The change we need will not come easy. Corporate interests have a powerful grip on the political and economic institutions that ultimately must be changed. Those in positions of economic and political power depend on the continuation of corporate rule for their power and wealth, and they won’t give up either without a fight. The position of any particular corporate CEO is never secure, but a small, elite group of executives shuffle from one firm to another, as well as in and out of various high-level government positions. The only way to join this group is to graduate from one of the elite universities that pride themselves on turning out corporate executives and high-level government officials. It’s far easier to join this clique if you are a member of the elite families that support those schools. However, a few exceptional outsiders – such as Bill Clinton and Barack Obama – are given opportunities to join the corporate/political oligarchy now and then. The group is able to retain its power and wealth only because they are able to limit group membership and thus keep the group small, elite, and mostly wealthy.

Today’s corporate CEOs are able to command obscenely large financial compensation packages because they are members of this elite group, not because they have the ability to manage large, complex organizations. The recent financial meltdown provides compelling evidence that highly paid CEOs don’t necessarily know how to manage large organizations and that high-powered bureaucrats don’t know how to manage economies. They do, however, know how to retain their power and wealth, as evidenced by the large government financial bailout programs. A significant amount of the bailout money went to pay bonuses and other lavish expenditures deemed necessary to retain these “highly qualified” managers who led their firms to the brink of bankruptcy.

Many of the high-level bureaucrats of the Obama administration also are members of this elite group, particularly among his top economic advisors. Why should we trust people to change the current corporate culture when they are a part of that culture? When they have served their time in government, most will return to the corporate world to reap the real economic rewards of high-level government service. The highest levels of political and economic power typically are occupied in large part by members of a relatively small number of families.

The corporate-political elitists are supported by small cliques of other influential individuals whose power and wealth depends on maintaining the corporatist status quo. These include high-level military officers, lawyers in a few prestigious law firms, and members of various “think tanks” that depend on the corporate establishment for their funding. Perhaps the most influential and powerful of these support groups is the national media – the so-called free press.

It’s common knowledge that the national media in the United States are owned and controlled by a handful of powerful corporations. They have used their political influence to engineer the removal of previous government restraints to media consolidation. The financial rewards and professional reputations of reporters, editors, on-air personalities, and producers – the protectors of the free press – depend on the whims of a handful of corporate media executives.

The elite members of the media – the syndicated columnists, network news anchors, and so-called expert commentators – gained their positions of power and wealth by accommodating the needs and preferences of their corporate employers. These people have tremendous influence on public perceptions of what’s true or false and right or wrong. Many are educated, well-informed people who, through their work, surely must see the devastating effects of the growing corpocracy. Regardless, the corporatist culture is “working” for them. Can we trust them to help bring about the change we need?

The election of President Obama wasn’t won by traditional Democrats or perennial Independents. His margin of victory was provided by people who want fundamental change. He led us to believe that, with his leadership, we can bring about the “change we need – Yes we can!” He told us in his inaugural address that America has not triumphed in times of crisis because of the “skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.” He warned us that we could not rely on the skills and visions of those he would appoint to high office. We the People must do whatever is necessary to make sure that they, and he, remain true to the ideals of our forebearers and our Constitution – the promise of equality and justice for all.

The instruments and technologies of change are very different than in the days of our forebearers. We are no longer dependent on the mass media to root out the truth about what’s happening in Washington, D.C., in New York City, or even in our city hall or county seat. Obama’s candidacy was largely dismissed by the national press corps; he used the Internet and youthful optimism to break through the wall of pessimism and become the Democratic nominee. He raised the bulk of his early campaign funds in small donations through the Internet. The big corporate donors were backing the establishment candidates and supported Obama only after it looked as if he might win the presidency without them. The Internet provides a powerful communications tool that can be used not just to run political campaigns but also to foment a grassroots political movement – hopefully, a peaceful revolution – capable of helping, encouraging, or forcing the Obama administration to bring about the change we need.

We are no longer dependent on the major newspapers or book publishers, who are owned by a handful of publishing corporations. We can use the Internet to find in-depth analysis and commentary on matters of public interest and importance – politically, economically, and ecologically. Hundreds of bloggers are busy every day rooting out the facts about important stories the mass media either neglect or purposely ignore. Dozens of network information services collect and post important news stories and commentaries that are often buried deep within newspapers and news magazines. Videos of thoughtful and passionate voices for political change are routinely posted on YouTube, even though they are marginalized or ignored by the mainstream media. For example, Dennis Kucinich’s “Wake Up America!” speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention is still on the Internet for all to see and hear. New electronic information technologies have spawned hundreds of small publishers, offering books on every conceivable niche of public interest. The mainstream media can no longer keep us from knowing what’s happening to our world, our economy, or our democracy.

We now have the means to inform ourselves, to share our ideas, and to organize a national movement to bring about the change we need. However, we are still a nation held hostage by our “darker angels” of selfishness and greed. Even if people are not overtly selfish or greedy, many are still held hostage by their thoughtless pursuit of individual self-interest – disguised as the pursuit of happiness. We cannot do the things we need to do to break the grip of corporate power on our economy and our democracy until we break free from our “darker angels.” We must change our way of life. We must abandon the relentless pursuit of wealth and return to the pursuit of happiness.

Choosing happiness. The fulfillment of the promise made in our Declaration of Independence begins with us. It’s up to us to ensure that all are equal, all are free, all have equal opportunities to engage in the pursuit of happiness. Our economy is now and will continue to be a reflection of our collective way of life – the American way of life. Our economy ultimately provides the things that we collectively want, or at least are willing to buy. So if we are to change our economy, we ultimately must change the things we buy. Our society reflects the way we choose to relate to each other – as families, as communities, as a nation. To change our society we have to change the nature of our relationships.

The Constitution should be a reflection of the commonly held core values of Americans. The Supreme Court continues to misinterpret the Constitution, only because We the People have been unwilling to clarify or change the Constitution to reflect changing American values. Our government remains dysfunctional only because we are willing to tolerate its inadequacy. To change our society, we must change ourselves.

When we change our way of thinking and our way of life, we change our economy and our society, and thus we change our world. We obviously cannot change all of it, but we can change the whole of it. When we change our part of it, a change in our part changes the nature of the whole. The whole of the earth is changed with each change both in and among its parts, including our parts. To fulfill the promise of an equal opportunity for happiness, we must return to our “better history.” In returning to our better history we are returning to our common pursuit of happiness.

The pursuit of happiness must begin with us. Psychologists don’t all agree about how much influence we have on our happiness. There is a general consensus, however, that a significant part of our happiness truly is up to us. Most scientists believe that some people are genetically or culturally predisposed to be happier than others. Our brains seem to secrete different amounts of the endorphins and other chemicals that create feelings ranging from depression to euphoria. A variety of such emotions is a normal aspect of day-to-day life. However, different individuals seem to return to different basic levels of happiness, or set points, after each episode of joy and sorrow. This predisposition is not something that we can easily control, regardless of whether it is genetic or cultural in origin.

The conditions under which we live also affect our level of happiness. Some of these conditions, such as race, gender, age, and disabilities, are clearly beyond our control, although we can certainly change the way we feel about these things. We can accept the fact of who we are, as a blessing rather than a curse, or at least as a challenge that can be met.

The social and political conditions under which we live also can affect our happiness. That’s why freedom and equality are so important to the pursuit of happiness. Again, the lack of such things often is not easy to change. However, the social and political environment can and must be changed by working together to reshape our society. That’s what societal and political change is all about – working together to create a more hospitable environment for the pursuit of happiness.

We can also change the way we think about our current situation. It is worth noting that such changes in thinking may be a precondition for our actually being able to change our current situation. It’s doubtful that many African American slaves were content with their situations. By most accounts, however, many of them were still able to find some measure of happiness. This ability to find happiness, without freedom or equality, surely helped give them the strength to live and to continue to struggle against their oppressors. From these struggles, some at least eventually found freedom. Many of their descendants are still struggling for equality, but today’s conditions are far more conducive to their happiness and more favorable to still further change in the future. If we are able to find happiness in the midst of our current economic and social challenges, we may well be better able to bring about the changes we need to meet those challenges.

Obviously, poverty also is a condition that can affect happiness. It’s a condition that can be changed, even if not easily. This is the American dream: the dream of becoming wealthy and living happily ever after. In truth, most people born into poverty never escape poverty to join the middle class, let alone the ranks of the wealthy. Interestingly, most who do escape poverty to find happiness in wealth still seem to have fond memories of “growing up poor” – as well as some bitter memories of their hard times. Those who are able to find a measure of happiness in poverty seem to have a better chance of breaking free and living happily in the middle class, or even finding a place among the wealthy.

Unemployment can be devastating, psychologically as well as economically. Unlike those born into poverty, most workers who have lost good-paying jobs in the current recession probably still have hopes of eventually rejoining the employed and resuming their pursuit of happiness. As with poverty, those who find a measure of happiness while unemployed also would seem to have a better chance of escaping depression and being able to find another job.

Even more important, people who are able to find happiness in poverty will be happy regardless of whether they ever escape poverty. Virtually all of the happiness research indicates that it doesn’t take a lot of money to be happy, only enough to meet our basic physical needs. The relationship between meeting our basic needs and our happiness is real. The presumed relationship between ever greater wealth and happiness is an illusion. It’s actually an intentional deception created to promote the culture of selfishness and greed needed to support continuing economic growth. The vast majority of Americans already have far more income and wealth than most people in the world today have found necessary for their happiness. Equally important, those who are only able to see a life of misery in the absence of material wealth most likely will never find happiness.

Beyond those physical and external conditions that are either impossible or difficult to change, our happiness is pretty much up to us. As indicated previously, the scientific studies of human happiness have consistently concluded that once our basic needs are met, personal relationships – friends, family, and community – are far more important than greater wealth to our happiness. The better our relationships, the greater our happiness. Equally important, the researchers have concluded that our happiness depends on our having a sense of purpose and meaning in life. The clearer our sense of self-worth or significance, the greater our happiness.

Good personal relationships are not easy to establish or to maintain. Finding and keeping a sense of purpose and meaning in life also may take a good bit of time, thought, and introspection. Neither, however, is beyond our individual ability to influence or control. Abraham Lincoln was right: “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” The vast majority of us are free to choose a life of happiness.

In the world of modern science, however, people are treated as if they have no real choices in life. Today’s scientific thinking is dominated by the philosophy of “scientific materialism.” This philosophy asserts that everything that happens is the result of an interaction of matter and motion that occurs automatically and unavoidably, in accordance with an inviolable set of natural laws. The science we have come to revere for its rationality and objectivity treats human life as such a process, as nothing more than a sequence of chemically induced changes in the physical substances and electrical charges. We are biological robots.

Science doesn’t recognize the existence of human intellect, self-will, or feelings, in any sense of their being different from physical functions of the body. If there is any sense in which our life has purpose, science assumes we are predestined to pursue it because our bodies and minds simply follow the basic laws of matter and motion. Most people are blissfully unaware that this philosophy permeates virtually all aspects of modern society, including education and entertainment as well as politics and commerce. In such a society, where there is so little attention to purpose, we should not be surprised to find a growing sense of emptiness, depression, and despair.

However, we know that relationships matter, that we have a purpose for living, and that we are capable of making choices that will make our lives either better or worse. We know that our lives are something more than a series of chemically and electrically induced changes in energy and matter that are beyond our control. If we can simply find the courage to stop and think, we know we can choose happiness.

Redefining the American dream. There is a growing sense of hopelessness and despair in America. During the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed that he “had a dream” of a better America where all are equal and all are free. Jesse Jackson encouraged African Americans to “Keep Hope Alive.” However, the sense of hopelessness today is not just among the racial minorities, the unemployed, and the working poor; it is also growing among those in the sinking and shrinking middle class of America. People are not stupid just because they are oppressed, poor, or exploited, as some of our political leaders seem to assume.

Many young people today who find themselves in depressed socioeconomic conditions through no fault of their own know their odds for material success are depressingly small. Some of these people have extraordinary abilities or have extraordinary support from others. If these few try extraordinarily hard, they will be able to succeed. However, most of the less fortunate in America are just ordinary people with ordinary abilities and support, like most of the rest of us. They eventually come to realize that no matter how long and hard they try, they will never achieve the American dream of wealth, power, or fame.

The guiding ethic of American life is that we can do whatever we choose to do and that we can become whatever we choose to be. If we will just prepare ourselves well enough, and work hard enough long enough, there is nothing we can’t achieve. Books promoting positive thinking as the key to success routinely top the bestseller lists. Anyone can achieve wealth, power, and fame in America; if we can conceive it and believe it, we can achieve it. However, these things simply are not true.

When young people stop to think about it, they realize this kind of reasoning just doesn’t make sense. For example, they are told anyone in America can become president. However, there have only been forty-five presidents in the history of the United States. Some served two terms, so perhaps as many as fifty to sixty people could have held the office of president. This means millions of others could not possibly have been president, no matter how well prepared they were or how long and hard they tried.

Even if the “positive thinkers” admit that we can’t all be president, we are still led to believe that we can all be successful. Unfortunately, however, today’s materialistic culture defines success in such a way that the vast majority of all people are destined to fail, no matter how well they prepare or how hard they work. To be considered successful, we must be wealthy, famous, or powerful, at least moderately so. This is the mental trap that holds so many Americans hostage today. By the time young people reach high school, their potential for success is already being judged in terms of their parents’ wealth or social position, their own popularity, or their scholastic leadership.

Wealth, fame, and power are all defined by the few people who have them and the many people who do not. If we were all wealthy, there would be no poverty by which to distinguish our wealth. If we were all famous, none of us would be more widely known than any other. And if we were all powerful, there would no weak over whom to have power. Any one of us, or some few of us, might become wealthy, famous, or powerful, but only if the vast majority of us do not. Even in our own local communities, the few who are considered successful are defined by the many who are not. In today’s materialistic culture, most of us simply cannot join the ranks of the successful, no matter how well we prepare or how long and hard we work.

Many young people eventually realize they are starting from too far behind – economically, intellectually, culturally – to ever succeed. They know they will never catch up with the ever-inflating standards of success. Eventually, they give up. They simply don’t believe it when they are told they can be anything they want to be. They know it’s not true. If they are never going to be successful, at least in the eyes of the world, why should they even try?

So they turn to crime, drugs, or even terrorism to escape the pain of failure, at least for a while. Then they have some money, have some friends, command some attention, maybe even have some fun, at least for a while. If the purpose of life is material success, and if they can’t succeed, it makes no difference what else they do, or don’t do. They are led to believe they can never expect to find real happiness because they can never find success. They lose all hope for the American dream.

We must redefine the American dream. People must reawaken to the realization that wealth, power, and fame are not necessary for happiness. The poor and oppressed have no less reason to be hopeful than those of us who have never known the bonds of poverty, discrimination, or exploitation. The ancient oriental philosophy of the Tao Te Ching states: “If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

Brother Dave Gardner, a popular comedian of the 1960s, put it much more simply: “Success is gettin’ what you want but happiness is wantin’ what you get.” Admittedly, happiness depends on having enough to eat and a warm place to sleep, but we can always find ways to get enough of the material requisites to pursue our purpose in life. It doesn’t make any sense that we would be given a purpose in life that is beyond our abilities. In fact, our purpose is defined by our abilities – by our highest potentials. If we can’t get by financially doing what we are doing, what we are doing is simply not our purpose. Beyond the basic necessities, happiness is about the quality of our relationships and our sense of purpose and meaning in life.

We can always find hope in the knowledge that even in the most trying of circumstances, if we can accept the life we were meant to live, we will find happiness. If we live out our unique purpose in life, we will be living the best life we can possibly live, and we will be the happiest person we can possibly be. It doesn’t make sense that we were meant to live a life of misery and depression. Even if our life is one of poverty and obscurity, it will be happier and more fulfilling than any other life we might have chosen instead. In fact, if a life of poverty and obscurity is necessary for our purpose, we will find happiness only in poverty and obscurity. We know that among the poorest and most powerless people of the world, we find some of the happiest people in the world. If our purpose lies among those people, that’s also where we will find our happiness.

That said, the pursuit of our purpose should never be used as an excuse for laziness of mind or of body. If we are among the few who are meant to be rich, famous, or powerful, then only success will bring us fulfillment and happiness. So we should keep our mind and our options open as we walk our life’s path. If wealth, power, or fame is necessary for our purpose, we must believe in, prepare for, and work for our ultimate success. But if the purpose of our life lies elsewhere, our pursuit of material success will bring only emptiness and despair – not happiness. We need to find the courage to do what we know in our heart and soul we should do, and trust that we will find a life of happiness.

Returning to the larger challenge, we may not yet know what we personally need to do to help bring about the change we need in America. However, we can rest assured that we will be able to play whatever part we are meant to play in that process. In doing that, whatever it is, we will be doing the best thing we possibly could do to bring about the needed change in our society. A life of purpose is a life of rightness and goodness – of happiness. In living with purpose, we can live the true American dream. Not only will we change the world for the better, we will find our full measure of happiness.

Challenging the wisdom of science. How do we know that our life has purpose? We can’t prove it. However, we share a common sense of purpose in life with all other thoughtful, insightful people, including most scientists when they are not practicing their professions. Without purpose, life just doesn’t make sense. If we were not meant to do anything in particular, anything we did would be equally right or wrong, or we could simply choose to do nothing. There would be no reason to get out of bed in the morning, but again there would be no reason not to.

If there were no purpose in life, murder, war, or even genocide would not be wrong because the lives lost would be meaningless with no purpose for continuing. We label people who believe such things as social psychopaths. Scientists don’t really believe such things; their science just provides no evidence to the contrary. A life without purpose is a life without reason.

We also know we have self-will, which science also denies. Lacking the will to act with purpose, people would not be responsible for their actions, whether good or bad. Nor could they be held accountable for their words, whether wise or foolish. Peoples’ bodies and minds would simply be responding to uncontrollable chemical and electronic impulses, as science suggests. Our actions and words would be the inevitable consequences of changes in energy, matter, and motion in accordance with the physical laws of the universe.

Every civilized human society in the world holds people responsible for their actions and their words. We have laws against murder, robbery, and a host of other behaviors deemed socially unacceptable. We expect, and sometimes require, people to be truthful and respectful in their communications. Certainly, we consider mitigating circumstances. However, we reject the basic proposition of personal predetermination; we hold people responsible for their decisions and actions. Our common sense tells us that people pursue their purpose as a matter of choice, not blind necessity. So if we are to pursue our purpose in life, we must trust our common sense rather than look to science for confirmation or proof.

We will never know with certainty what we were meant to do, should do, or can do to help bring about the changes we need in our lives or in society. We humans are interconnected parts or elements within larger wholes – economies, societies, the world, and the universe. The purpose of any element or part of anything is always determined at the next-highest level of organization, the level at which the nature of the whole becomes apparent. Functions are determined individually, but purpose is determined holistically, within the context of larger wholes. For example, the functions of our heart and lungs are to pump blood and process oxygen. But the purpose for pumping blood and processing oxygen is to keep the whole body alive and healthy – to support life. Without life, which is the larger whole, there is no purpose for the functioning of the individual parts of our bodies. Life is the whole within which the parts of our bodies take on purpose and meaning.

The same logic holds in determining the purpose for individual human lives. Except, in this case, the highest level of organization is beyond the realm of human observation or understanding. We are elements in a web of reality that is beyond tangible human comprehension.

As members of businesses, families, communities, and even nations, we can understand the purpose of the various functions we perform in support of those organizations. Our purposes in those instances are derived from the purposes of the organizations to which we belong. But our life as a whole takes on purpose and meaning only within the context of the whole of the higher level of organization that transcends our economy and society. The purpose of our individual lives is derived from the purpose of the whole of humanity, which exists within the still greater wholes of the earth, the universe, and beyond – beyond human observation and comprehension. Our only access to this higher level of organization or higher order is through our innate, intuitive, or spiritual sense of rightness and goodness.

There is a tendency to believe that some people have more important purposes in life than do the rest of us. The successful people – the rich, powerful, and famous – might seem to be more important, even if they aren’t necessarily happier. The wealthy can invest their money and provide employment for hundreds or thousands of other people. The famous can bring excitement, joy, and laughter to the lives of thousands or even millions. And the politically powerful may shape laws and regulations that affect the lives of nations of people.

We are naturally inclined to think that those who do the most good for the greatest number of people must be more important. In fact, the historical philosophy of “utilitarianism” is based on this premise. How can those of us who affect the lives of so few, by so little, possibly believe that we can be as important as those who do so much for so many? How? We can simply accept the unalienable truth that we are all created equal; we are all of equal inherent worth and thus of equal importance. We can’t prove this, but it fits our innate, intuitive, or spiritual sense of rightness and goodness.

We are members of humanity in the same sense that cells are members of our bodies. The cells that make up our brains may seem more important than the cells that make up our little fingers, because our brains control so much of what we do. But if a cell in our little finger becomes cancerous, for example, it can infect other cells of the body, kill the cells of the brain, and cause the body to die. Our body is a complex web of reality whose integrity depends on all of its nodes and strands. Our body can fulfill its purpose only if each cell does what it is supposed to do, or at least doesn’t do things it is not supposed to do. Without all of the other supposedly less important cells, there would be no other parts of the body for the brain to control, and thus nothing of importance for the brain cells to do.

Likewise, political leaders must have followers, entertainers must have fans, and employers must have employees. Regardless of whether we see ourselves as brains or little fingers, there is simply no logical reason to believe that the purpose of our life is any more or less important than that of anyone else. The transcendent whole from which our purpose is derived is beyond human observation, measurement, or comprehension. It is foolish to attempt to either demean or elevate our importance or status within an order that is beyond our understanding. There are no logical grounds for challenging the “self-evident truth” that we are all of equal inherent worth.

Regardless of our individual purpose in life, we each have a responsibility for the common good. We are a part of the larger whole of society, and we have a responsibility to contribute our part to the good of that whole. In bringing about the change we need in America, we may be community leaders, organizers, activists, or just interested members of our communities. Our part in the political process at any given time may be that of a candidate, an organizer, an advisor, a neighborhood canvasser, or one who stuffs envelopes and makes phone calls. We may be radicals who commit acts of civil disobedience, moderates who march in public demonstrations, or pacifists who protest in silence.

We may be a best-selling author, an editorial writer, a blogger; we may write letters to editors or just forward email messages to our friends and families. None of these functions is necessarily more important or essential than any other. What’s most important is that we each find the courage to do whatever we can do – what we know in our heart and soul that we should do – to help bring about the change we need to meet the challenges before us. In doing what we were meant to do, we will find our full measure of happiness.

Living with purpose. Most approaches to promoting personal betterment or self-help have focused on achieving tangible, material success. We are told that we should choose a mission in life that defines our particular concept of success. We are encouraged to develop a vision of our ideal life and then work to turn the vision into reality. We are advised to set specific quantifiable goals and objectives, develop a strategic plan, and assess our progress in terms of measurable achievements. However, this is simply the old industrial paradigm of economic development applied to personal development.

The pursuit of happiness requires a very different approach and process. First, we can’t choose our mission or purpose in life; it has been chosen for us. We must discover it. The future reality in which we will live out the remainder of our life consists of countless potentials. We can’t create or destroy those potentials; they are reality and thus are predetermined and unchangeable. Even though the reality of our life – meaning our life’s potentials – is predetermined, our unique experience of that reality is not. Our experience of reality emerges moment by moment, each moment of our life.

Only a limited number of the countless potentials of reality are open to us individually. Our specific life’s gifts, talents, or abilities determine which potentials are accessible to us and which are not. We simply aren’t capable of being anything that we might choose to be or doing anything we might choose to do. However, we can be and do whatever we need to be and do to fulfill our purpose in life and thus to find happiness. Many of the potentials of reality are not meant for us, but for others who have gifts, talents, and abilities different from ours. That said, we still have many possibilities from which to choose our unique experience of reality. Our path of happiness lies within that finite set of potentials.

Our purpose in life is to realize our “highest potentials,” meaning the potentials that will make our greatest possible contribution to the good of the whole, or the common good. Our unique set of gifts, talents, and abilities defines those highest potentials. There is no magic formula or step-by-step process to guide us in the pursuit of our purpose. We must discover our purpose through our moment-to-moment experiences of life. We must listen carefully to the quiet, intuitive voice within that tells us what’s true or false, good or bad, and right or wrong. The voice within must guide us as we choose our path among the various potentials before us.

We are born with an initial set of gifts, but the potentials that are open to us change as we go through life with changes in our talents and abilities. Some potential paths to the future are closed to us by our past choices and the choices of others. Other paths, once closed, are opened for us by the unfolding experiences of society and nature around us. We are but one aspect of the whole of reality, and thus our potentials are continually changing with the unfolding experiences of the rest of reality.

Our overall purpose remains the same throughout life – to realize our higher potentials. But our specific purpose at any given point or period in our life is continually changing, with the changing potentials left before us. As we grow older, for example, past choices and occurrences may have precluded many of the potentials that existed at earlier times in our lives. However, at each moment in time our purpose remains that of realizing the highest potentials from those remaining.

Each person is given a specific purpose in life only to the extent that each person is given a specific set of gifts with which to experience life. Those initial gifts determine our potentials, including our capacity to learn, grow, and develop, as we go through life. Those gifts – no matter how great or small they may seem – are adequate for each person to achieve his or her unique purpose in life. We need only realize our highest potentials. Furthermore, no human being is wise enough to judge that any person’s gifts are greater or lesser than any other’s. Thus it is reasonable to conclude that any person’s highest potentials are just as high as any other’s, confirming that any person’s purpose in life is just as important as any other’s.

In pursuing our highest potentials, we may think of our purpose as our mission in life. President Lyndon Johnson used to say the most important pursuits in life were those of teachers, preachers, and politicians. Each of these is a life of public service. However, public service is certainly not the only means of contributing to the common good.

Some people have gifts, talents, and abilities better suited to being poets, artists, or musicians. These are pursuits that also serve important human needs. Others are best suited to be encouragers, nurturers, or caregivers to children or those less fortunate than themselves. Some have unique capacities to fill the roles of employers, workers, or entrepreneurs – those who provide for the material and tangible necessities of life. Individuals can pursue many different occupations and vocations within each of these pursuits. This certainly is not an exhaustive list, as there are as many different purposes as people. In addition, purposes can be pursued by different means at different stages of life.

Our perception of our highest potentials is our unique vision of the future. If our purpose is to teach, our vision might be to become a specific kind of educator, including formal or informal education. We might envision specific types of students, specific subjects or disciplines, or even specific academic positions. If our purpose is to be a musician, our vision may include the instrument and type of music we will perform and the level of perfection we hope to achieve – perhaps even specific venues where we would like to perform. If our vision is that of an economic occupation, we may envision a specific type of work, a specific level of achievement, and perhaps even a specific employer or company.

Our vision can help guide us, but our vision only reflects our current insight into the nature of our highest potentials. As we reach different stages of life, some of the potentials in our vision will have been closed to us, while other new potentials will have been opened for us. Periodically, we need to reexamine our vision to see if it’s still consistent with our life’s purpose. If not, we will need to create a new vision.

We must also be willing to reevaluate our life’s mission. As we get older, we may no longer have the physical endurance or mental acuity needed for public service. We may lose the physical dexterity needed to be an artist or entertainer. We may no longer have the strength to do physical labor or the ambition to own or manage a business. The normal occurrences of life may have changed our highest potentials. Regardless, we will always have the capacity to achieve our highest potential from those still accessible to us. That is all that life can logically ask of us.

Living with purpose is not a goal to be reached; the ultimate outcome of all life is death. Living with purpose is a continual moment-to-moment process; it is about what we do with our lives between now and our time of death. A purposeful life requires that we remain fully awake to life, conscious, vigilant, and always aware of each new obstacle and each new opportunity that arises as we experience our reality.

Since our individual gifts, talents, and abilities are unique, there are no universal measures of success and thus no uniform standards by which we can measure our progress. Goals, objectives, and strategic plans actually may be more harmful than helpful if we allow them to distract us from our purpose. If we become preoccupied with carrying out a specific plan or achieving specific goals and objectives, we may well stumble unnecessarily on unseen obstacles or fail to see our highest opportunities.

In addition, living with purpose is never just a personal or individual matter. Our lives are integrally connected with those around us, our families, friends, neighbors, fellow citizens, and human beings. We are connected with all of the other living and evolving things of the earth. We influence others as we experience our life, and they influence us as they experience theirs. Our individual experiences all arise from the same reality. They can’t keep us from realizing our highest potential, if we make the right choices, but they can make the right choices more or less difficult for us, just as we can for them. Helping to bring about the change we need in our economy and society is about working together to open opportunities and ease the way to the highest potentials for all.

We need to do things that not only make our lives better but also make life better for those who affect and are affected by us. We need to help create an equitable and just society, not just for our own benefit, but also for the benefit of others. We need to help create a healthier, more productive natural environment, not just for our benefit, but for the benefit of future generations. These things are right; these things are good; these things make the pursuit of happiness easier – for us, for others, and for our posterity.

The nature of happiness. Even though we can never be certain that we are realizing our highest potential, happiness is our best indicator. Being happy doesn’t mean that every hour of every day is filled with elation, excitement, and joy. Most happy people lead lives of relative calm – punctuated by brief periods of joy and depression. In addition, some people are just more mentally inclined to “feel happy,” while others are more inclined to “feel sad.”

True happiness, however, is universal and lasting; it is accessible to all of us at all times. Real happiness is the sense of rightness that we feel in the core of our being, regardless of our current state of mind. It is a sense of goodness that persists in our hearts, through good times and bad. It is a sense of peace and contentment with who we are, deep in our soul, even when we find no sense of satisfaction in our current attitude or condition.

This concept of happiness is consistent with those of the classical philosophers, who defined happiness as a general sense of flourishing, well-being, or quality of life. As Aristotle suggested, happiness is a by-product of a virtuous life, a life lived with a sense of rightness and goodness. Happiness is a natural consequence of doing what we were meant to do and becoming what we were meant to be. It is a consequence of realizing our highest potentials.

We experience true happiness when we live in harmony with the higher order of which we are a part. When we are in harmony with this order, we are doing the things we need to do to contribute our part to the greater purpose of the larger whole. This is the greatest contribution we possibly can make and will earn us the greatest rewards we possibly can receive. This is the key to human happiness.

We cannot directly experience or observe the nature of the higher order within which our happiness is derived, but we can gain greater insights into its nature by observing and studying actions and reactions in the world around us. This is what science, at its best, is about: attempting to understand the basic principles of nature – meaning the higher order – by observing and studying the consequences of actions.

The laws of science, such as the laws of gravity, motion, and energy, are attempts to define the basic principles by which the whole of nature functions. We know such principles exist, regardless of whether we understand them or are willing to accept them. If we drop a heavy object on our toe, it will hurt, no matter how vehemently we might deny the law of gravity. If we step in front of a speeding automobile, we’ll be run over. Perhaps less obvious but no less true, if we keep using and reusing energy, we eventually will use up its usefulness. If we ignore these basic laws of nature, sooner or later we will suffer the negative consequences. The more we understand and respect nature’s laws and learn to live by nature’s principles, the more harmonious, productive, peaceful, and happy our lives will be.

Laws or principles also govern relationships within living systems, although they are less well known and widely appreciated than physical laws. These are the principles of ecology. There are also laws or principles that govern all human relationships within families, communities, and societies. These principles were once accepted and respected among thoughtful people as “natural law.” Such historic documents as the Magna Carta and American Declaration of Independence were said to be expressions of natural law.

There are also basic principles of economics. The economic laws of supply and demand, for example, are not the creations of economists but reflect basic principles of individual human behavior. Economies are the means by which we facilitate our relationships with other people and our relationships with the natural environment, in meeting our individual material and tangible needs. The economy is a reflection of the nature of humans as individuals.

The next chapter deals with the basic nature of the ecological, social, and economic principles we must rely on to guide us in our pursuit of happiness. These principles are important, in fact, profound. However, they are not particularly complex and certainly not beyond the comprehension of any thoughtful person, regardless of their formal education or life experiences. They are mostly common sense – things we all already know if we just stop and think about them.

When we are using our gifts, talents, and abilities in ways that are in harmony with the higher order of things, we feel a sense of rightness and goodness in the core of our being – we are happy. If we are to break the bonds that hold our nation hostage, we must reject our “darker angels,” not only those of selfishness and greed, but also those of human supremacy over nature. We must abandon our thoughtless pursuit of individual wealth and return to the pursuit of happiness. We must respect the higher order of which we are but a part. We must change our way of life.