Arthur C. Brooks: The secret to human happiness is earned success

By: Arthur C. Brooks

Part three in a three-part series.

People flourish when they earn their own success. It's not the money per se, which is merely a measure -- not a source -- of this earned success. More than any other system, free enterprise enables people to earn success and thereby achieve happiness. For that reason, it is not just an economic alternative but a moral imperative.

People think that they will be happier if they have more money, but quickly find out that they're mistaken. When people are asked what income they require for a satisfying life, they consistently respond -- regardless of their income -- that they would need an income about 40 percent higher than whatever they're earning at the time.

Benjamin Franklin (a pretty rich man for his time) grasped the truth about money's inability to deliver life satisfaction. "Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it," he declared. "The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one."

If money without earned success does not bring happiness, then redistributing money won't make for a happier America. Knowing as we do that earning success is the key to happiness, rather than simply getting more money, the goal of our political system should be this: to give all Americans the greatest opportunities possible to succeed based on their hard work and merit.

This is the liberty our founders wrote about, the liberty that enables the true pursuit of happiness.

Earned success gives people a sense of meaning about their lives. And meaning also is a key to human flourishing.

It reassures us that what we do in life is of significance and value, for ourselves and those around us. To truly flourish, we need to know that the ways in which we occupy our waking hours are not based on the mere pursuit of pleasure or money or any other superficial goal. We need to know that our endeavors have a deeper purpose.

Free enterprise enables us to find meaningful work through free markets that match our skills and passions. In free markets, we can change jobs, work longer or shorter hours within reason, and take more or less vacation than other people.

Increasingly, we can flex our hours and jump into and out of the work force as our lives and our circumstances change. These free markets largely do not exist in Europe, with their mandated pay and vacation, cradle-to-grave systems of job security, and generous unemployment benefits.

Meaning at work comes from feeling productive. This is how we earn our success and what makes us happy.

People who feel they are productive in their jobs, regardless of pay, are about five times likelier to be very satisfied with their jobs than people who don't feel this way.

Of course, when we are being productive, we often get paid more. But the money is a nice side effect, not the cause of the happiness we enjoy.

Feeling productive does not mean being protected from competition. It means beating the competition through merit and hard work. It does not come from a collective bargaining agreement and the threat to strike, but from a job well done. And it certainly doesn't come from a welfare check. All of this explains why our free enterprise system produces happier workers than in most of Europe.

Americans prefer to find meaning in their jobs rather than through their after-work pursuits and to trade security of employment for the possibilities of earned success. The free enterprise system reflects these American priorities. The policies of the 30 percent coalition do not.

Free enterprise is not simply an economic alternative. Free enterprise is about who we are as a people and who we want to be. It embodies our power as individuals and our independence from the government. In short, enterprise is an act of self-expression -- a declaration of what we truly value -- and a social issue for Americans.

masters studies, to improve observation

I haven’t posted any of my work in a while, so I thought I'd put this up. It started out as a quick masters study, a free hand sketched using burnt sienna oil paint. But after reviewing it the next day it looked awful. So I added white to make some corrections but I still didn’t get it right.


I can see the importance in masters studies, following in the artists footsteps should put you into his mind somewhat and you can focus in on his observation skills first hand.

I’m going to try to do some more masters studies, hopefully with this practice my observation and drawing skills will improve.

Art Mentor......

I had a really strange dream last night that I was being judged unfavorably for my youthful ways by of all people my old high school art teacher..... Like I said it was a really strange dream.


But then I got to thinking ...... I never really had an art mentor as I child.. No one ever took me under there wing and gave me the guidance I needed grow. Sure my parents yelled at me “do this ! don’t do that !” but no one ever really sat me down and said “so you like art do ya kid ? Well here’s what you should be doing, let me show you."

Nope.....I had non of that growing up, not even from my old high school art teacher.

“Who incidently I looked up on Rate My Teachers.com and was not surprised to see he got a very bad review.” Lol !!

So as I try to make sense of this wacky dream, I look back on my youth and I see a kid with a ton of creative energy but little guidance to develop. I was taught nothing about drawing and painting growing up. I had to figure things out on my own and not always with favorable results.

Its taken me a long time to get where I am and I feel I’ve only scratched the surface. With a good artist mentor in my life I wonder where my art would be today. Don’t get me wrong I’m not feeling sorry for myself. But at “forty something” I feel like I’m still painting with the artistic training wheels on !

Anyway..... I guess my point here is if you have an opportunity to share your artistic talents with an aspiring young artist, then by all means do so. It’s a gift worth giving and it guarantees that you’ll never get a bad review on Rate My Teachers.com !

PS

Anything is possible if you believe in yourself, despite your crappy old high school art teacher.

The Barnes Foundation, an interactive tour of some of the old museum’s highlights.

The Barnes Foundation, an extraordinary collection of art amassed by Albert C. Barnes, has been one of America’s strangest art museums from the day its doors opened in 1925. Barnes’s unique juxtapositions of paintings and objects were intended to help the viewer learn to look closely at art. The original building, in Merion, Pa., closed at the end of June — the collection will be relocated to a new one in Philadelphia next year — but The Times has created an interactive tour of some of the old museum’s highlights.

Gesture sketches to loosen up

With life drawing classes starting up soon, I was thinking that I better get busy doing gesture sketches to loosen up.

I remember feeling rushed the last time in class, as a five minute pose can go by in a flash. This I’m sure is due to a lack of practice.

I have to start thinking of the body in terms of shapes like ( cylinders, cones, boxes, barrels, slabs, wedges, circles and eggs ) to give my drawings life.

All the sketches below were done quickly using photo reference. Not to much detail, I’m just looking to capture the pose.

Arts Guild of New Jersey

Inspired by all those Italian Renaissance Masters on my Italy Vacation, I signed up for open studio life drawing classes at the Arts Guild of New Jersey.

The ability to draw from life determines the artist's skill. This is why live drawing classes have always been at the top of the curriculum for properly structured academic workshops. ( Igor Babailov )

LINEA: The Journal of The Art Students League of New York ( PDF FILES )

Publications of The Art Students League - Linea


LINEA is the Art Students League's journal of art and ideas. Published twice a year, each issue contains exhibition reviews, interviews and topical essays of special interest to artists. Also featured is news about the school, its instructors, members and students, as well as information about the ASL Vytlacil Campus in Rockland County. LINEA is distributed to all members and maintains a national circulation to art schools, universities, libraries, museums, art galleries and the press. Click the link below to read the latest edition of LINEA: