> Happiness never built a bridge... Back in my day, every Philosophy 101 curriculum included John Stuart Mill, who had this to say. "Human beings have faculti

> Happiness never built a bridge... Back in my day, every Philosophy 101 curriculum included John Stuart Mill, who had this to say. "Human beings have faculties more elevated than the animal appetites, and when once made conscious of them, do not regard anything as happiness which does not include their gratification." You're using a very narrow definition of happiness. A uselessly narrow definition IMO, and apparently for no reason but to spread bigotry. Most people wouldn't be happy knowing they hadn't achieved anything (see: Maslow's hierarchy of needs). Even the otherwise rather short-sighted "Objectivists" tacitly accept this view, with "enlightened self interest" being their phrase of choice to avoid acknowledging the origin of that thought. Modern Germans do not lack in accomplishment. They just choose to balance goal-directed work with enjoyment of its fruits, instead of staying on the treadmill past the point of diminishing returns. Here in the US, there's a bit of a fetish about claiming to work super-long hours to satisfy a Calvinist "work is virtue" image, while actually goofing off for (at least) half of that whenever nobody's looking. That's really stupid. The European approach of actually enjoying that time with family and friends guilt-free seems smart, compared to spending it in the office neither being productive nor having fun.