Governing a Good Life

While it is obvious that every human being should bear the responsibility of figuring out the purpose and the meaning of their own lives and how to be able to achieve the feat of living the good life, it is also his/her responsibility to be in charge of governing the path that the person has chosen. Along with the individual, it is also the responsibility of the government, of any state or nation, to help and provide the platform and creating the environment, to better the chances of the individual to lead the good life.

As it is stated in the declaration of independence, one of the key aspects of the government is to secure the natural rights of every being, including the pursuit of happiness (Declaration of Independence). These natural rights are further expanded and explained in the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although this nation is based on the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the government is failing to take into consideration the moral values as stated by the founding fathers. Rather, they are using their power to manipulate the environment the way seems fit in the governments’ eyes. Sometimes, the governing body does so to get the support of the majority of the population, who does not necessarily care about what is good for the whole nation, and at other times, they simply do it to satisfy their egotistic minds. In either case, the government fails to take the appropriate actions that would be beneficial for the entire population living in that particular state or country because they seemed to have forgotten the moral values that makes humans so distinct from other animals in the world.

Again, there are also countries like Bhutan, whose government is proclaiming that they are aiming to create the happiest nation on Earth through the calculation of the gross national happiness (Bhutan: The Pursuit of Gross National Happiness). Although their government is at least aiming for a much more humane goal compared to most of the developed nations, there is a couple of problems with such and index. First of all, it is not completely transparent how the index is being monitored and reported. Secondly, it is not, in any means possible, to measure such an index in a larger and more developed nations, with huge populations.

If people, in general, were more compassionate toward others, and helped others to achieve a better and happier lives just like every individual want for themselves, we would be living in a much more peaceful world. If the Golden Rule, as propounded by Confucius “Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you” (Ted Talk) as well as Jesus Christ 5 centuries later “Do to others what you want them to do to you” (Google), was embedded in the hearts and minds of all people, there would not be so much tensions and tyranny current world affairs

Works Cited:

"Transcript of "My Wish: The Charter for Compassion"" Karen Armstrong: My Wish: The Charter for Compassion. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.

"The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription." National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.

N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.

Google Web. 8 Mar. 2016.