Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

As stated in the United States Declaration of Independence, there are three rights that are referred to as unalienable, yet many who reside in this country don’t experience the benefits of these rights. The right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness often are pushed to the background, in favor of lobbyists who have their own interests in mind, rather than the individuals whose lives are affected by the choices that are made behind closed doors, often with money changing hands. In effect, this is blood money, particularly in regards to the National Rifle Association, or NRA, which is one of the most influential lobbyists. The NRA spends a tremendous amount of money in order to defend the right for citizens to own weapons of mass destruction, while also working to reduce gun regulations, even when it comes to assault weapons. I don’t think that the Founding Fathers had this level of carnage-capable weapons in mind when they drafted the Amendments. According to recent figures, the NRA spends over $3.3 million annually trying to stop gun regulations, even when most of the registered gun owners in the United States support the use of expanded background checks and other proposed measures. 

Life: The opposite of death

How are people supposed to pursue life when there are bigwigs who are trying desperately to prevent this very thing from happening? People are dying due to the use of guns instead of common sense or effective conflict resolution skills. Sarah Winchester recognized the destruction of lives that were attributed to the Winchester rifle, going to the lengths of constantly building on the house in San Jose, CA in order to appease the spirits of those who died by the very thing that was named after her family. Why is it that she could recognize the death and destruction that is caused by the weapons that bear her namesake, but our current society appears to be blind to the issue? More accurately, the politicians, specifically the Republican party, prefer to have people armed to the gills, while also taking away or reducing access to mental and physical health care.

            Now, this isn’t a post against the Republicans or NRA per se, but more of a way to bring to light the “unalienable rights” that have been squashed by the power of the almighty dollar. When it comes to the pursuit of life, access to health care seems to be a no-brainer, but sadly, even with the recent introduction of the Affordable Care Act, many in this country lack access to sufficient or adequate care. While the rich are able to access any type of healthcare they may want or require, it is the poor who pay the price for the decisions made by those in power. As of February 2016, the Republicans have voted 63 times to limit access to health care services. Sixty three times. Although the Republicans have opposed this plan 63 times, they have yet to bring an alternative plan to the table. The changes wouldn’t affect them, but rather the millions of families that would lose any access they may currently have to the services that help them to sustain life. So, there goes the right to pursue life.

Liberty: Freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control

            Gee, does that sound familiar? In politics, this pertains to both the social and political freedoms that citizens of the United States hold. However, in light of the current political system, it doesn’t appear that this right is achievable. Our current presumptive nominees for the role of the President consist of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, even when other candidates have received higher voter turnouts. Why is it that the “superdelegates” play any type of role in our political system? What ever happened to every vote counting? Our political system appears to be more of a popularity contest, with the one with the most name recognition, winning, despite any of their views, history, or plans for the country.

            Now to the arbitrary government or control aspect...long ago, it was written that there is to be a separation between church and state, but it appears that too has been crossed out in many of the playbooks that our elected officials use to make decisions that affect the citizens who pay their salaries. Many states have placed the lives of those who they are supposed to represent at risk due to the rulings that have been made, often with quotes from the Bible intertwined with the legal standing. This can be seen in the fight against the right to access comprehensive medical care for women, protection for the LBGTQII community, and even legalizing the right for a business to refuse service or insurance coverage if they don’t agree with what’s at hand. There is not a war against Christianity, far from it. There is a war against equality.

Happiness: A mental or emotional state of well-being, defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.

            Now, here is where I will put my psychologist hat on. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are a few basic human needs that need to be met in order to obtain maximum psychological health and pursue happiness. These include physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and then the ability to self-actualize. Under the physiological needs, you will find food, water, and sleep. Now, let’s look at our current society. Are these needs being met? The answer is no, they are not, and they are not being met for millions of people residing in one of the richest countries in the world. How are we supposed to pursue happiness if we don’t know where our next meal is coming from or if we are going to have a safe place to sleep at night? How about clean water? One just has to look at the events that have taken place in Flint, Michigan, where in order to save a few bucks, the safety of the water and health of the residents were sent into jeopardy without their knowledge. Even more states have been affected by lead-tainted water, with some suggesting that approximately 20% of the water systems in the country have lead levels that trigger the alarm for a call to action.

            Okay, let’s move to safety, which is the second tier of the hierarchy of needs and is considered to be a basic need. This group includes the security of body, employment, resources, family, health, and property. Again, this basic need and requirement to strive or pursue happiness is not being met for millions of people who live in the United States. Rape, violence, outsourcing of jobs, splitting families up due to some biblical passage that is misconstrued in order to fit the needs of the conservatives, the blocking of access to medical care by the Republican party, and the overpriced housing market...this is just a small number of examples that support the idea that the safety aspect of the steps to pursue happiness are road blocked and inaccessible to millions of people.

            In conclusion, there appears to be a great divide between the haves and the have-nots, with the rift growing larger by the day. If these unalienable rights are supposed to be applicable to all, why are just the elites able to ensure that they have all of their needs met, while millions of people watch from afar, unable to have access to the same quality of life? I don’t pretend to have all of the answers, but I do think that instead of making the divide greater in our society, perhaps we need to build a bridge, instead of a wall. We need more peace, love, unity, and respect, not more wars, carnage, and hate. That’s just my 2¢ though. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to comment.

Bang. Bang. We should be ashamed.

Today, we had two shootings (as of noon) at college campuses, which makes it three shootings over the past seven days. The politicians who are jockeying for position of leader of this country keep spewing rhetoric, without focusing on the issue. Some have come out in favor of looser restrictions on guns, while others point a finger at mental health issues. Sadly, the majority is misinformed, surrounded by sycophants who wouldn’t dare go against what the major funders would approve of, regardless of the logic behind such ideas. Talking heads who worry more about when their coffer will begin to overflow and saying the most inflammatory comments on a national platform, only with concerns of causing waves to drown the public in circular logic.

We have had close to 50 mass shootings this year alone, which, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), a mass shooting is when four or more individuals have been shot during a single event without a cooling off period (FBI Reference). So, I guess by that definition, the shootings that occurred today may not have met the criteria due to the number of individuals injured in the events, but would we be any more alarmed if there were more people injured and/or killed in such instances? If so, what does that say about us? 

I’m not going to pretend that I have an answer to such a complex problem. It’s easy to blame others, blame the guns, blame mental illness, rather than looking in the mirror as a society, seeing the monsters that we have created. We have lost much of the respect and empathy necessary for living in society, widening the space between “us” and “them,” when in reality, we are all humans. Yes, even those who have committed such atrocities, they too are human. We are a product of both nature and nurture, and the latter may need to be examined in regards to how we behave in public.

Looking at the profiles of those who have committed such attacks, there is an underlying trend that begins to arise. Many have cited in their manifestos that they feel as if they had been slighted and targeted by others in society, whether it be reprimanded for poor employment performance or being turned down for dates from the opposite sex, there appears to be an unjust sense of entitlement and an inability to behave like civilized adults, using cognitive reasoning skills rather than resorting to the use of a weapon. 

Could some of this be due to a coddled generation? Perhaps kids being told that they’re wonderful, talented, and special, without actually performing to such standards? When confronted with views other than those held by such individuals, they don’t have the tools needed to handle differing ideas, violence outbursts are the result. Does this sound like a mental illness that many politicians keep pointing fingers at for the cause of mass shootings, or does it resemble the type of behavior that is applauded in politics, substituting the use of rhetoric that is based on lies, often shouted at deafening levels?