Jan 14 2013: and that is EXACTLY why happiness, as you have defined it (accepting one's Lot in life), supports the status quo. Because if happiness means nothing more than "accepting your lot in life", than what does that mean for the poor or disadvantaged? It means they should be quiet and peaceful and adjust to the status quo instead of being selfish and pushing for more. It is a definition of happiness which JUSTIFIES doing nothing.
Another model of happiness - that happiness should incorporate certain material standards of living, such as decent food, shelter, etc - would be quite revolutionary, because it implies that a government or society which doesn't guarantee these things to their population is actively preventing their happiness. But the definition of happiness being peddled today seems to justify non-action to help the less fortunate, because the less fortunate are, under this definition, actually MORE fortunate. Sick logic, but there you have it.
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A reply on Conversation: Is Happiness a conservative, status-quo concept?
Another model of happiness - that happiness should incorporate certain material standards of living, such as decent food, shelter, etc - would be quite revolutionary, because it implies that a government or society which doesn't guarantee these things to their population is actively preventing their happiness. But the definition of happiness being peddled today seems to justify non-action to help the less fortunate, because the less fortunate are, under this definition, actually MORE fortunate. Sick logic, but there you have it.