Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness – The Elusive yet Attainable American Dream

“…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,

that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

– United States’ 1776 Declaration of Independence.

Freedom is a primordial human right that we need; our Creator provided us with this right. We are free

to choose, make our own decision, and decide for our destiny.

Even so, in today’s situation, most of us can’t even provide one of the most needed necessities.

Amongst these are getting a decent yet stable employment and owning a piece of real estate.

The continuous uncertainty in our economy makes it a tough challenge for ordinary Americans to live a

normal life. As our country is still struggling from the financial crisis of 2008, some of us find

opportunities to survive.

Hollywood is also an unusual avenue for ordinary people’s life stories. The 2006 drama The Pursuit of

Happiness, deals with some of the challenges of a typical family. Living in Los Angeles, Chris Gardner

(played by Will Smith) is working as a sales representative of medical equipments while his wife Linda

works at a garments factory. They have a 4-year-old son named Christopher.

Things get rough as Chris struggles to sell his portable bone-density scanner to doctors. It spelled

immediate financial trouble for the family, and that was only the beginning. As relationships got worse,

his wife left him together with their son. To make things worse, a stranger stole Chris’ equipment and

government authorities towed his car for not paying the parking ticket.

After some time, their proprietor threatened them that if they will not pay their dues, they will be

evicted. Chris persuaded the owner to give them more time to pay but the angered old man did not

listen. Chris’ situation is similar to those who were issued home liens by the local government because

they went delinquent taxpayers.

Soon, the homeless father-and-son wandered the Los Angeles area to find a place to sleep. They spend

their first night at the restroom on a subway station.

Days passed, Chris left his son at a neighborhood day-care center while he is figuring out how to earn a

living. He had undergone a six-month internship program at Dean Witter, a stock brokerage firm in Los

Angeles, and did his best to sell his portable bone-density scanners to some doctors.

They managed to find a local church that provides shelter, though they only admit limited number of

people. Too bad, the state government did not provide free or subsidized homes for the poor despite

earnings from tax liens for sale and other related services like tax deed auctions.

The next six months was one of the most difficult episodes for Chris and his son. Despite this, he

managed to compete with other 19 applicants for the coveted, full-time position as a stockbroker. He

studied his investment book during night time to learn everything. He devised brilliant ideas like

maximizing time for calling prospective clients. He found his first client – a pension fund manager – and

the client was even sympathetic to Chris.

Nevertheless, after those grueling months of multi-tasking and efficient time management, he got his

prize. He won the full-time position and is ensured of a better job. That moment came very emotional,

though he did not allow himself to be emotional. He took his son from the daycare, and walked on the

city streets with a renewed confidence that everything will be fine.

With his new job, Chris could now afford not just renting a Los Angeles apartment, but purchase tax lien

certificates that he can eventually own.

The movie ended in a positive, motivational and encouraging manner. Quoting Chris’ lecture to his son,

“If you have a dream, you need to protect it. (If) you want something, go get it. Period!”

In an uncertain economy like ours that faced government shutdown, along with widespread

unemployment, we should not cease to live our lives, achieve liberty, and follow our own pursuits of

happiness.