Katherine Kersten: Our 'pursuit of happiness' is burdened

On July 4, we celebrate the great day that our Founders proclaimed Americans' "unalienable rights" to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

This Independence Day, however, many Americans are expressing concern that the system of limited government bequeathed by our Founders is under attack. If the policy course being set in Washington, D.C., continues, the viability of the Founders' vision -- and the American Dream it spawned -- may be in doubt.

In a new book, Arthur Brooks -- president of the American Enterprise Institute -- explains that we're witnessing a clash of visions that will determine America's future for decades. In "The Battle: How the Fight between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America's Future," he describes the relentless expansion of government that is constricting our liberty and limiting our ability to pursue happiness.

Brooks dubs the two contending forces in this battle the "30 percent coalition" and the "70 percent coalition."

The 30 percent coalition -- led by President Obama, Democrats in Congress, and their allies in academia, the media and Big Labor -- holds the levers of power in Washington. They gained control in 2008, in part, by successfully hijacking the language of "fairness."

The 30 percent coalition rejects our Founders' belief that the role of government is to ensure the rule of law so individual Americans can pursue happiness. Instead, its members want government itself to dispense happiness -- by regulating more and more sectors of American life and by redistributing income, goods and services.

The 70 percent coalition -- the rest of America -- says no. Most Americans want to pursue happiness on their own. They want the opportunity to better themselves through a culture of entrepreneurship that rewards hard work and merit. They know that freedom requires responsibility and brings risk. But they prefer it to the cradle-to-grave security that Big Government promises.

The 30 percent coalition's celebration of big government and the welfare state is based on a misunderstanding of the human heart, writes Brooks. Our political class thinks that "money buys happiness, as long as it is distributed fairly." But the secret of human flourishing -- no matter your status -- is not money but "earned success" in life, he says.

Earned success is the creation of value in our own lives or the lives of others. People who believe they are creating value -- whether through their job, as parents or as volunteers -- are generally happier than people who don't believe they've earned their success. That's why a person receiving welfare is much less happy, on average, than an equally poor person who isn't, according to many studies. Lottery winners too often become less happy.

A vibrant free-enterprise system is vital for the pursuit of happiness, because it makes earned success possible for the greatest number of people. It does so in three ways, says Brooks. First, it creates optimism by giving people the opportunity to better themselves through hard work and perseverance -- to "reinvent themselves." We know this as the American Dream.

Second, a free-enterprise system helps people to create meaning by enabling them to find work that matches their skills and passions. Americans are 46 percent likelier than the heavily taxed and regulated French, 52 percent likelier than Germans and 190 percent likelier than the Spanish to say they are "completely satisfied" with their jobs, according to Brooks.

Finally, the free-enterprise system creates happiness by giving people control over their daily lives. Flourishing, happy people believe they can determine their own destinies through hard work, while people who feel powerless are the most miserable.

The free-market system is a moral imperative, because it allows people of all economic conditions to pursue happiness. But today, government policies from bailouts to heavy-handed regulation are putting that system at risk.

This July 4, we should heed Patrick Henry's warning: "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel." And Benjamin Franklin's counsel: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."