7 5K/$100K how does this ex plain being able to afford good education, health care, liv ing in a location free of crime? The author of the article ignores the effect of inequity the article is, at best, incomplete. More, it is purposeful deception.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Mary

Williamsburg, VA

Thank y ou, Mr. Brooks, for pursuing this information for us. Granted, we are genetically endowed, and we all certainly ex perience ev ents of importance in life. I wonder where "beliefs," religious or otherwise, fit into y our thesis? This is a loaded question. I believ e that what we believ e about ourselv es, and our functioning in the world, trump all the other factors y ou hav e so graciously outlined for us. Scientific research in cellular biology has indicated what I hav e instinctiv ely known all my life, but could not articulate as I am not a scientist: that, in a flash, the membrane of the indiv idual cell reacts to our "beliefs" in way s not prev iously recognized. And this cellular reaction determines the function of our body /mind complex . We choose our beliefs. Not choosing, of course, is in itself a choice. So, what we believ e will determine our happiness. Sounds too simple,

doesn't it? Choice is the one thing that allows happiness to be pursued. Believ e it or not. Ask any cry ing baby .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.

medical student

new york, ny

The author is the president of the American Enterprise Institute, the Washington think tank that brought us much of President GW Bush's second term foreign policy and now employ s Newt Gingrich as a senior fellow. So don't mistake this piece as social psy chology -- it's pure politics -- but the first 90% of the article is interesting for the psy chology and in my mind leads to a somewhat different conclusion.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Luke

Grand Rapids MI

1) religion is actually inv ersely related to happiness in areas where it is less normativ e (e.g., europe: Diener, Tay , Mey ers); 2) it is religious attendance and social contact, not belief that is correlated with happiness; 3) the relationship is non-linear, the completely nonreligious are happier than the weakly religious. Therefore, it is not any thing to do with spirituality or beliefs, but rather plain old social support and strong conv ictions in either direction. Also, it is not money that is correlated with happiness but low income equality . The Danes are the happiest people on the planet because they hav e little inequality of income.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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JSK

Crozet

Personal perspectiv es may be of limited v alue here. In the study of twins, the adoption agencies may hav e had placement characteristics that tended to place the children in similar circumstances. How many went from the USA to a completely foreign culture? The window of observ ation (about 20 y ears in terms of birth-dates, if I recall) is short. I do not doubt that genetics are a factor, but v alues and ev ents are 20-lane highway s frequented by elements of luck. Mr. Brooks (also in the linked v ideo) is a charming story teller, and I suspect that this analy sis suffers from both illusions of understanding and v alidity . The Univ . of Minnesota study linked in this opinion piece is from a 1996 paper. Still, read the conclusion from that paper: "If the transitory v ariations of wellbeing are largely due to fortune's fav ors, whereas the midpoint of these v ariations is determined by the great genetic lottery that occurs at conception, then we are led to conclude that indiv idual differences in human happiness - how one feels at the moment and also how one feels on av erage ov er time - are primarily a matter of chance." I am not deny ing that a good bit of Mr. Brooks analy sis fits an understandable narrativ e, but the story is too neatly packaged.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Nan Socolow

Cayman Islands, British West Indies

Happiness is a sometimes thing. Well-being and contentment are reaped in an old age that incorporates food, shelter, friends, work, community . Phy sical ailments can be life-altering, but death, too, is life-altering. Financial security doesn't ex ist for the greatest wedge of Americans. It is difficult to be happy when y ou and y our children are suffering from the socially unjust and cruel inequality of income that ex ists now in the United States. This draconian separation - call it the modern "apartheid" of the rich and the poor - bodes ill for happiness among the poorest of our people. Genes are not an issue here. The "moral imperativ e" of free enterprise, Mr.Brooks, is an ox y moron. Studies from decades ago don't apply to today 's American hinge of history today which more resembles France before the Rev olution,The Thirteen Colonies of America before independence, Rome before the Fall, India during the Raj, China before Communism, Japan before WWII and of course Germany before the Dritte Reich. and all those other societies whose top bananas and rich folk trampling upon the poor were happy with their lot in life.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Colleen

Freeport ME

Emile Durkheim, the great sociologist, said something to this effect: Education prov ides an equal opportunity to become unequal. That's a prov en pathway to earned success. So where is education in this otherwise brilliant essay ?

Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.

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Richard Luettgen

New Jersey

As a frigid and snowy Sunday warms and turns to slush in the east, this op-ed will gather comments; and many , like the first two, will miss the point, because they 'll be offered by liberals who find it trite or merely ex culpatory . But Brooks, the conserv ativ e's conserv ativ e, will attract readers whose ideological conv ictions lie right of the center-line, and it's at those that his message is aimed. Most of them, v astly outnumbered here and some of them decidedly intimidated by the accepted premise of progressiv ism one finds here, won't comment. Doing that for them (but really only here) is rapidly becoming the happiness of my life. What Brooks is say ing to people who embrace conserv ativ e conv ictions, to whatev er ex tent, is that while free enterprise and indiv idualism are absolutely necessary components of the agar in which we grow American prosperity and, y es, ex ceptionalism, those elements are not ends in themselv es: they are meant to support better, happier liv es -- they don't legitimize license; and they do require attention in keeping them as pure and constructiv e as possible. Thus, his admission is cautionary that we stray when we allow upward mobility to deteriorate and the greed of some to ov ercome the sustaining of community that affords connections to people and meaningful work. A nation of fiv e "winners" and 314 million "losers" is not what conserv ativ es aim at achiev ing. It was a good op-ed, for the objectiv es he set for it, and for the audience he targeted.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Tokyo Tea

NH, USA

I'm wondering how accurate self-reported happiness is. One relativ e of mine would certainly hav e said that she was happy , because unhappiness would'v e meant that she wasn't perfect. In reality , she was ex tremely insecure, alway s pushing to hav e people acknowledge and praise her, and to bend them to to her way s. She wanted alway s to be "right", irreproachable, at the cost of ev ery one else around her, who had to be "wrong" if they differed with her. Another would'v e said that he was happy because he'd achiev ed so much, was highly disciplined and imperv ious to failure. He'd succeeded according to his v alues: He had a high-powered job, cowed kids, and plenty of money and authority . But he was a v ery angry person, quick to ex plode, fearful of the costs of a single wrong mov e in life by himself or his children. So sociology is going to hav e to come up with a way to measure true happiness before I believ e these studies. Otherwise, I suspect that, for many people, asserting that one is happy will simply be part of asserting that one is right.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:16 a.m.
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133

JSK

Crozet

As to measures of happiness, they are a swamp of self-reports: http://www1 .eur.nl/fsw/happiness/hap_quer/hqi_fp.htm . Giv en the v agaries of "truth" and "happiness," I hope little money is ex pended on studies.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.

Luke

Washington, D.C.

How do y ou know whether those relativ es are happy or not, and what they would say on a surv ey ?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:56 a.m.
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Margaret

Atlanta

Does measuring ones own happiness need to use a neighbors' y ardstick?

Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.

Clyde Wynant

Pittsburgh, PA, USA

RIght wing claptrap. Pure and simple. Take this; "...nearly three-quarters of Americans wouldnt quit their jobs ev en if a financial windfall enabled them to liv e in lux ury for the rest of their liv es." Sure, people say that, because they think it makes them sound like "better people." They say it for narcissistic reasons. If the author were truly try ing to prov e this point he would hav e rounded up actual people who hav e had such windfalls and seen which path they actually chose, instead of using speculativ e polling. And god forbid that we scoff at those "dead end jobs." Embrace them, my fellow Americans, because that's what the author and his organization are leading us to....
Dec. 15, 2013 at 9:49 a.m.
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beth

ny,ny

If a won the lottery or something, I'd quit so fast the ink wouldn't ev en be dry on the check! Trav el to all the warm spots forev ermore....
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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Carolyn Egeli

Valley Lee, Md.

I also want to add, that following my bliss as y ou hav e done is its own prov ision so often. But ev ery one is not put together the same way . Personal responsibility can only go so far. Many people simply are so thwarted that things hav e become impossible for them to go on. That is when all of us need to step up and take care of them until they can go on their own. Sometimes the damage is irrev ersible, whether economically , spiritually or phy sically . Then we take care of them period. One half of the human race actually does take care of the other half, just like my grandfather said.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 9:43 a.m.
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Carolyn Egeli

Valley Lee, Md.

Great piece. I am an artist. I'm happiest when my painting is going well. It doesn't seem to matter what the subject is. It is that sweet spot of the coincindence of beauty and intention. Finding the harmonies and the interruptions of them, brings me sure delight. Sometimes, I marv el at how full life becomes just appreciating those things whether I'm standing in front of the easel or gazing at something just taking it all in. I feel v ery priv ileged to be able to liv e this life. Other things in my life can be up and down, but the ability to meet life's demands in terms of endless monthly requirements is hugely important, so that I can actually keep doing what I lov e. Ev en that becomes a joy . It is that earned thing y ou speak of, not that it doesn't prov oke worry and consternation from time to time. My family started out being the reason I did any thing. I had to earn and it was what I knew how to do. They are the reason for so much of how I liv ed and liv e my life. But ev entually they grew up. Family and friends are the luscious fruit of lov e.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 9:37 a.m.
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Tom

Midwest

I can think of one reason that conserv ativ es, particularly women, are apparently happy . One, it is easier to be happy if y ou hav e less uncertainty and just about ev ery conserv ativ e I hav e met is v ery certain their v iews of life, politics, religion and a host of other topics are absolutely correct and not open to question. If y ou are sure y ou are alway s correct, there is less to think about and less to make y ou unhappy . As to wealth, as noted in comments earlier, it is easier to be happy if y ou are wealthier and are not as worried about food on y our plate, a roof ov er y our head, health care for y our family and a future for y our children (all of which requires some measure of wealth in the US). It could ex plain why happiness measures outside the US are higher.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 9:08 a.m.
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173

SW

San Francisco

Some of the happiest people I hav e met and liv ed among are in dev eloping nations ov er the course of a decade. Gratitude is the basis for happiness. America was once a country where we cheered people on who were try ing to get ahead and fulfill their dreams. Now the pursuit of success is condemned by society as selfish. These are strange times when America thinks it is bad to work hard to make one's children's liv es better.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 9:55 a.m.
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Sarah

Arlington, VA

Tom, I like to add another point to y our comment about the reason that conserv ativ es are apparently happier than others as a group, my point being that those nev er concerned about the lesser off in society are indeed thinking a lot less in general.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Andrea E

NY

"I noticed that social entrepreneurs who pursued nonprofit careers were some of my happiest graduates." *** Social entrepreneurship is a special case. It prov ides autonomy , and it doesn't come with as many bottom-line pressures (ex ., financial profit or hav ing to achiev e concrete, measurable results) that are hard-wired into for-profit work. It allows one to roam more freely with the important bonus of hav ing a sense of doing "good".
Dec. 15, 2013 at 9:01 a.m.
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David E

Cambridge, Ma

Most of the people I know in non-profits are alway s under pressure both to produce the best possible outcome for their beneficiaries and to raise money to sustain the institution. No different than their counterparts in the priv ate sector. From my observ ation, their happiness is simply driv en by their lov e of the work they do.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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A Cranky Alumna

Ohio

Spoken, I suspect, by a person who has nev er borne the heav y responsibility of keeping a nonprofit afloat.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:25 a.m.
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CCrystle

Lancaster, PA

"doesn't come with ...bottom-line pressures". That's absolutely untrue. No margin, no mission. In fact the pressure is higher because we hav e tighter margins to work with giv en we pay (gasp!) decent wages (i.e. bey ond basic liv ing wage). But getting up ev ery morning to work at a difficult job is quite easy --joy ous ev en--because it's a v alues-driv en business with an important purpose bey ond enriching shareholders. It's not just a "sense" of doing good, it's doing good through day to day business operations that giv es that rich return on inv estment: a more satisfy ing daily life than when we were building businesses simply for market share and shareholder return.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Bob

NY

Perhaps conserv ativ e women hav e been trained by their culture to alway s say they are happy .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 8:28 a.m.
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217

WomanThinking

Colorado
RECOMMENDED

As they say , "ignorance is bliss."

Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m. 3

SW

San Francisco

Perhaps conserv ativ e women tend to be women of faith, and with faith usually comes gratitude for the simplest things. There are many ex planations other than women embody ing a sex that can be "trained".
Dec. 15, 2013 at 9:57 a.m.
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Andrea E

NY

SW San Francisco: Y es, the notion of conserv ativ e women being trained puppies is such an ignorant stereoty pe and would be funny ex cept that it's such a popular one among a particular mindset. Perhaps the problem is really that conserv ativ e trained puppies resist the training of their real "masters", who proclaim to know what ev ery woman should feel about birth control, selecting political candidates, etc. There's certainly no shortage of liberals who profess to speak for all women and who tell women regularly what is best for them.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:27 a.m.
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gemli

Boston

Conserv ativ e women (and men, for that matter) don't seem to be happy unless they 're telling other people how to liv e. This generally inv olv es bludgeoning people with their faith. Liberals may be unhappy because they hav e to liv e within earshot of these sanctimonious scolds, and witness the misery they cause by opposing the social safety net. The surv ey should not count those who are happy only when they are making others unhappy . Those numbers should cancel each other out. Religion is a great source of happiness for me, but only in the sense of arguing against it. My greatest source of unhappiness is people who deny reality , and manage to get their ignorance ensconced in public policy . Conv ersely , try ing to understand the univ erse and how it works is probably my greatest source of happiness. It inspires real awe and wonder, and not the counterfeit v ariety that comes from religion.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 8:27 a.m.
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Barbara B

Detroit, MI

Interesting that Brooks mentions "faith" among giv en factors contributing to happiness, then mov ing on to an essentially economic model - capitalist of course - as the factor we can control for happiness. There are, of course, countless people who liv e fulfilling liv es who don't harbour a scintilla of supernatural belief, who creativ ely define their families and community in way s I doubt Brooks has in mind here..
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:04 a.m.
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Andrea E

NY

gemli Boston Conserv ativ e women (and men, for that matter) don't seem to be happy unless they 're telling other people how to liv e. *** There are plenty of liberals who hav e no problem telling ev ery one how "we" should all be liv ing, what "our" responsibilities are and ex actly what "our gov ernment" should be doing. There's nothing particularly enlightening about attacking groups of Americans based on their race ("white"), gender ("male") or religion ("Christian"). The one univ erse liberals cannot seem to grasp is not the one bey ond our solar sy stem but the one right under their noses -that of conserv atism.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 9:14 a.m.

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SW

San Francisco

Y our arguing against others' opinion represents that which y ou profess to hate: "telling other people how to liv e". Who made y ou (or any one) the arbiter of "reality "? Respect the opinions of those around y ou or y ou are no better than the people who y ou condemn. Where is y our tolerance for div ersity ?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:00 a.m.
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Kevin Rothstein

Jarama Valley

I read the article with great interest until I saw what the author did for a liv ing. Apparently irony is not in the author's v ocabulary . Y es, I am a liberal man; y es, I tend to be unhappy . I would like to "thank" Mr. Brooks for doing so much through his v ocation to help perpetuate so much of my unhappiness.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 8:26 a.m.
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Carol Wheeler

Mexico

As a sometimes unhappy liberal woman, I totally agree. I too was struck by the author's job and wondered how he could presume to speak on such topics as joblessness, which his institute, I believ e, has done so much to increase, irony , I believ e, is a property of our, liberal, class. They hav e sadism, perhaps often unconscious.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:25 a.m.
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Christina Forbes

Alexandria VA

It struck me that he started the article outlining research and science, and I ex pected he would conclude in the same ev idence based v ein. But no, he swerv ed into ideology and cant, as though the ev idence based foundation supported the conserv ativ e ideology . Clev er but but deceptiv e and disappointing. Conserv ativ e economic and political policies are not supported by science. For those out of work because of high unemploy ment, for those out of work because of mental illness, disability and other factors bey ond their control, the safety net is not a hindrance to their achiev ement and happiness -- as conserv ativ es argue -- but essential to their surv iv al. Not ex actly a cruel attitude but rather blind to the actual realities of liv es liv ed by people who through no fault of their own are not able to swim in a winner take all economy . How do y ou equip a schizophrenic with job skills and ability to concentrate? How do y ou equip a disabled 30-y ear old with an IQ of 7 5 to work? The bell curv e of capacities has tails at both ends. The lower end must be taken care of or they will die on our streets. That is not the America I want to liv e in. The Righteous Mind is a book worth reading to elucidate the different moral constructs operating in political outlooks. Conserv ativ e v iews hav e their place, just as liberal ones do. But, in the end, social policy needs to be causally linked to ev idence-based results, not leaps from an obv iously priv ileged upbringing and world v iew.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.
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Susan Anderson

Boston

Sharing and caring are fundamental not only to our happiness, but at this point to our surv iv al. Pov erty makes for a hard life, but I notice that sometimes poor people hav e more of the gift of generosity than those who hav e much. Caring and unselfish lov e turned outwards beget more and benefit ev ery one and ev ery thing within its reach.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:46 a.m.
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Brookhawk

Maryland

I agree, but that does not seem to be one of the things the AEI believ es in as a rule.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.

RECOMMENDED

Brian Hagerty

New York

How many believ e that "unselfish lov e" truly ex ists? I honestly enjoy helping others. I worked as a corporate lawy er for sev eral y ears and didn't enjoy much of the work. What I found enormously fulfilling was the opportunity it prov ided me to prov ide good legal representation (which is truly out of reach of all but corporations and the wealthy ) to indigent clients who really needed help but couldn't afford it. It made me happy . I'd like to pat my self on the back for work like that and brag about what a good person it makes me (I'm sure I hav e in subtle way s--like ev en posting this). The truth is I had little choice in what makes me feel happy . Who has the opportunity to consciously decide what will make them feel good? Some confluence of factors bey ond my control (including genes and upbringing, I imagine) conv erged such that what brings me pleasure coincides with what most around me consider "good." It's a happy accident. I don't think most of us are too comfortable thinking along these lines. It makes it a lot harder to praise y ourself and blame the other guy .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.

Catharina

Freehold

I would like to add to prior two comments the question; "What does the author mean with faith?" If it is religion, than the people in for ex ample Europe who ov er the last century or so hav e become more secular must be less happy than the people in America who are becoming more secular at a much slower rate. Although I hav e not conducted a scientific study to prov e or disprov e this point, on surface it does NOT seem to be the case. Could it be the better financial security for the people at the bottom of the income ladder is really the dominant factor, not free enterprise?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Charlie

Indiana

My thoughts also. Faith is nothing more than belief without ev idence, which accounts for a great deal of misery in our liv es.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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bobby bo

New Jersey

The essential question is how to measure satisfaction, happiness? Is it praise? Achiev ement? Security ? Numerous studies determine that financial security = happiness, begins at roughly 80K/y ear and diminishes once income becomes superfluous. Since the Reagan y ears, the American ethos has become wealth accumulation - greed is good, if y ou will. The obv ious conclusion is that our better angels hav e abandoned us, because we abandoned them. Kindness, humility , generosity were once considered the prime American v alues. Now we v alue Big Personalities and Money Mongers.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Tony

Manhattan, NY

That number does v ary significantly based on where one liv es due to geographically skewed costs of liv ing.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.

TTime

RI

Happy to be free from religion is one thing I can say without hesitation. It is less stressful and affords me the freedom to think and question. Fearing retribution from any capricious diety is just crazy . Being a liberal also affords me the capacity to be mentally open and embrace that, and those, that are not like me. Y es, family is an important aspect to being happy as well. Howev er one defines "family ," if that group of indiv iduals is supportiv e, one will alway s feel secure to ex press oneself. As the social animals that we are, we all want to belong and be accepted by our giv en or chosen family . As soon as we accept ourselv es and feel accepted by the ones close to us, happy ness is at our door.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Peter

Wisconsin
RECOMMENDED

Well said.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:35 a.m. 1

Colenso

Cairns

Being happy should not be confused with being content, satisfied, or smug, the last an especially prev alent human v ice, especially amongst our ov erlords.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Timothy Bal

NJ

Correlation does not imply causation. It could be that naturally happy people tend to be religious and hard working. Rich people get better educations, and are happier than poor people. May be the wealth causes behav ior changes that promote happiness. But many happy , rich people hav e awful v alues. They fav or ex ploitation of the poor and "free trade". They pay politicians to keep their tax es low and keep the IRS from learning how they hide their income. (Why would they do that if their ex tra money did not make them happier?) The v alues of the American Enterprise Institute curiously help the rich get richer and ev ery one else get poorer. In fact, I would argue that the AEI is a major factor in promoting unhappiness among the American people, since most Americans are not rich. I hav e a suggestion for the author: if he really believ es what he wrote, then he should ex change his job as a cheerleader for free enterprise for a job where he helps the unlucky people who are homeless, because somehow the v alues of the rich hav e caused too many other people to lose their homes and liv e in destitution.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Ida

Clinton Corners
RECOMMENDED

I was wondering about that think tank.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m. 2

Richard Doczy

Orange, CA

Subsidies are contrary to free enterprise and companies that seek them are criminal, like bank robbers. To blame subsidies on free enterprise is itself nonsense. Subsidies are political perks.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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13

Panicalep

Panicale, Italy

Sounds like the Conserv ativ e Credo to me. As an ex tremely happy liberal, coming from rather happy parents, one an ov erly dev out Catholic, the other a doubting, female Thomas. My education was ex cellent through v arious Catholic schools and Univ ersities. I worked from the age of 7 and retired 51 y ears later, not superly rich, but happily self sufficient. Funny , but the happiest people on earth, according to international studies, are Northern Europeans and Americans rank rather low in these studies. May be the fact that I spent my working career in Europe, married a Dane, and was nev er ov erly obsessed with work, had a huge influence on my happiness. Each y ear on my return to the Homeland, I am shocked by the number of older Americans working past their 7 0's in menial jobs. If Mr. Brooks thinks they are doing this because 'Americans lov e their work', he is liv ing in La-La Land. These people are working because they need their pay to ex ist. America's treatment of their workers is a disgrace for the richest country in the world and one of the last to legislate a national health program. May be the abov e is why American Conserv ativ es are 'happier' than American Liberals. The former are liv ing off the latter, and the latter are really not happy about this inequality .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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David Michael

Eugene, Oregon

Brav o! I think y ou hit the nail on the head. At age 7 6, I am working at Amazon for the Xmas season and I am amazed at the number of

retired seniors here who lost their homes in the Great Recession and much of their financial safety net. If it wasn't for Social Security , half of the seniors of this country would be in bread lines and working for the rest of their liv es. Europe has a much better sy stem of retirement and health programs than the USA which in turn leads to greater happiness and security . In a nutshell, America has chosen war and profits ov er the well bring of its citizens.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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SW

San Francisco

Only conserv ativ es are wealthy CEOs? Y ou need to check Obama's inner circle, all of whom hav e incestuous ties to Wall Street, BigHealth, Big Pharma, Oil, etc. Being a liberal precludes neither riches nor oppression of workers. The rich is this country come from both sides of the aisle.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:05 a.m.
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Pellumb Kllogjeri

Albania

Happiness is a state of the soul and of the mind that completely depends on what one has sown: good items or bad items, lov e or hatred, hope or despair, confidence or diffidence, righteousness or unrighteousness, courage or fear, frankness or diception honesty or dishonesty and so on...
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Ravenna

NY

I so agree. The flip side of unhappiness is happiness. All y ou hav e to do is turn it ov er. I realize now, in my dotage, that there were times when I was happy but didn't ev en know it. I chose to be unhappy because it felt safe and familiar. Now I choose to simply flip ov er unhappy feelings...it worked for Polly anna and it works for me.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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Charles

San Diego, CA

I do not intend to fight for free enterprise. Needing pay ing customers does not seem mathematically sound to me. While meaningful work is more possible to tolerate than drudgery , neither could necessarily put food on the table. We only feel competition is good while we are winning. Instead, I think by pursuit of happiness they probably meant the golden rule.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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21

V.Muthuswami

Chennai, India

According to the Indian ancient wisdom, we are in essence div ine blissfully endowed creatures. It is our own ignorance that conceals this natural endowment as we get carried away with ev ents often bey ond ones control. Once we recognise our inherent duties to self and society at large with passion, and with a sense of detachment, there comes IintuItiv e wisdom to accept the life in v arious manifestations with grace and gratitude. Where then the need to be sad and lacking.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Steve F

Branford, CT

Kudos to Mr. Brooks for his subtlety . Half way through his essay I was beginning to feel warm and fuzzy ; up until that crack about unemploy ment bringing unhappiness. From there on it became obv ious that all he's doing if arguing the same old line. Unemploy ment brings unhappiness, so cut benefits to - wait for it - help the terminated and rejected feel better. Declare war on barriers to entrepreneurship; meaning in other words to allow fly by night operators to make and sell dangerous products and dump their tox ic wastes wherev er they want. He adv ocates policies to help the v ulnerable build an economy that can sustain these commitments; so let's get rid of minimum wage and child labor laws because nothing builds up a poor person's assets better than two or three dead end jobs. And ev en if that person still can't sav e any thing, hell, at least he can die with a smile on his face! Thank y ou Mr. Brooks for y our kind consideration but I think I'll pass.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.

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Mark Hineline

San Diego, CA

I had the same reaction, and this is because the sentence is constructed in a sloppy way . I saw, after multiple readings, that he really means that to be unemploy ed makes one unhappy . The author is not abbrev iating "unemploy ment compensation" to "unemploy ment." So my initial reaction was wrong (as was y ours, Stev e F). But it shows that we hav e hair triggers concerning this issue.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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Zeke27

New York

The point of the article is clear. We all need to do meaningful things, whether it is to build a cabinet, write a program or a song, balance the books or fly an airplane. Doing something well and gaining the respect of our peers is important for our sense of being. One of the leading motiv ators in the work place is not money , but recognition. There is a lot of satisfaction for being one of a team. We need to re-arrange our v alues. Too often we judge people by how much they make and not how they make it.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Ripple

VA
RECOMMENDED

The point f this article is to push free enterprise.

Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:59 a.m. 4

Ravenna

NY

Rot. There are many gifted artists, writers and musicians who dare not quit their day job because this society does not support or appreciate or reward financially what they hav e to offer.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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Pete

New Jersey

Tolstoy found himself jealous of the peasants who were controlling the 12% by pursuing faith, family , community and work. He went from war to peace through downward mobility .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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thelatticegroup

Mobile, duh.

I too am not ex actly sure what the author means by "free enterprise." Hav ing done his research, surely Arthur C. Brooks has discov ered that the happiest nation on earth is Denmark, an ardently socialist country . (Capitalist, but socialist). That's not surprising, since socialism just means embracing community on a nationwide scale. No arguments about who is "deserv ing poor," no bitterness about pay ing tax es, no frantic race to build a tacky McMansion. Brooks' proposed solution--that we need to fight for free enterprise--is ridiculous. He must know that. Enterprise can't get any more free-- we already hav e graduates with PhDs working as unpaid interns! What we really need is what Denmark has: early child care, ex cellent public schools, free higher education, paid parental leav e, union representation, liv ing wages.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Stephen White

Atlanta, GA

So many studies of happiness point in the direction this commenter takes us. Take just one psy chologist: Abraham Maslow. V alues hav e a ranking in terms of priority . Surv iv al, security , esteem, belongingness, self-actualization. The poor can be fooled, manipulated, or brainwashed by religion into believ ing they are happy by soldiering on in a menial job because they liv e with the comforting and arguably and wildly delusional thought that they are doing God's will for which the reward is eternal salv ation. And women, we hav e learned, can be deceptiv ely happy until shockingly awakened by consciousnessraising pioneers like Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, and the entire

array of historical feminists stretching back perhaps to biblical times. The Danes seem to hav e learned what the key s might be to making populations happy . Take care of surv iv al needs first for all--health, nutrition, etc. Then giv e people a sense of security by freeing then from the fear of utter failure by losing out in the capitalistic zerosum game,. Nex t, elev ate esteem and a sense of belongingness , and make sure thru education--free and av ailable to all--that they cannot be don't get sidetracked into the glitz and glitter world of pseudo-happiness thru failure to dev elop critical thinking skills. And open wide the gates for self-actualization instead of concentrating opportunities in the upper 1 % of the population. Capitalism may deliv er goods, but it's up to us to tame its darker sides.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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Andrew

Philadelphia, PA

Without ex ception, I am happiest when acting in serv ice to others or in serv ice of a greater cause than (drum roll) my own gratification.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Brian Hagerty

New York

Isn't that just another way of say ing y ou're gratified by serv ing others. Is there such a thing as pure altruism, or are those of us who help others merely doing what we find enjoy able?
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:23 a.m.
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tsc

sydney

If happiness is defined by the indiv idual and enjoy ment of the same happiness v aries depending on the indiv idual; the subject by its nature is not generalizable and therefore any conclusion on happiness is unreliable.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Brian Hagerty

New York

Well said. Happiness is a nebulous concept ill-suited for "scientific" study .

Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:33 a.m.
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S. Newman

Westchester Co., NY

"About half of happiness is genetically determined." This is an absurd statement. No scientific study or studies could ev er demonstrate this: genes don't work this way and happiness is not a quantifiable trait. Furthermore, identical twins are biologically different from one another in molecular terms ev en before they are born.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Barbara B

Detroit, MI

There is plenty of ev idence that temperment is, in large part, "nature" rather than "nurture".
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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E. Purcell

Greenville, SC

S. Newman is correct. The effects of genes and env ironment are not additiv e. Y ou can't take a trait and div ide it neatly into percentages of genetic and env ironmental influence to make 1 00%. People make this mistake all the time.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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Petey Tonei

Massachusetts

Agree....Epigenetic shows us that the organism is dy namically interacting with the env ironment, tox ins, stress and diet and that genes are not that important as they are made out to be. Our genes are only half DNA, the remaining are proteins that interact with the env ironment all the time.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:25 a.m.
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Lifelong reader

Brazil

Lov e the illustration. It giv es a lot of food for thought. What is that oh-soprecious thing that makes each one of us, indiv idually , happy ? It v aries so much.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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Your Name

Atlanta GA

The reason conserv ativ e women are so happy is they don't hav e to think about all the paradox es of modern society and the economy . I think the reason money is so concentrated at the top is 50 y ears of the "Peter Principle". 7 5% of major stock holders/board members are in the top 5% of income and hav e been gradually pointing wealth towards themselv es all these y ears. It is affecting the buy ing power of the middle class and the upward mobility of those struggling at the bottom. Perhaps education of those in control of the flows of money that we're all in this together, kind of idealistic but true. May be in a hundred y ears this will be worked out.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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jacrane

Davison, Mi.

Really ?? Conserv ativ e women are happy because they don't hav e to think about all the paradox es of modern society and the economy ? Where in the world did y ou get that statement? Am definitely conserv ativ e ev en more so after reading something that silly . Am supposedly retired at age 68 but work to make ends meet. But of course I don't worry about it. I just work!
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
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Ross Williams

Grand Rapids, Minnesota

Unfortunately , this is mostly nonsense. What people SAY in response to polls is their unconsidered response. "How's it going?" "Good."
Dec. 14, 2013 at 11:08 p.m.
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Marc in MA

Boston

Without knowing how the polls were conducted, it is not possible to assert this.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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ScottW

Chapel Hill, NC

"To share happiness, we need to fight for free enterprise and striv e to make its blessings accessible to all." "Free enterprise" is a trite phrase used as propaganda against the ev ils of socialism. Like Christianity , it's great in concept, y et few follow the commandments. Is "free enterprise," Boeing threatening to leav e Seattle unless it is giv en tens of millions in tax breaks, and concessions from workers who built the company ? Is it ev ery billionaire sports owner who demands cities build stadiums and demand Congress prov ide tax benefits by giv ing them non-profit status? Is it ev ery bank that receiv ed tens of billions in bailout money because failing to do so might run them out of business? Is it giv ing banks access to the fed window? Is it no bid gov ernment contracts? Is it WalMart, McDonalds, and all other slav e wage employ ers who prov ide that "meaningful" work y ou describe, while pointing their workers to the gov ernment window for food stamps, health cov erage, etc.? Is it companies who pay v ery little in corporate tax es, making the 35% tax rate a joke? Is it ty ing up drugs under patent so poor people in poor countries can nev er receiv e their benefits? There is no such thing as "free enterprise," as corporate profits are priv atized, with the losses socialized. I do agree with y our conclusion ex cessiv e wealth does not bring happiness. So, institute a 50% tax rate on all money earned ov er $1,000,000/y ear and sav e those billionaires from their misery .
Dec. 14, 2013 at 7:16 p.m.
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Robert

Melbourne, Australia

V ery well said, Scott!! Ev ery time that I read a comment like this from an American my faith in the country (U.S.A.) is restored somewhat. Things work in a similar way in Australia also. Y ou hav e my best wishes.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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Cjmesq0

Bronx, NY

The incestuous relationship between big corporate America and big gov ernment is a major problem. This is the common ground that true lefties like Bernie Sanders hav e with Tea Party conserv ativ es: If y ou hav e true capitalism, real free markets and real choice, and embrace the indiv idual, y ou should be against crony -capitalism and the misery it brings we the people.
Dec. 15, 2013 at 10:37 a.m.
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Rocketscientist

Chicago, IL

Now wait, don't jump. Free enterprise is a good thing, not that any of the so-called capitalist running our major corporations would know it if they saw it. It's the v endor at the street corner selling hot dogs. He must prov ide a product that has y ou coming back. That's capitalism, i.e., free enterprise. My grandfather made millions with an 8th grade education by hard work, imagination, building relationships with customers and suppliers not by liv ing on corporate welfare and by hiding his money in shadow banks. He started out picking cherries in western Michigan. Jamie Dimon would do well learning to sell hot dogs. If a Harv ard education doesn't giv e y ou the skills to learn from that y ou'v e wasted y our money .
Dec. 15, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
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