Is it the government's obligation to ensure and protect every citizen's pursuit of happiness?

Happiness is a state of enjoyment or pleasure brought on by favorable circumstances or positive outcomes in life. Pursuit of happiness can be defined as actively working to achieve daily contentment. The Declaration of Independence sets life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as "unalienable" rights. With the first two rights, the founders sought to ensure that government would refrain from taking away precious entitlements of citizenry. The founders surely realized that while everyone should have a right to happiness, it cannot be bestowed, unlike life and liberty. Rather, happiness is a state to be pursued by each citizen, each in his or her own way over the course of a lifetime. Although everyone pursues happiness in their own unique way, there are some general freedoms necessary for achieving the goal of happiness. Our government created a list of personal freedoms, which aid in the pursuit of happiness; therefore it is the responsibility of the government to protect these freedoms.

The Seat of Government

Happiness mind-map

Happiness

The government is the medium, which is ultimately partially accountable for each person's pursuit of happiness. The government must allow its people to be free to do as they choose within the confines of the law. If not, the people are merely puppets who feel little or no joy in their lives. Much of the pursuit of happiness deals simply with a person's attitude, but if the government is treating its people unjustly, a positive attitude is impossible. If our government were to decide to negate its obligation to keep its people happy, chaos would result.

Pursuit of happiness includes activities that make one happy as well as attaining a state of mind that is free from worries. It is clearly our government's obligation to keep its people free from worries. The government must put an end to things such...