Prager On Happiness

 The wise Dennis Prager, on his radio show last week, was repeating his insight into the vital importance of being happy for human mental health. He went to far as to decree that being happy is an ethical obligation.

Now, Jordan Peterson disagrees, remarking that we should not pursue happiness, or self-esteem, or mindless pleasure, but meaning gained from self-discipline, taking on the heaviest responsibility that one can shoulder.

Both sages and ethicists are correct. Prager is a subtle thinker, and he admires Peterson, but Prager wants each person to lead a good life. His point, as I interpret it, is that one should not pursue cheap or mindless happiness, but that despite suffering and setbacks, being grateful for life, for God's gifts and cultivating a deep, calm, solid, solid positive attitude will allow one to be relatively happy no matter how many lemons that life hands one.

Prager advises that cheerful, grateful, non-resentful, thankful, and optimistic people cannot but be good. They are happy to know God, and to live a godly life, so they have not need to hurt anyone else because they are at peace inside themselves. I believe his advice is sound.

He also added a critically important moral addendum: another reason for striving to being as non-bitter, not angry, not resentful and playing the victim is that when one limits how unhappy one is, then one is less likely to need to attack others to vent pent-up personal frustration and self-loathing.