Happiness

A recent edition of the New York Review of Books discusses the number of books that have come out recently that are devoted to the subject of happiness.

The author notes that in surveys across the board people claim to be happy, humanity rating itself as a 7 (from 1-10) on average. As such, she can't resist the low-hanging-question: if so many claim to be happy, why do we need all of these books?

Advertising, is my response. Maybe we're all happy but we're so caught up in chasing the uncatchable American Dream that we can't just relax and enjoy it. In this country, anyway. If it weren't for that, no one would play the lottery!