What are the things indispensable to your sense of happiness?
Many studies indicate that the happiness of those around you affects your own sense of happiness and well-being. For example, a widely-cited 2008 study from Harvard asserts that when a person A is happy, their friend B’s chance of happiness increases by 25%, B’s friend C’s by 10% and C’s friend D’s by 5.6%! It’s worth noting that C and D do not know A.
From these understandings, we can deduce that raising the global average happiness level would create a virtuous cycle for everyone. If the government prioritizes as ensuring happiness for as many residents as possible, then stability and positive future trajectory through social infrastructure such as education, healthcare and social security should become a primary focus. And isn’t that the ideal of American Democracy?
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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence…
Declaration of Independence (https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript)
And as the nation of immigrants, America cast these words from Emma Lazarus’ sonnet onto the pedestal on which the Statue of Liberty stands to welcome its newcomers.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46550/the-new-colossus)
On the other hand, an administration may prioritize hierarchy over equality, emphasizing the authority of the government and the rule of law. One can argue that this top-down approach is more efficient in dealing with macro-level issues such as the economy, and international relations. As an artist and an immigrant woman of color, I am concerned about the right-leaning approach for the following reasons. Can the government that does not represent the diversity of their people, or even care to, consider all of its residents interests and rights?
This concern is exacerbated by the fact that many staunch Trump supporters are white Christian nationalists. They assert that America is for white people and that the church and the state should not be separate, but should instead follow what they believe are Christian values.
I became a musician to contribute to the Gross Global Happiness. I am more determined than ever to bridge the disparities and divide that this new administration will widen and worsen, according to policy recommendations from Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, and the recently established America First Policy Institute (AFPI) and its 10 “pillars” to reshape the executive branch and enact changes to the United States.
Wisdom, information, wealth, feast, laughter, memories, affection, happiness…things that are possible for us to possess become even more powerful by sharing them with others. It’s a small world after all. Music is one way to celebrate our interconnectedness, enriched by our diversity. Stay calm and keep going.
This blog entry is based on my biweekly column, “The Way of the Pianist” (#141), to be published by Nikkan San on Nov. 16th.
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