The proper way of expressing Jefferson’s orderly laying out the three main reasons for justifying parting from England, its royalty and its laws is “life, liberty and THE PURSUIT of happiness”.  You are guaranteed nothing but the right to seek to be happy. You have to fight for life and liberty.  The conundrum involves the change of language in the Constitution that puts “property” in place of happiness.  You can pursue property and might be guaranteed acquiring something of substance – but you can pursue happiness all you want but only be guaranteed the pursuit which is filled with potholes and impedimenta all along the way.  As my friend, Ron Bloom, puts it – “life is a journey, enjoy the ride”.

I have often thought that happiness was NOT a state of mind.  Happiness was imagining something I did not have but could achieve by working for it.  I have thought that work was required for life and liberty made life bearable.  But, as often is the case, life and liberty are meaningless unless you have even the barest chance to be happy.  Look around and see if the lives lived by those you know are happy and, by chance, see, also, if they have liberty.  Let us not get into confusing liberty with freedom.  That is a whole other thing.  Happiness is having things just the way you want them.  The prisoner who does not have to work for food, has shelter and is regimented in the way his day goes is not free, has no liberty and has no life.  I doubt if many in his condition are happy.  But, translate what I have just said into the way most live their lives – not really free, not really liberated with some shelter and regimented to the point where they have no control over what will make them happy – the difference between them, you, me and the prisoner is not much.

There is a conundrum or – a puzzle, if you wish – involving the very precise meaning of property but happiness has a very loose meaning.  One person’s accumulation of obscene amounts of personal wealth clashes with the abjectly poor.  Neither is able to do much about the condition of their lives nor is either as happy as the Declaration states they should want to be – especially if they get that British government off their backs.  The government has changed from autocratic to self-imposed.  But government does not provide happiness (perhaps for a few) for everyone.  It is sort of like ‘catch as catch can’ – a scramble up a greasy pole and there is room for only one at the top.

This does not sound like a recipe for happiness and there is no one such recipe.  What we have is the rock solid block of property that does not belong to you and you have to deal with it. Your happiness is your affair and it is best if you do not bring up the puzzle, the conundrum, of why Jefferson’s “pursuit of happiness” was dropped in favor of the lucky who owned property.  Go figure.