In the good old days, before public schools became half-way houses for ignoramuses-in-training, many of whom have already become easily-enchanted members of the electorate, we learned basic English grammar in junior high school. I am not sure if grammar is still taught in today's schools, but if it is, there is ample evidence all around us that it is not learned well.
What is the snake oil that every politician pitches as the American dream? Happiness! It's what sells even better than sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. But it is not their's to pitch.
Our Declaration of Independence also declares, in the first paragraph of its Preamble, certain unalienable rights to be God-endowed entitlements: " ... life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This sentence fragment identifies the three unalienable rights that are entitlements for all Americans.
The first two entitlements enumerated in the above quoted excerpt of the Preamble, namely "life" and "liberty", are taken virtually for granted by all Americans in all our social strata, though these are far from internationally acknowledged entitlements. This leaves the third entitlement to be, for all intents and purposes, the essence of the American dream — "the pursuit of happiness". This small sentence fragment is the source of the never-ending confusion that keeps our politicians in the business of pre-packaging snake oil. The entitlement is the noun "pursuit", not the clause "of happiness". The latter describes what it is that we are entitled to pursue, not what we are actually entitled to.
The hucksters and snake-oil sales(wo)men who promise you all manner of free lunch are making promises they know full well are not their's to make. There is no free lunch (go ahead; quote me). Lunch is something you can only get the old fashioned way — you have to earn it! Thankfully, there is no better place on earth to earn your lunch. Go pursue it!
What is the snake oil that every politician pitches as the American dream? Happiness! It's what sells even better than sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. But it is not their's to pitch.
Our Declaration of Independence also declares, in the first paragraph of its Preamble, certain unalienable rights to be God-endowed entitlements: " ... life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This sentence fragment identifies the three unalienable rights that are entitlements for all Americans.
The first two entitlements enumerated in the above quoted excerpt of the Preamble, namely "life" and "liberty", are taken virtually for granted by all Americans in all our social strata, though these are far from internationally acknowledged entitlements. This leaves the third entitlement to be, for all intents and purposes, the essence of the American dream — "the pursuit of happiness". This small sentence fragment is the source of the never-ending confusion that keeps our politicians in the business of pre-packaging snake oil. The entitlement is the noun "pursuit", not the clause "of happiness". The latter describes what it is that we are entitled to pursue, not what we are actually entitled to.
The hucksters and snake-oil sales(wo)men who promise you all manner of free lunch are making promises they know full well are not their's to make. There is no free lunch (go ahead; quote me). Lunch is something you can only get the old fashioned way — you have to earn it! Thankfully, there is no better place on earth to earn your lunch. Go pursue it!
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