Life, Liberty, and Whoop-de-do!
Steve Schear
schear at lvcm.com
Fri Nov 16 15:07:52 PST 2001
Life, Liberty, and Whoop-de-do!
P.J. O'Rourke, Forbes ASAP, 12.03.01
In which our man in mirth declares a new kind of independence
Much of the world is confused and infuriated by America. And I contend that
happiness is the source of the confusion and fury. Other countries are
established upon pride, power, nationality, blood, and religion. Not
America. Pursuit of happiness is what we're all about. It's front and
center in our charter, an inalienable right; the Declaration of
Independence says so. No talk of happiness appears in England's Magna
Carta. The French Revolution's Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
fails to address the subject. Article 24 of the United Nations' Universal
Declaration of Human Rights does state, "Everyone has the right to rest and
leisure, including... periodic holidays with pay." But this is not the same
as the pursuit of happiness--as anyone who has wasted a vacation dragging
whiny children on a tour of United Nations headquarters knows.
http://www.forbes.com/asap/2001/1203/018.html
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