Happiness of Nations Discussed

James MacKaye '95 gave the second of a series of five lectures on "Political Engineering" before a large and interested audience in Emerson Hall yesterday afternoon. His topic was "The Happiness of Nations." Happiness cannot be defined, but may be exemplified by experiences. Voluntary acts are divided into those which are useful and useless; useful acts are subdivided into productive and consumptive ones; consumptive acts, in turn, are divided into positive and negative, and productive acts into pleasurable and pleasureless ones. Productive acts are further subdivided into compulsory and spontaneous acts.

Compulsory production is most effective when mechanical. Negative consumption creates an excess of happiness or unhappiness, which we call, respectively, tastes and needs. Positive consumption tends to simplify tastes; luxuries are required only by those who have no resources in themselves. Spontaneous consumption is the most useful of these four useful acts. Production is being pursued as an end in itself. When a means is mistaken for an end, that end is sacrificed for the means. The ultimate end must be seen all the time. Less attention should be paid to wealth and more to happiness.