Many people are speaking about happiness during these parliamentary election campaigns. Of course, that is not innovative on a worldwide scale. For example, the US Declaration of Independence, written approximately 250 years ago, states in the first sentence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is undeniable that everyone seeks to be happy and no one wants to be unhappy. But whether being happy or unhappy is connected to social processes, political regimes, and more, I think that is debatable.
First, those feelings are strictly personal and extremely changeable. Today I feel happy, but tomorrow I might be in pain, or I might argue with a friend, and as a result, feel unhappy. Even more, I could feel happy despite being in physical or emotional pain or feel upset despite everything seeming fine on the surface. The more relaxed we approach these natural changes and the fewer ashes we dump on our heads when we feel upset, the better.
These personal feelings may have nothing to do with the system. There have been instances where people felt happy in Nazi concentration camps; read some of the Austrian psychologist Viktor Frankl’s works. What matters in such circumstances is what the person thinks their life purpose is and whether they can truly fulfill their mission. In the 20th century, movies, then television and the internet, created several standards for happiness, which are tied to material wealth, despite the fact that attempting to achieve that makes people feel empty and unhappy. Therefore, when the Founding Fathers of the USA wrote “the pursuit of happiness,” they likely didn’t take everything into consideration. For example, drug addicts are happy when they’re high, and they have smiles on their faces at that point. Should we encourage their pursuits?
Or, a more timely example. The majority of Armenian citizens would be happy if all members of the RPA were shot without any court decision. But that happiness would only be temporary, without any continuation. How about whenever you eat something you like, don’t you want to eat it again? Or when you see the person you love, you don’t want your meeting to only last a day.
Aram Abrahamyan
