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of the ladder, where the external sources of validation played such an important role, the person begins to find their internal and spiritual world, far more engaging and rewarding. The truly happy person is worried most about living their life to their fullest capacities, whether or not the industrial definition of production comes into play, does not bother them one whit.

A happy person - is.

A happy person has no need to produce to gain a sense of value and belonging. They do have a need to experience their life. Invention, true invention, is the province of the happy person for the application of the idea is not nearly as important as the idea itself. The thought they came up with is reason enough to follow it through, not its' potential to become something.

Why should it? For there is an army of people trying to climb up the ladder of needs. It is the happy person's invention that will give them the first taste of value and belonging by participating in its' production.

Happiness does not guarantee production. It may in fact, subvert the kind of production valued in an industrial society. However, the inventions discovered in happiness give to industrial society its ability to revive itself and continue. The un-happy person, the one who may only sense the possibility for happiness in their life, is the person on whom industrial society feeds for survival. The fate of the American culture rests upon the balance of recognizing that the achievement of happiness is a necessary step in the maturation of the person and the continued existence of society. The current sway to emphasize, mislead and entrap people within a cycle of non-fulfillment by always presenting them with a reason why they cannot truly be happy will only lead to a backlash.

A backlash illustrated beautifully in the book "Atlas Shrugged" when the thinkers, the doers, the people who had achieved an internal happiness went "on strike" and refused to contribute to the culture of discontent in order to maintain the status quo. Politics and philosophy aside, that instance in the novel should serve as a dire warning to society about what may happen if we continue to deny people the right to be happy. There will always be those in the process of searching for happiness whose productivity will satisfy society's needs, but we need to learn to honor and respect the truly happy person who has come to value something outside of society for their contributions to society's growth. We must all be engaged in a process of growth and change or we risk coming to a complete halt. Once stopped, there has not even been a rudimentary discussion of how we would start to live again.

Learn more about this author, Cassandra Tribe.
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