What Are We Supposed To Chase For Happiness, Again?
Happiness is a pretty big deal in human existence. I think most people, even in an era of competitive victimhood, would like to be happy and find the idea of being happy to be palatable. Much ink has been spilled on this topic since 2010, which makes logical sense since the 2008 recession (also the same year Obama was elected in the U.S.) set into motion a lot of economic and ideological things that seem to be boosting and preventing happiness in equal measure. Taken together, I would say 2008 recession + COVID were huge “awakenings” around the work side of the happiness equation, i.e. a lot of people who maybe once thought “work is family” woke up to the idea that virtually not a single employer cares whether you live or die. So, that’s charming.
Arthur Brooks is a bigger name in this space. He teaches at Harvard, which I think meant more to people in 2018 than it does now. He also recently wrote a book about happiness with, of all people, Oprah. I would assume Oprah’s happiness is, in some way, tied to the fact that she was a local Chicago anchor and became a billionaire via media, which is hard to do if you’re not the white guy who buys all the stations.
