Squat and Squabble

For those readers who don’t remember high school math, the title of this post indicates that the quantity “Pleasure” is less than the quantity “Happiness.” And the indisputable truth of that statement is the root cause of most of society’s current problems.

Pleasure is a physical reaction resulting from some event, experience, or stimulant. Examples of pleasures are good food, nice weather, working out, orgasmic sex, certain drugs and alcohol, driving a great car, living in a safe home, winning at competitive endeavors, and a myriad of other things that occur in your life. Pleasures are generally good, positive things, but are not always productive and life-enhancing experiences. Pleasures are alluring, captivating, and can be easily addicting. Too much exercise, too much food, too much booze, too much drugs, too much striving to make the big bucks to buy the things that will give you pleasure – these are destructive results of the “pursuit” of pleasures. Pleasure is never a destination – it is always just an event on the path of life.

Happiness, on the other hand, is more, much more, than a simplistic physical state of pleasure. Happiness is an emotional condition – it is the synergistic combination of mental satisfaction, physical calmness, and situational peacefulness that transcends mere physical pleasures. Happiness is an end to itself, and should be the goal of all human endeavor. Happiness is manifested by the sublime pleasure of the experience of life itself.

Sadly, in this day and age we seem to have lost an awareness of the difference between pleasure and happiness. We commonly equate the two, and frequently place more value in experiencing repetitive pleasures than in achieving a state of happiness. Most modern activities seem to be focused on base pleasures – sex, money, fame, power, because we have been misdirected to believe that if we have enough feel-good things, we will be happy. But it just isn’t so.

How can the person of modest means be happy, while the person of vast wealth and fame suffers from self-doubt and disillusion? How can a poor family with several children, who must struggle to make ends meet, still find the inner peace, love, and deep relationships brought by true happiness? How can a wealthy family suffer with dysfunctional relationships, substance abuse, and depression? Obviously, a pile of physical pleasures does not necessarily result in a mountain of happiness.

It is because Happiness comes from within, not from without.

Our Declaration of Independence addresses the inalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  Take note that no mention was made of a right to pursue pleasure.

There was a reason for that.

The progressive left wants to remove any public commemoration or acknowledgement of all individuals who, in the past, engaged in conduct which is now considered morally unconscionable. Any memorial to a Confederate soldier or political figure must be erased from display. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are to be ostracized from modern history because they owned slaves. Christopher Columbus must be thrown onto the ash heap because he claimed to have discovered a place that was already inhabited.

Even as you read this post, cranes are lifting statues from pedestals in town centers, plaques are being removed, holidays are being renamed, and textbooks are being purged of favorable mention of any historical figure who runs afoul of the new morality.

It matters not to progressives that the definition of morality has changed over the centuries – all people, even those long dead, are to be measured by the standards of today. Yes, it was once legal to own slaves, it was once legal to employ children in factories, it was once accepted to marry children and lobotomize homosexuals. We certainly do not condone such things in today’s society, but does that mean that our predecessors were immoral? They simply observed the legal practices of the society of their day. Does that make them wrong?

If that is the case, and we should properly judge our ancestors by today’s moral measure, then what will happen when our own descendants look back on us? What if some future society decides that animals are entitled to legal rights as individuals? Will the achievements of pet owners and meat eaters be ignored due to their past violations of animal rights? Would that be right?

For those progressives so transfixed on punishing those who behaved according to their time, for no other reason than because what they did in the past is not what they should do in the present, I have a proposition:
For every Hollywood celebrity or entertainer who is found to have been a sexual harasser, or rapist, or wife abuser, or has engaged in any other past behavior that was generally acceptable when they did it, let’s erase them from history. It’s only fair, right?

I challenge the entertainment industry to take back the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, Clios, and Grammy awards, pry the terrazzo and brass stars out of the sidewalk on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and purge each and every celebrity miscreant from all records of industry achievement.

Progressives have a knack for overlooking their own transgressions, however, so I won’t hold my breath waiting for the purge to happen.

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Perhaps they could take all of those pried out stars and put them somewhere else – maybe create a “Hollywood Walk of Shame .”

Here is my suggestion for dealing with all of these “tear down the statues” nut jobs that are, at the moment, going after confederate soldiers as well as any other prominent historical figures who were once slave owners:

From this point forward, we have a law that says that no statue shall be erected anywhere in America that memorializes any person or group that was on the losing side of a military conflict, social issue, or other significant event. Only winners will get statues.

This new law should eliminate any arguments over whether or not a particular statue gets torn down.

In an extension of this policy, no longer would anyone get awards for not being a winner, such as no more second or third place medals, no “participation” awards for school children, and no lottery prizes unless you have ALL of the winning numbers. No more celebration of anything but unbridled success.

Of course, there may be a few problems determining whether or not somebody was actually deserving of a statue. General Custer is one obvious example (as he kind of won by losing), and Aaron Burr is another (as he kind of lost by winning).

And just to make it fair, every ten years we will have a referendum to see if the public perception of who was a winner and who was a loser has changed, so that we can keep the statue population in sync with the ever-changing morals and politics of the country.