Long story….see below….

"The Persuit of Happiness" is a phrase which has value because it is contained within the founding documents of the USA. Understanding the extent to which it is possible, or not, requires some level of understanding of where the phrase came from.

Thomas Jefferson "came up" with that slogan as a replacement for "PROPERTY."

You see, the true historic philosophical founding father of the USA is John Locke:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke

He wrote that every man has the right to, "Life, Liberty and the ownership of property." When the founding fathers were creating the USA, they (especially Thomas Jefferson) took the political philosophy of John Locke almost word for word. But they substituted "Persuit of happiness" for "Ownership of property" because they weren’t quite sure about the ramifications of using the original wording.

The result is that we have this nebulous idea known as "The American Dream." Some of the lucky ones who experience it got there through property ownership. Others by inventing something. Others by making wise investments in the stock market. Still others by building a business. And, there are even those who got there by engaging in illegal activities, like the Kennedy family or the Sopranos(fictional example).

Consequently, to fully understand WHAT this phrase means, we need to go back to the original text of Locke, which will describe how an individual can combine effort with natural resources (which are unlimited according to Locke, both physical and metaphysical) to create something of value for himself.

Unfortunately, the reason why you are right is because the founding documents lack clarity in these regards. Therefore, upon further evaluation of the phrase "Persuit of happiness" we are left hanging to a certain extent.

R/U
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People who struggle with addictions are not happy, they are under the influence of some substance that creates an artifical sense of euphoria.

It seems that you are confusing happiness with the belief that people have some kind of right, guaranteed by law, nature or a God, to do whatever they want– and that engenders neither freedom nor happiness, it just makes people miserable.
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Because happiness is largely a choice. They can’t get in our heads unless we let them. As I’ve said in many other questions, Bangladesh a few years back, scored highest in a survey on happiness world-wide. And Bangladesh is far from the wealthiest country in the world. Money helps, but it’s not the be all and end all.

And even in the most oppressively ruled countries in the world, people find ways to have happy moments in their lives. It isn’t easy, but it is achievable.

Peace
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Okay so maybe some people find happiness, but that’s a very low percentage. But what i’m saying is, it’s near to impossible to truely have a life of happiness. Because of the laws that we have. I’m not saying I want the laws to be changed. And being a killer isn’t a disease. Because if you think about people in gangs their not metally challenged or something. MOSt are sane, their killing people because of the infulences of others. But yea I personally think that not everyone can pursuit happiness. And that’s everyones falut((THINK ABOUT IT)). Mostly the gonverment. World hungry *cough* Proverty *cough cough*.